Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

TL;DR: Cozy and bright, I really enjoyed this one.
Source: NetGalley, thank you to the publisher!

Plot: A crew of AI bots create and run their own noodle shop in a post-war California.
Characters: Unique and fascinating take on what AI could be like one day.
Setting: San Francisco but make it post-war with America.
Science Fiction: It’s light on the details besides the AI existing.

Thoughts:

I absolutely love new takes on the idea of AI and robotics. We have seen so much fear driven fiction that leads to the conclusion it will all be bad and terrible. Yet more and more we see authors say ‘What if they really are more like us than we think they will be?’. The idea that they’d rather watch their shows (thanks Murderbot) or in this case cook. It’s my favorite trope.

Automatic Noodle follows a group of bots who wake up after being abandoned by the corporation that owns their contracts. After speaking with the AI’s that control the contracts they get themselves setup as an independent shop and they being making noodles.

Each has their own unique personality, and each voice is clear. Not only that but each has their own history, likes, dislikes, etc that leads you to just loving them as characters. I especially adored the way we peeked at love between these characters. All of this was fantastic.

It’s cozy, low stakes and I would 100% gobble up anything more in this world or setting if Annalee Newitz decided to write it. I can’t recommend this enough for my fellow cozy readers, and in general if you want something with these vibes. What a great read.