Review: Automatic Noodle

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've noticed a recent trend of "cozy" books, which means a book emphasizing neither worldbuilding or plot, but focusing on characterization and lower-key, more personal stakes. This may not be the classic definition, but that's what it feels like to me. Becky Chambers belongs in this little sub-genre, for example, and of course there's Travis Baldree's breakout hit, Legends and Latees.

Having said that, I think it's pretty easy to write something mediocre in this little sub-genre, and a lot of the ones I've seen are just that: a comfort read to while away a few hours that starts fading from your mind the instant you close the back cover. Not that this is a bad thing, if you as the reader need the temporary distraction. But I think it's possible to write a cozy with a little more depth that is nevertheless a soothing, sweet story, and I think this book manages it.

It helps greatly that this is a novella with only 160 pages. There isn't room to take a deep dive into what seems like a second American Civil War, with California seceding (and one would think Oregon and Washington would follow suit, as well as New York, Massachusetts and other Northeastern states, but like I said, there isn't time to get into that). The causes of the war are also not delved into, although the implication is that it had something to do with the civil rights of robots--which are everywhere in this near-future. In fact, our four main characters, Staybehind, Sweetie, Hands and Cayenne, are robots. Staybehind is a burly, bipedal ex-war machine, Sweetie is a tripod-legged, human looking from the waist up android who is creepily decked out with blond hair and breasts, Cayenne is an eight-armed octopus form, and Hands is a meter-tall, vaguely Dalek-seeming round big-armed barrel. All these robots are working in a restaurant when the owners flee the city (San Francisco in the last days of the war) and shut down the establishment, including the robots who are their indentured servants. But six months later, a storm sweeps the neighborhood where the restaurant is located, and the building's flooding awakens Staybehind via his military protocols. (And it's odd that all four characters have gender, but apparently in this future, at least in California, robots are allowed to choose their gender.) Staybehind then reboots the other three, who band together first to survive, and then to reopen the restaurant and turn it into a noodle shop.

That's the entire plot, such as it is. The story is the four robots--and one homeless human they take in--coming together to make their restaurant succeed. The obstacles, such as they are, are humans on the so-called Vigilance Committee who don't think robots should be doing anything of the sort, and review-bomb the Authentic Noodle (as the restaurant is first named, although it gradually becomes known as the titular Automatic Noodle). There isn't another war to force California to rejoin the Union, or riots or further bombs going off--the city's remaining residents, both human and robot, are shown coming together to rebuild it. The Automatic Noodle slowly becomes an anchor point in the entire community, with equal focus on humans and robots:

It didn't take long before Lemon's bot sewing circle started meeting in the restaurant on Thursday night. All of them referred to the place as Automatic Noodle. Lemon's friends were generous with embroidery advice for Staybehind, and Cayenne was pleased to discover that they also donated whatever Nortons they could afford, in thanks to the restaurant for holding space. Next, Sweetie organized a Tuesday game night for bots, and Sloan [a sapient self-driving car] volunteered to curate a Saturday media night. He was especially keen on the old TV series Friends, which he insisted was the first show written entirely by LLM.

(That got a laugh-out-loud chuckle from me, by the way.)

None of this would work if it wasn't for the characterization. Staybehind is carrying around a traumatic memory from the last days of the war, and begins to move past it; Sweetie takes steps to remake her appearance into what she wants to look like, not the sexbot look her creators saddled her with; Hands attains his dream of becoming a master chef; and Cayenne, the financial guru of Automatic Noodle, makes real progress on paying off his indenture and attaining his independence. The four of them are also creating a found family and community, and the entire book is a love letter to that and making delicious food. (I had never heard of biang biang noodles before this, but they definitely sound like something to check out.)

All of which goes to show you can create a compelling story without much of a plot, if you do it right. I don't think this tale would work at novel length, but the novella format suits it perfectly. I wish I could find more cozys like this, as it might make me like the sub-genre more, but this one is one to check out.


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