Novella Review – The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult (appropriate for YA)
Genre: Science Fiction/Cyberpunk
Length: 118 pages
Publisher: Soft Cryptid
Release Date: July 30, 2019
ASIN: B07VXCLNST
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought eBook for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Clara Gutierrez is an AI repair technician and a wanderer. Her childhood with her migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering for too long, so she moves from place to place across retro-futuristic America.
Sal is a fully autonomous robot. Older than the law declaring her kind illegal due to ethical concerns, she is at best out of place in society and at worst vilified. She continues to run the tea shop previously owned by her long-dead master, lost in memories of the past, struggling to fulfill her master’s dream for the shop while slowly breaking down.
They meet by chance, but as they begin to spend time together, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on…”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I bought a copy of this book for my Kindle.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this short, yet fun, story about an AI repair technician, Clara, and a robot who runs a tea shop, Sal. This took place in an intriguing world and was a fun story about finding purpose, a place to belong, and companionship.
Clara moves around a lot; her upbringing just left her uncomfortable with staying in one place too long. Sal is a fully autonomous robot who hasn’t gone anyplace for centuries; her owner had a dream that the tea shop would still be around 300 years later and Sal wants to make that dream come true even though her owner has been dead for a very long time. The two end up crossing paths and find out they can support and help each other.
This was a quick and fun read. I loved the futuristic cyberpunk setting, which was softer than most cyberpunk books out there. AI is around and humans use something called Raises to help them through everyday life. However, fully sentient robots stopped being built long ago because of the implications and pushback from humanity. Sal, as a sentient robot who is “leftover”, faces some challenging day to day issues around her continued existence.
This definitely falls in the cozy fantasy (sci-fi?) genre. Sal’s tea shop is cozy and wonderful but she herself is sad. Clara is alone and doesn’t feel like she belongs but loves her work. The two together find that they can support each other emotionally (and mechanically) and find a new purpose in life. I wish it was a longer story and would have loved to read more about Sal and Clara’s adventures.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this a lot. This is a fun and cozy, feel good read. It has a unique futuristic setting and the characters are instantly engaging. I read this in one sitting and it took me about an hour to read. I really enjoyed it and plan on checking to see what else Katz has written. I would recommend if you enjoy cozy reads and enjoy stories about AI.
