Eric Wagoner 📚 reviewed Rosebud by Paul Cornell
A Short, Weird, Slow Read I'll Definitely Read Again
4 stars
"The crew of the Rosebud are, currently, and by force of law, a balloon, a goth with a swagger stick, some sort of science aristocrat possibly, a ball of hands, and a swarm of insects."
This sentence got me to add this novella to my to-read pile. Nothing in the story is less weird than that, so buckle up!
There's a lot packed into this little story. Tiny spaceships, time travel, parallel universes, corporate overreach, and a fierce defense of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- even if the person pursuing their happiness happens to be trans.
It was a slow read for me, partly because it took my brain a while to process all the weirdness, and partly because I wanted to savor it. I've not read anything quite like it before, and I'm going to hold onto it and read it again. Maybe even soon.
If that sentence I quoted above has you intrigued, then by all means give it a go. I don't think you'd be disappointed.