Echoes of Steel
Cameron Coral
364 pages
Dystopic Bliss Press
published on April 6th, 2025
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Echoes of Steel is the second book in the Robots & Ruins sci-fi series, about a rural community of humans & robots surviving post-apocalyptic America after an AI uprising destroyed the world as we know it. This series is a continuation of the six-book Rusted Wasteland adventures, so I strongly recommend starting there to fully understand who’s who, although you do get some recap of earlier events if you are determined to delve into this one first. I’ve read and loved all seven of the earlier books, and think that this one is one of the best yet.
After Vault’s Promise made teenage Wally the main character, a human clone rescued from an evil AI’s lab as a baby, this one has loveable CleanerBot Block at the centre again. This is set a year or two on, and has Wally, now fifteen and feeling more secure in her relationships with her robot Dad and her peers at the Deer Valley school, suddenly discovering she can communicate with animals. Block is happily running the town’s hotel, but when a new guest with a sinister agenda checks in, keeping the lobby sparkling is soon the least of his worries…
This is such a fun series, suitable for both kids and adults, and would make awesome TV! This is told from the perspective of Wally, Block, and newcomer Valerie, a grieving doctor with vengeance on her mind. Once again the robot characters behave much more humanely than the actual humans, and their loyalty and courage in the face of chronic prejudice from the townspeople was quite moving. There’s a subplot about Wally and her fellow clones developing superpowers, which could’ve been developed more – hopefully this will happen in future books. Looking forward to continuing the story! Thanks to Cameron Coral for the ARC.
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