Official Author Website
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Arkady Martine is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. Under both names she writes about border politics, narrative and rhetoric, risk communication, and the edges of the world.
She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where she works on climate change mitigation, energy grid modernization, and resiliency planning. Her debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, won the 2022 Hugo Award in the same category. Arkady grew up in New York City, and after some time in Turkey, Canada, Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in New Mexico with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.
FORMAT/INFO: Rose/House was published by Subterranean Press on March 30th, 2023. It is 128 pages. It is told in third person from multiple POVs. It is available in ebook format.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Ever since the death of famed architect Basit Deniau, Rose House has been sealed to the public. Deniau's will decreed that only his protégé Dr. Selene Gisil could have access to the house, an order that has been enforced by the AI that is built into every wall and beam and tile of the building. It has been months since Dr. Gisil has visited Rose House, and yet one day, the police contact her to inform her that the AI of Rose House has reported a dead body on the premises. Only with Dr. Gisil's help can Detective Maritza Smith hope to investigate who managed to break into the house - and more importantly, who killed them.
Rose/House is an interesting premise that doesn't have nearly enough runway to deliver. I desperately wish this novella had been twice as long, because all the right pieces are there: a locked house mystery, an atmospheric and creepy AI, a detective trying to navigate its interaction with that AI to get the pieces she needs to solve the crime. Unfortunately, the novella is so overstuffed with plot elements that the dreamlike prose renders the story more muddled than haunting.
There were parts of this book I really liked. The author manages to deftly paint a picture of the state of the world a few hundred years in the future, describing certain automated services, an increase in water theft as the primary source of crime, and other little details that immediately gives you a sense of place. The detective's interaction with the AI itself is clever, first in how the detective convinces the AI of a loophole that gains her access to Rose House, and then in how the detective reads between the lines of what the AI is or isn't saying, or what things interest the AI to discuss. It reminded me a little bit of Alex Garland's movie Ex Machina, where a human and an AI have several conversations together, where the human is trying to feel out the rules for how the AI processes information.
But even those good moments feel rushed when there's another detective outside the house discovering new details about who could have been involved in the murder, a third party who is also trying to gain access to the house, and Dr. Gisil is processing some very complicated feelings about her relationship with the architect Deniau. Add on top of that some very flowery prose, and I struggled at times to tell where the book was going, what the end point or goal was.
CONCLUSION: Rose/House has a lot of promise, but for me at least, the pieces didn't come together into a cohesive whole. This felt like a book that needed more time to simply "sit" with the atmosphere, to let the strange, ghost-like AI unnerve you and get under your skin. Instead, it felt like a rushed dream that didn't make its intentions clear.
She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where she works on climate change mitigation, energy grid modernization, and resiliency planning. Her debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, won the 2022 Hugo Award in the same category. Arkady grew up in New York City, and after some time in Turkey, Canada, Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in New Mexico with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.
FORMAT/INFO: Rose/House was published by Subterranean Press on March 30th, 2023. It is 128 pages. It is told in third person from multiple POVs. It is available in ebook format.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Ever since the death of famed architect Basit Deniau, Rose House has been sealed to the public. Deniau's will decreed that only his protégé Dr. Selene Gisil could have access to the house, an order that has been enforced by the AI that is built into every wall and beam and tile of the building. It has been months since Dr. Gisil has visited Rose House, and yet one day, the police contact her to inform her that the AI of Rose House has reported a dead body on the premises. Only with Dr. Gisil's help can Detective Maritza Smith hope to investigate who managed to break into the house - and more importantly, who killed them.
Rose/House is an interesting premise that doesn't have nearly enough runway to deliver. I desperately wish this novella had been twice as long, because all the right pieces are there: a locked house mystery, an atmospheric and creepy AI, a detective trying to navigate its interaction with that AI to get the pieces she needs to solve the crime. Unfortunately, the novella is so overstuffed with plot elements that the dreamlike prose renders the story more muddled than haunting.
There were parts of this book I really liked. The author manages to deftly paint a picture of the state of the world a few hundred years in the future, describing certain automated services, an increase in water theft as the primary source of crime, and other little details that immediately gives you a sense of place. The detective's interaction with the AI itself is clever, first in how the detective convinces the AI of a loophole that gains her access to Rose House, and then in how the detective reads between the lines of what the AI is or isn't saying, or what things interest the AI to discuss. It reminded me a little bit of Alex Garland's movie Ex Machina, where a human and an AI have several conversations together, where the human is trying to feel out the rules for how the AI processes information.
But even those good moments feel rushed when there's another detective outside the house discovering new details about who could have been involved in the murder, a third party who is also trying to gain access to the house, and Dr. Gisil is processing some very complicated feelings about her relationship with the architect Deniau. Add on top of that some very flowery prose, and I struggled at times to tell where the book was going, what the end point or goal was.
CONCLUSION: Rose/House has a lot of promise, but for me at least, the pieces didn't come together into a cohesive whole. This felt like a book that needed more time to simply "sit" with the atmosphere, to let the strange, ghost-like AI unnerve you and get under your skin. Instead, it felt like a rushed dream that didn't make its intentions clear.
3:00 AM | 
Posted by
Caitlin G. |
Labels:
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
SPFBO 8 Finalist Review: Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson
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Read FBC's interview with Quenby
AUTHOR INFO: Quenby Olson lives in Central Pennsylvania where she spends most of her time writing, glaring at baskets of unfolded laundry, and chasing the cat off the kitchen counters. She lives with her husband and children, who do nothing to dampen her love of classical ballet, geeky crochet, and staying up late to watch old episodes of Doctor Who.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/QuenbyOlson
Website: https://quenbyolson.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QEisenacher
SPFBO Finalist Interview: Quenby Olson, the author of Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons
Read FBC's interview with Quenby
AUTHOR INFO: Quenby Olson lives in Central Pennsylvania where she spends most of her time writing, glaring at baskets of unfolded laundry, and chasing the cat off the kitchen counters. She lives with her husband and children, who do nothing to dampen her love of classical ballet, geeky crochet, and staying up late to watch old episodes of Doctor Who.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/QuenbyOlson
Website: https://quenbyolson.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QEisenacher
AUTHOR INFO: Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed ten-book Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series, and other novels, novellas and short stories including Children of Time (which won the Arthur C. Clarke award in 2016), and its sequel, Children of Ruin (which won the British Science Fiction Award in 2020). He lives in Leeds in the UK and his hobbies include entomology and board and role-playing games.
Publisher: Solaris (March 28, 2023) Length: 208 pages Formats: ebook, paperback
AUTHOR INFO: KRR (Kyle Robert Redundant) Lockhaven started out writing humorous fantasy (hence the stupid name) but has found himself pulled in the direction of cozier writing. He lives in Washington State with his wife and two sons. When not writing or raising kids, he works as a firefighter/paramedic. A portion of all proceeds of his books goes to the Washington State Council of Firefighters Burn Foundation, which sponsors Camp Eyabsut, a summer camp for burn survivor kids where he has volunteered for the last 20 years.
The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lavanya Lakshminarayan is the award-winning author of Analog/ Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future, featured on Tor.com's Best Books of 2021 list. She’s a Locus Award finalist and is the first science-fiction writer to win the Times of India AutHer Award and the Valley of Words Award, and has also been nominated for the BSFA Award.
She’s occasionally a game designer, and has built worlds for Zynga Inc.’s FarmVille franchise, Mafia Wars, and other games. For more, follow her on Twitter: @lavanya_ln and Instagram: @lavanya.ln
Publisher: Solaris (March 28, 2023) Page count: 368
The Institute by Stephen King review
AUTHOR INFO: Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 10, 2019) Page count: 574 Formats: ebook, paperback, audiobook
Buy Wistful Ascending here - U.S. | U.K.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: JCM Berne was a geek long before anyone thought it was cool. A youth spent immersed in E.E. Smith, Micronauts, Bruce Lee, and Conan the Barbarian led to a lifelong obsession with martial arts and shonen manga. As an adult he spent more time than was strictly healthy wondering why Luke Cage never learned kung fu from his partner and whether joint locks would work on the Hulk, occasionally taking a break to enjoy some Bollywood films. Java developer by day, by night he ponders the future and past of Rohan of Earth and associates.
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