![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Rose/House
Feb. 8th, 2026 11:31 amI really loved A Memory Called Empire, and its sequel A Desolation Called Peace, when I read it five years ago and it was my favourite book that year. So when Arkady Martine's novella Rose/House finally arrived in a format I could buy (English and Kindle or paperback) I got it.
"There is a dead person in Rose House. The house says so. It is not Basit Deniau [its deceased creator], and it is not Dr. Gisil [the only person allowed in]. It is someone else. Rose House, having completed its duty of care and informed Detective Maritza Smith of the China Lake police precinct that there is in fact a dead person inside it, dead of unnatural causes—has shut up."
And... it's fine, but a little disappointing. It's a bit shorter than I hoped and is much more concept than story. Plus I wanted a better ending. I liked Maritza, quite liked her police partner Torres and was OK about Dr Gisil but it felt unfinished and as though there should be more of it. An interesting take on an AI building but only a sketch rather than a whole picture.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52263339-rose-house
"There is a dead person in Rose House. The house says so. It is not Basit Deniau [its deceased creator], and it is not Dr. Gisil [the only person allowed in]. It is someone else. Rose House, having completed its duty of care and informed Detective Maritza Smith of the China Lake police precinct that there is in fact a dead person inside it, dead of unnatural causes—has shut up."
And... it's fine, but a little disappointing. It's a bit shorter than I hoped and is much more concept than story. Plus I wanted a better ending. I liked Maritza, quite liked her police partner Torres and was OK about Dr Gisil but it felt unfinished and as though there should be more of it. An interesting take on an AI building but only a sketch rather than a whole picture.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52263339-rose-house
