After the Machines. Episode Three: Descent

After the Machines #3

by Robert Stanek

Episode #3. The machines control our world. It’s time we took it back. In the ruins of our world, a new order arose, an order controlled by the very machines humankind created. The end for us came not from a massive global war but from something unthinkable, incomprehensible. The machines simply replaced us and we let them, and so, in the end, humanity went out not with a bang, but with a whimper. No shots fired. No bombs dropped. No cities destroyed. We ended and the machines began—or at least that is what the few human survivors of the machine apocalypse believe. ### To the machines, we became nothing—except maybe outsiders, if they considered us at all. Outsiders looking in on their reality, for the machines weren’t bothered by our existence, or at least, if they were, they weren’t bothered enough to bother us. They certainly didn’t seem to require anything of us or have any need of us at all—if they had needed us, they probably would have enslaved us. But they hadn’t. Enslaved us that is. The machines hadn’t done anything to us really. Except take over the world—and it was their world now. It certainly wasn’t ours. We were outsiders, strangers really. We looked in on their world. They didn’t acknowledge us. They probably didn’t even consider us a part of their world. Just as we didn’t consider the small things that crawled beneath our feet as part of our world. Matthew told us it wasn’t the machines who killed us. Matthew being the only one here now who remembered when we drove the automobiles, flew on the airplanes, and rode on cars behind the locomotives. He said most of us just died. Us being the human race. I didn’t believe that. I believed we died of neglect. The neglect of the machines. The machines who cared not enough to kill or enslave us. Luke would have called it benign neglect. Luke being the one who taught me to read and write my letters and words. He knew all the fancy words. He taught me everything really. He remembered—I didn’t. Don’t, really. These words—his really as much as my own. But Luke was gone. Is gone really, if you don’t mind me slipping into the present. Luke said it’s wrong to slip from past to present or present to past, but I do. The present is—and Luke isn’t. The past was—and sometimes I can see it. ### After the Machines is a story unlike any other you’ve ever read. It’s the story of us, the humans who struggle to survive in a world we no longer control.

Audible Audio

First published December 26, 2014

About the author

Also writes as William R. Stanek and William Robert Stanek.

Robert Stanek has been a writer for over 30 years and is the author of over 50 books. The most popular series by Robert Stanek include the Ruin Mist books, the Magic Lands books, the Bugville books, the Bugville Jr. books, and the Bugville Learning books which area all available via Amazon, Audible, Playaway, OverDrive, and more than two dozen other retail and library partners. Join Robert Stanek and 200,000 fans on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RobertStanekA....

Reviews

[James Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best sci-fi I've read in a long time

Way better than AG Riddle. A good dystopian story about a world where machines rule and humans are an afterthought. This is the story about what happens when people question the authority of the machines and try to make a place for humans. The characters and the plot are complex I was surprised at every twist and turn. I can't wait to read more by this author.

[Riley Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC

I'm loving this author and his fantastic books. Read this one straight through the night, after reading the previous one. The writing is everything you expect it to be and then some. If you read the previous two and thought things couldn't possibly get any better, read this one and brace yourself. WOW!!!

[Greg Fitzsimmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cedes is better than Katniss

Few characters have gripped my imagination like Cedes and Luke have, not even Katniss. The story is a pitch perfect mix of mystery, sci-fi and thrills. The growing romance between the two seems so right, you want them to win, even will them to while reading. So many times I forgot I was reading a book and completely lost myself.

[Matt Berns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Descent slips the reader ever deeper into the world of the machines. Here Like emerges as a character who is as vividly portrayed as Ceded, though Ceded remains my favorite character by far. If you haven't read this, you're missing out.

[Nick Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brave new world

Great sci-fi story. Well developed characters and an excellent storyline. Stanek takes readers deeper and deeper into this fascinating world of machines. It's haunting at times, stark and very real.

[Dakota Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Stars!

The author continues to surprise. The story of Cedes and Luke is spellbinding. By far the best dystopian I've read.

[Rebecca Vogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked!

I'm hooked! Couldn't put it down and couldn't stop thinking about Cedes and Luke. It's so hard these days to find a book that's this unpredictable and original. I LOVE IT!