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Paul Cornell: Rosebud (Paperback, 2022, Tordotcom) 4 stars

A multilayered, locked-room science fiction novella from Paul Cornell in which five digital beings unravel …

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.