RoseHouse, Arkady Martine
RoseHouse, Arkady Martine
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Rose/House

Author: Arkady Martine

Narrator: Raquel Beattie

Unabridged: 4 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/05/2024

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

Basit Deniau's houses were haunted to begin with.

A house embedded with an artificial intelligence is a common thing: a house that is an artificial intelligence, infused with a thinking creature that is not human? That is something else. But now Deniau's been dead a year, and Rose House is locked up tight, as commanded by the architect's will: all his possessions and files and sketches are confined in its archives, and their only keeper is Rose House itself. Rose House, and one other.

Dr. Selene Gisil, one of Deniau's former protégé, is permitted to come into Rose House once a year. Until this week, Dr. Gisil was the only person whom Rose House spoke to.

But even an animate intelligence that haunts a house has some failsafes common to all AIs. For instance: all AIs must report the presence of a dead body to the nearest law enforcement agency.

There is a dead person in Rose House. 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.

No one can get inside Rose House, except Dr. Gisil. And someone died there. And someone may be there still.

About Arkady Martine

Arkady Martine is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. Under both names she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Her debut novel, A Memory Called Empire, won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, won the 2022 Hugo Award in the same category. Arkady grew up in New York City, and after some time in Turkey, Canada, Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in New Mexico with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw.


Reviews

This just confirms I'll read whatever Arkady Martine wants to write! Rose/House is a sci-fi thriller and murder mystery about an AI house created by a famous, now deceased architect. Only one woman, his former protege, is allowed entry to the house and its archives for 7 days a year, but she's in an......more

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on March 23, 2025

4.0 Stars This is an interesting sci fi thriller that blends together horror themes inside the framework of a science fiction novel. I appreciate the cerebral nature of this author's work. The writing is simple yet well crafted. I always enjoy the themes surrounding artificial intelligence, especially......more

Goodreads review by Justine on May 21, 2023

2.5 stars I loved the premise and the writing, but the way the story eventually unfolded (or didn’t) left me feeling lukewarm about this. I didn’t actively dislike it, so I don’t feel I can go too far below 3 stars on that account. However, in the end, reading Rose House felt like filling time. For me......more

Goodreads review by Christina on March 19, 2023

If you enjoyed Arkady Martine’s writing style and sci fi themes in her Teixcalaan series, you need to pick up Rose/House. This short novella is big in themes of AI and personhood, of artistic ownership and the lies we tell ourselves and others in order to advance our own agendas. We’re mainly told t......more

Goodreads review by myo on April 29, 2025

i’m so scared of ai so this was kinda freaky......more