Automatic Noodle

A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.

An instant USA Today and indie bestseller!

Indie Next pick | Library Reads pick | Best of the Year at Elle, Gizmodo, Reactor, Library Journal, and more!

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.

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Published Aug 5, 2025

176 pages

Average rating: 6.95

78 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Sarah Habeeb
Dec 17, 2025
7/10 stars
This was so different than what I’m used too but I loved reading in the POV of robots trying to find their place in the world.
GenderClown
Jan 03, 2026
10/10 stars
So cute, big fan of a robot getting top surgery

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