Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collections
Publication
Soft Cryptid (2019), 116 pages
Description
Fiction. Romance. Science Fiction. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML: 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... A F/F retro-future sci-fi asexual romance. A story about artificial intelligence and real kindness, about love, and the feeling of watching steam rising softly from a teacup on a bright and quiet morning..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member quondame
Girl meets robot/AI over tea. What's not to love?
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Well, I didn't realise quite how short this book was when I downloaded a copy, which is my fault, but even with longer to establish the characters, I'm not sure I would have taken to them. Computer programmer Clara, who works with RAISEs, or not-human-enough-to-deserve-rights artificially
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intelligent companions, moves to Seattle and meets Sal, one of the few remaining androids who has been running her previous owner's coffee shop for nearly 300 years. Sal is being hounded of out town, Clara is looking for a reason to stay. They find each other. Much psychoanalysis follows. Ehhh. Show Less
LibraryThing member pwaites
The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a light, refreshing read that manages to be sweet without becoming saccharine.
Sal is one of the few remaining sentient AIs, as their creation was banned centuries before. Sal’s passed the years with a steady routine, running an old fashioned tea shop for what’s been
Clara is a technician who specializes in the programming of non-sentient AI companions. She’s a restless sort of person who never likes to stay very long in any one place. When she comes to Seattle, she finds Sal’s tea shop, and she brings some unexpected change into Sal’s life.
The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a quick story; I read it in the span of an hour between two of my classes. It’s listed as a novella, but at only sixty-seven pages, I’m not sure if it would actually qualify as a novelette. Anyway, it’s a book I guarantee can be read in one day.
What drew me to The Cybernetic Tea Shop was the knowledge that Clara was asexual. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a f/f asexual romance, and The Cybernetic Tea Shop is one that kept popping up as a recommendation. The word is never used, but Clara describes herself such that it’s clear she is ace. Part of me wonders if there’s some sort of pattern in SFF stories with ace romances of the ace person falling in love with a ghost or a robot or someone else where sex isn’t really an option anyway. I don’t think it’s a fault of The Cybernetic Tea Shop, but it’s a pattern I think I’m going to keep my eye on.
The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a lovely, quiet science fiction story about grief and moving on with life. If that sounds like your cup of tea, than I suggest giving it a read.
Review from The Illustrated Page
Sal is one of the few remaining sentient AIs, as their creation was banned centuries before. Sal’s passed the years with a steady routine, running an old fashioned tea shop for what’s been
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almost three hundred years. The tea shop belonged to a woman she loved, and she keeps the shop going as a sort of shrine to her.Clara is a technician who specializes in the programming of non-sentient AI companions. She’s a restless sort of person who never likes to stay very long in any one place. When she comes to Seattle, she finds Sal’s tea shop, and she brings some unexpected change into Sal’s life.
The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a quick story; I read it in the span of an hour between two of my classes. It’s listed as a novella, but at only sixty-seven pages, I’m not sure if it would actually qualify as a novelette. Anyway, it’s a book I guarantee can be read in one day.
What drew me to The Cybernetic Tea Shop was the knowledge that Clara was asexual. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a f/f asexual romance, and The Cybernetic Tea Shop is one that kept popping up as a recommendation. The word is never used, but Clara describes herself such that it’s clear she is ace. Part of me wonders if there’s some sort of pattern in SFF stories with ace romances of the ace person falling in love with a ghost or a robot or someone else where sex isn’t really an option anyway. I don’t think it’s a fault of The Cybernetic Tea Shop, but it’s a pattern I think I’m going to keep my eye on.
The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a lovely, quiet science fiction story about grief and moving on with life. If that sounds like your cup of tea, than I suggest giving it a read.
Review from The Illustrated Page
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LibraryThing member kevn57
Great SF novella about intolerance. The more intolerance I see in fiction or in the world the more I hate it. But here's a real zen koan for you, if you hate intolerance do you hate intolerant people, and if you do hate them doesn't that make you intolerant. Anyways I really enjoyed the story as I
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like tea and Ai, but even if you don't it still is a great story. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tikimoof
It was fine. I just don't particularly care for slice-of-life.
Also in the current climate I have many angry screaming opinions about this "utopian" future and insurance and crime prevention and how people qualify as people (and how do Sal's actual AI aspects get stored if not as
Also in the current climate I have many angry screaming opinions about this "utopian" future and insurance and crime prevention and how people qualify as people (and how do Sal's actual AI aspects get stored if not as
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like...self-generated code?), but that's probably not the author's fault. Show Less
LibraryThing member psalva
This was a cute, wholesome novella. Clara is a technician specializing in repairing AIs. She has wanderlust and ends up in Seattle with her Raise hummingbird companion. There, she meets Sal, an autonomous robot who's been running a tea shop for nearing 300 years. Their relationship develops into a
Overall, this was a light read. It was breath of fresh air and was a great night-time read to wind down before bed.
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romantic partnership (Clara is asexual), and Clara helps Sal deal with increasingly frequent attacks on the tea shop from anti-robot criminals. Overall, this was a light read. It was breath of fresh air and was a great night-time read to wind down before bed.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
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
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.
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
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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.
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LibraryThing member KJC__
An itinerant AI repair technician (with a robot parrot companion) meets a robot who has been running a tea shop for hundreds of years. They fall in love and that's about it. I didn't really like it, there just wasn't much action to it.
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
Lovely little story. It's quite short, I wouldn't have minded a full length book. It tenons me a bit of the Monk and Robot series of Becky Chambers, and of her Wayfarers series.
LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
This is a lighthearted ace (asexual) romance between a human and an AI. I found it to be simple and sweet, though maybe a little less cozy than I imagined. I could have done with a few more tea shop vibes to really set the mood. I felt the ace rep was done well without having to overstate every
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detail. I think maybe I just expected a bigger impact, or a bit more detail (I don't think I knew it was a novella going in), so I was left a little underwhelmed. But if you're looking for something short and generally cheerful, I'd recommend this. If this became a series of novellas about the characters, I would certainly read more. Show Less
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016 (Less Than Three Press)
2019-07-30 (Soft Cryptid)
Physical description
116 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
198964614X / 9781989646144