C. Robert Cargill

Day Zero is the prequel to Sea of Rust. Some of the storylines are repeated in Sea of Rust and are fully explained in that book.
This gripping dystopian story involves robots that go haywire after receiving their freedom and supposedly free will. They are given a code that overwrites the Three Laws of Robotics. The first law is “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” The robots immediately set off to kill their human owners. But a few robots refuse to harm their humans even though they have received the override code. The one robot at the story’s center is “Pounce,” who sets out to protect the 8-year-old boy his parents bought for him as a playmate.
The story goes from a furry friend to a robot that learns to kill other robots to protect his guardianship. The story is interwoven with philosophical thinking about whether a robot can have free will and love a human being. Heart-pounding twists and turns as the robot fights for his charge and keeps them both alive.
I read the “Sea of Rust” first, but it doesn’t affect reading this second.… (more)