"This book will make you hungry. It will also keep you warm." —Becky Chambers
Third Place Books is delighted to welcome acclaimed science fiction writer Annalee Newitz for a presentation of their new book, Automatic Noodle — a novella following a group of robots who, through community, care, and gumption, open a restaurant serving the tastiest noodles around to the human survivors of a devastating war. Newitz will be joined in conversation by University of Washington professor and robot law expert Ryan Calo.
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About Automatic Noodle. . .
You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.
But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.
Praise for Automatic Noodle. . .
"This is a story—about building community despite adversity, fighting for your rights and individuality, and creating art that you want to see in the world—that I didn't know I needed right now. And it was so much fun to read!”
—Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries and Witch King
"Newitz packs this tale with simmering action, endearing characters, and political savvy, topping it all off with generous dollops of humor and imagination. It’s delicious."
—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
"This sweet, heart (and stomach) warming novella is a certified cozy read, rich with meaning for queer readers, enjoyably familiar to San Francisco lovers. Perfect for fans both of Becky Chambers' Monk & Robot series and Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes.... Newitz has gifted sf readers with a hopeful, postapocalyptic found-family tale."
—Booklist (starred review)
Annalee Newitz (they/them) writes science fiction and nonfiction. They are the nationally bestselling author of the books Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age and Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, and the novels The Terraformers (a Nebula Award finalist), The Future of Another Timeline (winner of the Sidewise Award), and Autonomous (winner of a Lambda Literary Award). As a science journalist, they are a writer for the New York Times and elsewhere, and have a monthly column in New Scientist. They have published in The Washington Post, Slate, Popular Science, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, among others. They are also the co-host of the three-time Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct. Previously, they were the founder of io9, and served as the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo. They have two black cats named Infrared and Ultraviolet, and they love noodles.
Ryan Calo is the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor at the University of Washington School of Law. He is a founding co-director of the interdisciplinary UW Tech Policy Lab and a co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Professor Calo holds a joint appointment at the Information School and an adjunct appointment at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering.
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For media or access inquiries, please email
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