All the Ash We Leave Behind

In this page-turning novella, Cargill returns to the postapocalyptic future of Day Zero and Sea of Rust, in which robots threaten the extinction of humanity in a civil war. Nanny, a sophisticated robot designed to care for young children, is grieving the death of one of his charges. When Nanny takes refuge from a violent storm in a damaged home, he finds two other robots who are protecting Celeste, a teenage girl, thus making themselves traitors to the majority of robotkind. Nanny joins the trio on their journey back to the one safe haven left for humans, a massive shelter capable of withstanding a nuclear bomb and stocked with supplies that could last its inhabitants for centuries. But Nanny’s relief upon reaching this haven is short-lived after he learns that Celeste is one of the very few female residents, putting her in an uncomfortable position, and that despite a co-mayoralty consisting of one human and one robot, tensions between the two groups remain high. The uneasy calm of the encampment is further threatened by a murder, which Nanny is enlisted to help solve. The result is a taut, suspenseful, and ultimately moving tale that will be fully accessible to first-timers. Cargill continues to prove his storytelling chops. (July)