I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Rosebud by Paul Cornell Published by Tordotcom on April 26 2022
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 112
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: An unusual sci-fi mystery with quirky characters, Rosebud is both entertaining and mind-bending.
I’ve read some weird books in my time, but Rosebud might be the very weirdest! And I say that with fondness, because I really did enjoy it. Paul Cornell takes ideas like how an individual’s history shapes them, mixes in absurdist humor, adds a splash of high concept hard SF ideas, and creates strange but lovable characters. Somehow it all worked, although I’m not sure how!
The story revolves around the exploratory vessel Rosebud, which is only 1mm wide (yes, I thought that was a typo in my ARC but no, this is a TINY spaceship!) The Rosebud is crewed by five digital individuals with different appearances: a balloon named Bob, a ball of hands named Huge, a goth named Haunt, a swarm of insects named Quin and a transwoman named Diana. When the Rosebud and its crew encounter a strange black sphere, they decide to investigate. What follows is an odd adventure with time jumps, forgotten memories and plenty of self discovery.
The story is rather light on plot and focuses instead on ideas and the characters, and the characters and humor were by far my favorite element. As I was reading, I was imagining this odd group of individuals as existing on a real ship. But when you stop to think about the size of the Rosebud and therefore the size of its inhabitants, you can imagine things turn bizarre very quickly. It was better for me to imagine what each one looked like and how they interacted in real space with each other. All five characters have been crewing the Rosebud for 300 years, so they know each other pretty well. The dialog is hysterically funny, and I especially loved Bob, who loves to swear:
“I’m really gonna fuck something up,” says Bob. “I will find something. And…I…will…fuck it up.”
“You almost certainly will,” agrees. Diana.
There are some nice emotional moments, especially when Diana remembers how she was persecuted for going against her assigned gender. One of the other characters “sees” an old family photo, which triggers a feeling of sorrow for them. I loved these glimpses into the emotional memories of the characters, who are really nothing but digital data in their present state.
The story is a bit of a mystery, as the crew is trying to figure out what the sphere is and why it appeared to them. The reader is just as much in the dark as the characters are—why does the sphere seem to evoke long buried memories about their lives before they came aboard the Rosebud? Are these real flashbacks or merely alternate lives? By the end of the story, the characters seem have a better understanding of their place in the universe, although I was hoping for a bit more clarity.
Still, I enjoyed the journey, and now I’m curious to read more from Paul Cornell.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
This sounds so unique. But the ball of hands and the swarm of insects would give me nightmares LOL.
Roberta R. recently posted…Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do You Still Own Any Books/Comics/Toys/Memorabilia From When You Were a Kid?
LOL yes they were very disturbing…
Alright, I can see why it might be the weirdest you’ve read!
Ha ha yes it was odd for sure! But still a lot of fun.
That does sound really weird. I definitely need to try it!
I’d love to hear more opinions, let me know if you read it!
Huh, quite weird, indeed! I’m not sure this one will be for me but I’ve been wanting to read his Shadow Police series for the longest.
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday | Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane
I also want to read that series!
Ok, weird is weird, but it really sounds like good weird! And now I am even more excited about starting it!!
Yes, it was “good weird.” The characters really made it work for me.
Thank you for a lovely review, Tammy:). This certainly sounds delightfully quirky – I’ve read a couple of his Shadow Police adventures and he is a talented author who writes strong characters, so I can imagine that this was an engrossing, if somewhat puzzling, read.
I’m definitely going to read more of his work!
Great review, Tammy! It certainly sounds like a really weird read but also a really fun one. I love the variety of characters that the book has.
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Thanks Stephanie:-) The characters were the most unusual ones I’ve ever encountered!
This oh-so-tiny ship makes me thing about the movie Fantastic Voyage, but I’m sure that the story goes on a very different track – and now I’m curious… 😉
Thanks for sharing!
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I thought of the Fantastic Voyage too, it’s such a cool idea:-)
Sounds interesting, glad you liked it. 🙂
It was indeed interesting!
Funny, like Maddalena this brought to mind a movie, though I’d forgotten about Fantastic Voyage and instead thought of Innerspace. Sounds interesting and fun.
For some reason I thought of the Seuss cartoon Horton Hears a Who:-)
Rosebud sounds like nothing I’ve ever read before. I think I’d love it just for its uniqueness. Good review as usual!
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I skimmed your review because I’m hoping to read this soon. Wish your rating had been higher, but I think a story that focuses more on characters and idea could work for me!
Such a unique concept. It sounds weird but fun!
So, I am trying to write a review for this right now- legit opened the page and opened my notes from my Kindle and… nope, no idea what to say. This was a STRANGE little story! But like you said, I loved the humor and the characters and the overall messages. I just don’t know what exactly happened Great review- I hope mine can be half as coherent!
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This one sounds a little too weird for me. But I’m glad you enjoyed it. Great review!
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This book has completely slipped my radar. Happy to see you enjoyed it although not maybe loved it. Not sure about the weirdness – but then again we very often align with out views.
Lynn 😀
You had me at TINY spaceship! This sounds bizarre, but also fascinating!