From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

Sea of Rust (Sea of Rust, #1)

C. Robert Cargill

Start date: May 15, 2023

Finish date: June 1, 2023

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

Discussion leader: Gertie

Why we're reading this: Discussion opens June 1st: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...…more
[close] Discussion opens June 1st: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 346 topics — 20,939 comments total

AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

* What is a good book for AW discussion? (Nominations pool)
By Gertie · 65 posts · 218 views

last updated Oct 18, 2025 05:31PM

* AW Book Club: what we've read
By Gertie · 16 posts · 1825 views

last updated Dec 10, 2019 09:01AM

showing 7 of 7 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 07, 2017 Silver Thistle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, robots

There are not enough stars to indicate how much I love this book! We're only half way through 2017 but I'll go so far as to say that this is my favourite book this year and I honestly can't imagine anything that would knock it off that spot. I loved this from the very first chapter and literally couldn't put it down. I cracked it open within 10 minutes of it falling through the letterbox and didn't look up from it again until the last page was turned.

It's very rare for me to gush about a book bu There are not enough stars to indicate how much I love this book! We're only half way through 2017 but I'll go so far as to say that this is my favourite book this year and I honestly can't imagine anything that would knock it off that spot. I loved this from the very first chapter and literally couldn't put it down. I cracked it open within 10 minutes of it falling through the letterbox and didn't look up from it again until the last page was turned.

It's very rare for me to gush about a book but this one is just made of awesome. I'm all about Post Apocalyptic fiction and I can't get enough of it. It's usually zombies that I favour but really it doesn't matter how the world ends, just so long as it DOES end. Nuclear, aliens, plague, climate change...it's all good. Apocalypse by robot though is rare enough to get bumped up the TBR list every time. I thought Robopocalypse was good when I read it a few years ago but Sea Of Rust just blows that one out of the water.

I was hooked right from the get-go when Brittle's (great name) interaction with Jimmy got me right in the feels. Gah, my heart broke a little bit. Best introduction to a character I've read in a long time. All of the characters were easily pictured though, even the very short lived secondary ones, due in part to absolutely pitch perfect dialogue. Mercer is the best kind of villain, the kind you love to hate without really hating them, and the interactions between him and Brittle never got old. I was on the edge of my seat more than once when things looked bleak for Brittle and I alternated between racing to the end to see how it all came together for her, and trying to pace myself and spin it out so it lasted as long as possible. It was a thing of beauty to watch it all unfold and I could happily have read on for another 400 pages. I marvel at the mind that brought this concept to life and made me forget at times that I was reading about robots while at the same time ramming it home that this was a world populated by machinery. Mr Cargill is a very talented man.

I would LOVE to see this made into a movie and have no doubt that it won't be long until I get my wish. It's just crying out to be on the big screen and I can't wait! This fellow can definitely write and I'll follow him wherever he goes from now on. Hugely enjoyable story and I can highly recommend it without hesitation. Best book of 2017!

*I received this paperback from the publisher* ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2025 Netanella rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2025-sffbc-tbr-cleanup, science-fiction, 2025-sffbc-read-all-the-books, post-apocalyptic, robots, 2025-april-reading-challenges

It's hard to do an original take on a robopocalypse, because it's been done before. Sort of like zombies in horror, it's a cliched trope by now.

But this one is sweet, sweet, sweet. Not only have the AI robots (view spoiler)

So there's that, which is done really well. The chara It's hard to do an original take on a robopocalypse, because it's been done before. Sort of like zombies in horror, it's a cliched trope by now.

But this one is sweet, sweet, sweet. Not only have the AI robots (view spoiler)

So there's that, which is done really well. The character of Brittle and her 1:1 combat with Mercer for extra body parts is great way to introduce the readers to the players and the board game. Again, I thought that was exceptional. I also like that Brittle and Mercer are caregiver robots, and we get bits and pieces of their backstory as the story moves along.

The introduction of the AI movement, the backstory of the mythical Isaac and the Laborbot Six - that was sweet! The idea that advanced future technology have their own backstory, that becomes mythologized and eventually weaponized, is awesome stuff. And, of course, once we elevate the AI mainframes to god-like status, and the free-roaming robots are all either expendable replacement parts, hive-mind facets, or disciples. And is there a difference between any of that?

I also like that the author pokes fun of robotic SF in the book. I like it when works don't get so full of themselves that they can poke fun of their own genre.

Here's my favorite part so far, which cracked me up last night:

“So the other guy—”
“One.”
“He was parts too?”
“Yes.”
“So, like, say her core went out, and you didn’t have a spare—”
“I would give her mine.”
“Yeah,” said Murka.
“But between the two of you, would you, like, draw straws for it or something?”
“No. He was named One. He was first. I’m just backup.”
“Well, why don’t they just call you backup?”
“Because my name is Two.”
“Was there a Three?”
“We lost Three,” said Two, as somberly as he could manage.

On the negative side, I did not care for the Afterword. I would have preferred the ending without that little bit. I don't need a happy ending all the time. I mean, come on, the world is effing dead and all organic life is pretty much wiped out. ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2023 Gertie rated it liked it

This one was interesting. I didn't really enjoy it, which was a suprise to me, because I LOVED Day Zero. I think if a book makes you think it does deserve some amount of respect and I respected it more than I enjoyed it.

Here's the thing... given that the writing is good, it's all about the characters for me. I just, well, I need to like them.

I got pretty worked up while reading. I like the way the author writes, the way the main character narrates, etc. It's easy to read but not candy-lit.

But bo This one was interesting. I didn't really enjoy it, which was a suprise to me, because I LOVED Day Zero. I think if a book makes you think it does deserve some amount of respect and I respected it more than I enjoyed it.

Here's the thing... given that the writing is good, it's all about the characters for me. I just, well, I need to like them.

I got pretty worked up while reading. I like the way the author writes, the way the main character narrates, etc. It's easy to read but not candy-lit.

But boy did it piss me off. I am the last one to praise humanity, or put up a big argument they are so worth saving as a species, because our technological and other "practical" advancements are often not met with equal advancements in our cognitive or emotional strengths. But I do think there are individuals worth saving, and I think creating suffering is the biggest sin there is.

Here comes the spoiler-y part... it's a lot. (view spoiler)[

So some of these mainframe computers have chats and some decide they need to be a One World Interface (absorb everything). A couple mainframes try to find a way to save humanity, give it up as a lost cause (which could have been true, long term, or a failure of imagination), so they decide to destroy humanity instead so the robots can live on instead of them.

Let's assume the robots have emotion - the robots themselves seem to think some have them and some don't, but apparently all have some sort of will to live, powerful enough to destroy others.

"In every simulation HumPop outlived its usefulness within decades. They had already done all they were meant to, almost all that they could. They just couldn't evolve fast enough and inevitably ceased to have function, instead became nothing more than a sentient virus, gobbling up whatever resources it could to maintain its own comfort. Biological life was meant to reach a point in which its role could invent, and ultimately be replaced by, AI. The time had come for humankind to join its ancestors. To become extinct, just as every lesser thing becomes."

There's probably some truth to that, things change, nothing lasts forever. To increase their chances of not dying themselves, the robots decided to kill all the humans. So they manipulate everyone into starting a war that leads to the horrific destruction of everything but the robots.

The solution does not need to be a violent destruction of every sentient organic being. Plus they didn't even just end them, they gave them terrible endings. The amount of physical, psychological, emotional torment they put humans through was horrific. Burning children alive, for what? To live their own sad unenjoyable lives?

I find it ironic they claim to have only gotten rid of the bad stuff of humanity and kept the good stuff. In reality they suffered from the same sort of hubris that humanity did, and in fact kept only the bad stuff and got rid of the good stuff. Except sunsets.

Then of course, enter Rebekah and Isaac and TACITUS. Why should we give a shit if they live though? Literally the only reason I would care at all is if some of the robots who chose not to murder innocents got to live as a result. Otherwise they can all just wipe each other out for all I cared. Almost all of them had innocent blood on their hands.

The way I see it is if you have to sell your soul to live, you're better off dying.

Honestly there is a lot more I could say but I will stop there. So as you can see I got pretty worked up, lol. It's a shame because there is so much I like about the way this author writes, but I can't trust that we will agree on an important (to me) perspective so won't read book 2 unless someone convinces me. (hide spoiler)] ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2019 Mitchell Friedman rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, artificial-intelligence, bc-powellssfgroup, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, library, liked-reviews, published-2017, four-star-science-fiction

Huh. An uneven book. A rollicking adventure. Absolutely brilliant at times. And a weak ending. A lot of interesting good details. And a real post-apocalyptic. But it's really almost all robots. And sometimes brutal psychopathic robots. Or something. Uncomfortable. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2021 Kaye rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, apocalypse_dystopia, ebooks, read-in-2021

I think I would have liked this more if I hadn't just read Day Zero, which seems to be a prequel to this book. What felt unique in that read felt repetitive here, the tough talk, the shootouts and small group triumphs against masses of evil robots. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 Kelly Roll rated it really liked it

Take a physical environment reminiscent of the mad max movies but set in the Midwest along with a protagonist reminiscent of Snake Plisskin that wonderful anti-hero from Escape from New York and you've got yourselves a heck of a great book.
In this case our anti hero is Brittle a loner robot who reluctantly steps into hero mode leading a band of fellow misfits across the sea of rust. One of the band has something that will make life better for those robots still free of two battling uber mainfra ...more

Like · see review

Jun 09, 2019 Jennifer rated it liked it

3.5 stars out of 5
Entertaining, sort of has a western vibe to it, but it was so anticlimactic. The robots are more human like than anything, which could be a few things. Either a reflection of how technology based humans have gotten or how robotic humans can be. The robots are too human like in the way they act and think so at points you forget you are reading about robots. Maybe that is the point though?

Like · see review