I am trying to get to a lot more novellas this year, which means the lot of you will have to put up with some quickfire reviews about some quickfire books. Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz, is a short 200-page novella about a near-future American dystopia where a collection of abandoned service robots open a noodle restaurant.
While San Francisco rebuilds from the fallout of the second civil war, a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen are hoping to remain undetected. Abandoned by tech startup douchebag humans, none of them are looking to rejoin the ranks of mindless automatons working for a shitty dude with a new get rich quick scheme. They devise a plan to remain undetected and independent. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot and start producing some of the city’s tastiest hand-pulled noodles. Can this ragtag group of bots remain hidden, learn to cook, and run a successful culinary business in the wake of a war?
Automatic Noodle is succinct and has no filler, which I greatly appreciate in a novella. The reviewer blurbs paint the story as a cozy future science fiction, which initially turned me off. I get the sense that this description was just marketing tactics because, despite having some warm and fuzzy tropes (like found family and power through friendship), the subtext of this novella is dark (and smart). I read this novella back in March, and every day the current US administration inches us closer to the reality described in the background of this story. While the robots and their noodle spot were cute and fun, the backdrop to their struggles is absolutely not, and Newitz struck an incredible balance of juxtaposing the pains of society with the journey of the bots.
Each of the bots was extremely lovable and brimming with personality. I appreciated that each had its own distinct appearance, design, original purpose, and journey. It gives the reader a nice canvas to imagine all the different forms robotics might take in the future, and how that work might influence a budding AI coming to terms with its consciousness and independence. Their chemistry felt both distinctly human and other, depending on the context, and it put in a lot of legwork to help me imagine a different form of existence, something I always look for in these stories.
The cornerstone themes of the novella revolve around the concept of identity and the meaning of freedom in a country that has a very turbulent history with both. It is very easy to imagine that some of the arcane laws and situations put forth by Newitz in Automic Noodle could be just around the corner for the current America, and her reflections on the situation were thoughtful and illuminating.
The bots become a little family as they support and encourage each other through this intimidating venture, and I was rooting so hard for them! There were many heartwarming moments throughout, such as Hands the robot discovering packets of Ramen noodles for the first time and realizing a love for the culinary arts.
The ending to Automic Noodle felt a little abrupt, but I also think it made the smart move of telling its story and wrapping up. Overall, the novella showcased what I want from all self-described “cozy” stories, which is friendship, love, and hope, juxtaposed with thematically heavy context. I think the novella was excellent, and most importantly, it made me extremely hungry for the food on display in the story. If your reader isn’t googling where to find hand-pulled noodles after your novella, can you even call it a success?
Rating: Automic Noodle – 8.5/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
