What have you been reading or listening to lately?
Check Official Bingo Challenge Post and the accompanying Recommendations Post for our Bingo for 2026!
What have you been reading or listening to lately?
Check Official Bingo Challenge Post and the accompanying Recommendations Post for our Bingo for 2026!
I just finished Automatic Noodle, Annalee Newitz, which was pretty okay. The themes about trans and marginalized groups rights were well done with the robot analog. Unfortunately I thought the dialogue was cringey at times and I never resonated with any of the characters. I enjoyed the setting and world building, but the length and rushed pace of the piece compounded my negative feelings.
Currently reading A Parade of Horribles, Matt Dinniman, which I’m enjoying but feel like the zaniness is maybe getting out of hand? Well see, only a quarter in.
Oh yeah, automatic noodle left me wishing there’d be more done with that world!
I felt that way about her book Autonomous. I thought her message about autonomy was great, but the book got a little cringy at times. I’m still happy I read it and I will recommend it to folks I think will enjoy it, but it was a bit underwhelming.
The part that was really cringy for me was
Spoiler
When one of the characters was helping the bot aim correctly at a shooting range, then he got a hard on from shooting the bot’s gun. Just kinda weird.