A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.
You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.
But when their robot-run …
A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.
You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.
But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com
Digital audio read by Em Grosland; unabridged; 4 h 13 m
Sprache: English
Am 5. August 2025 von Macmillan Audio veröffentlicht.
This was a cool short story.
Centered around the rights of robots. Mixed group get together and open a noodle restaurant.
I hope there's more coming because the story kinda trailed off leaving a lot left to cover just when I felt I was invested.
It’s about robots in San Francisco our newly liberated after a war that decide together to open bang bang noodle shop. They all have competing hopes and dreams and worries together they are able to find a way. It’s low stakes, comfy sci-fi with a heart.
It’s about robots in San Francisco our newly liberated after a war that decide together to open bang bang noodle shop. They all have competing hopes and dreams and worries together they are able to find a way. It’s low stakes, comfy sci-fi with a heart.
"Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz (@annaleen@wandering.shop) is a cozy, sci-fi novella with a lot of heart. Set in a war-ravaged San Francisco after Californian independence, the book follows a group of robots trying to start a restaurant serving hand-pulled biang biang noodles. In this world, robots with Human Equivalent intelligence have been granted Civil Rights by California. But their existence is limited - they can earn money but cannot have a bank account, vote, or reproduce. Through the experiences of these non-human characters, we see explorations about identity, community, and belonging in a world that resists recognizing the person-hood of those characters. The strength of the book is in its gentle world-building. Newitz does not hit you over the head with too much exposition (one of the big sins of a lot of speculative fiction). The author always keeps the focus on the interior lives of the robots …
"Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz (@annaleen@wandering.shop) is a cozy, sci-fi novella with a lot of heart. Set in a war-ravaged San Francisco after Californian independence, the book follows a group of robots trying to start a restaurant serving hand-pulled biang biang noodles. In this world, robots with Human Equivalent intelligence have been granted Civil Rights by California. But their existence is limited - they can earn money but cannot have a bank account, vote, or reproduce. Through the experiences of these non-human characters, we see explorations about identity, community, and belonging in a world that resists recognizing the person-hood of those characters. The strength of the book is in its gentle world-building. Newitz does not hit you over the head with too much exposition (one of the big sins of a lot of speculative fiction). The author always keeps the focus on the interior lives of the robots as they navigate a complex and exciting new world. Plus, the book is really fun. I enjoyed reading it and found myself smiling as I read. Definitely recommend the book!
On the surface, this is a story about a diverse group of adorable people (most of whom happen to be robots) taking care of each other while starting a hand-pulled #noodle shop. Slightly below the surface, and done with a lot of #kindness, Annalee Newitz does a wonderful job of putting the reader in a perspective to see how various kinds of #discrimination and #unskillful action make things unpleasant for everyone while at the same time showing that #handicraft, #compassion, and community-building have lovely results across the board.
