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eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review against another edition
3.0
The premise and beginning of the story seemed to have a lot of promise and I was excited to read this book - but it fell somewhat flat in the end. Something with 'murder' in the title should give some resolution to the murder; this meandered off to be about the juror's learning curve. That's an OK story line, but what about the other plot lines and themes? They (and the readers) were left hanging.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, actually
This novelette takes two pretty interesting concepts and expounds on them through the POV of a kind of jerk male juror.
What if we sent jurors to resort destinations all expense paid but required them to watch testimony during that time?
What if we had "smart" kitchens that not only knew our basic nutritional requirements and could adjust according to our state of health but could also read our mood or "affect" and put in mood-altering serotonins?
As a thought experiment, this story kept me reading as our juror, sent to Acapulco, struggled with the restrictions based on jurors while he watched a murder trial where a woman is accused of poisoning her husband through food she cooked in a generative kitchen--food that the defense says was altered by the kitchen itself!
Very cool. On the other hand, the first thing I did not enjoy the male juror. At all. I cringed because he was a self-centered jerk, and I cringed because he kept getting himself into trouble by obviously misreading a woman's interest in him. Double cringe. (I also thought to myself....there are lots of trials, why put jurors on the same case in the same resort anyway? Why not put them in multiple locations? Of course that would take away the tension for this story but seemed an obvious fix.)
As thought experiment, very cool story. As a narrative story, didn't enjoy the main POV very much and felt the ending was too loose for my own tastes.
This novelette takes two pretty interesting concepts and expounds on them through the POV of a kind of jerk male juror.
What if we sent jurors to resort destinations all expense paid but required them to watch testimony during that time?
What if we had "smart" kitchens that not only knew our basic nutritional requirements and could adjust according to our state of health but could also read our mood or "affect" and put in mood-altering serotonins?
As a thought experiment, this story kept me reading as our juror, sent to Acapulco, struggled with the restrictions based on jurors while he watched a murder trial where a woman is accused of poisoning her husband through food she cooked in a generative kitchen--food that the defense says was altered by the kitchen itself!
Very cool. On the other hand, the first thing I did not enjoy the male juror. At all. I cringed because he was a self-centered jerk, and I cringed because he kept getting himself into trouble by obviously misreading a woman's interest in him. Double cringe. (I also thought to myself....there are lots of trials, why put jurors on the same case in the same resort anyway? Why not put them in multiple locations? Of course that would take away the tension for this story but seemed an obvious fix.)
As thought experiment, very cool story. As a narrative story, didn't enjoy the main POV very much and felt the ending was too loose for my own tastes.
athena21's review
4.0
Murder in the Generative Kitchen is an absolutely brilliant sci-fi novella. My grandfather gave me a copy a number of years ago now, and it's a book that I still think about from time to time. Sci-fi is all about asking "what if?", and it does well when it can ask the right questions, and then answer them in intriguing and thought-provoking ways. This novella asks brilliant questions about the future of our justice and carceral system, and about the morality of AI. A great example of sci-fi done right.
kellswitch's review
4.0
** Full disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review**
In the future a woman is on trial, accused of using a high-tech generative kitchen to feed her husband a poisonous meal, but the more evidence mounts, the more Julio, one of the jurors taking part in the Vacation Jury Duty system, starts to suspect the kitchen may have made the decision on its own
At first this story felt like an odd mix, bouncing back and forth between a fairly serious, and fascinating murder trial, and the almost cartoony situation and character of Julio. At first I found it hard to get interested in his character until I started to realize he fit the world the author created quite well. And even once I started to believe in his character I have to admit I found the murder trial and the concept of a generative kitchen way more interesting than his story.
I also found the world created here as a whole rather fascinating and would be very interested in reading more set in it.
The pace of story was quick and easily pulled me along and made me want to keep reading but I did have two major problems with this story. One, the ending seemed really convenient and abrupt and two, the “surprise” twist with one of the jurors was really rather predictable but even with those I did find myself quite engaged in the story as a whole.
Okay, I did have one other problem, but it had nothing to do with the quality of the writing but rather with the natural consequences of a watching a story set around a trail once the jurors part is done. I really want to know how Mrs. Ellis's story ends!
In the future a woman is on trial, accused of using a high-tech generative kitchen to feed her husband a poisonous meal, but the more evidence mounts, the more Julio, one of the jurors taking part in the Vacation Jury Duty system, starts to suspect the kitchen may have made the decision on its own
At first this story felt like an odd mix, bouncing back and forth between a fairly serious, and fascinating murder trial, and the almost cartoony situation and character of Julio. At first I found it hard to get interested in his character until I started to realize he fit the world the author created quite well. And even once I started to believe in his character I have to admit I found the murder trial and the concept of a generative kitchen way more interesting than his story.
I also found the world created here as a whole rather fascinating and would be very interested in reading more set in it.
The pace of story was quick and easily pulled me along and made me want to keep reading but I did have two major problems with this story. One, the ending seemed really convenient and abrupt and two, the “surprise” twist with one of the jurors was really rather predictable but even with those I did find myself quite engaged in the story as a whole.
Okay, I did have one other problem, but it had nothing to do with the quality of the writing but rather with the natural consequences of a watching a story set around a trail once the jurors part is done. I really want to know how Mrs. Ellis's story ends!
heatherr's review
5.0
I think this is an amazing idea. It is 2060. Sequestered juries are sent on an all expense paid trip to a resort. People try to get on juries now instead of getting out of it. This jury out of Chicago is in Acapulco. They watch the trial on headsets. The headsets can show the trial superimposed on the real world so you can walk around the resort while you watch.
The Rules:
You have to watch 8 hours of the trial a day but you can do it on your own schedule.
You have to finish your viewing for the day before you can be served any alcohol.
You can't talk to any of the other people in the resort.
If you break the rules, you are sent home with a bill for your vacation.
The Trial:
The defendant has a generative kitchen. It monitors the health of the people in the home and changes the food to meet their individual needs. Sick? It will add nutrients. Depressed? Get mood boosters in your food. There is no question that it increased the cyanide levels in the trout almondine but did the defendant request it or did it do it on its own?
I loved the two original ideas in this novella - the generative kitchen and the vacationing jurors. The main character is Julio, a juror. I hated him from the beginning. He has a wonderful girlfriend at home. He is planning on breaking up with her because she isn't very feminine looking and she won't change her look to please him. Well good for her! He starts to get obsessed and stalkerish over another juror at the resort. She has an ultrafeminine look due to extensive body modification. He can't talk to her due to the jury rules but he tries to get as close as possible within the rules. He imagines a life with her based entirely on how she looks since he has no idea what she is actually like and it never occurs to him to care.
When the jury heads back to Chicago to deliberate he finally gets to talk to this woman of his dreams and finds out that his fantasy and her reality don't line up. It is sort of like every internet troll who suddenly has to deal with a woman who has the nerve to be different from what he thought she should be.
I'm not usually a fan of books with unlikeable characters but it served this story well. No one is on their best behavior but characters learn even confronted with it. There is a lot packed into a novella.
The effects of aging on women and how other people (especially other women) judge them
Perception vs reality when dealing with strangers
How much power over your life should you give artificial intelligence
This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
The Rules:
You have to watch 8 hours of the trial a day but you can do it on your own schedule.
You have to finish your viewing for the day before you can be served any alcohol.
You can't talk to any of the other people in the resort.
If you break the rules, you are sent home with a bill for your vacation.
The Trial:
The defendant has a generative kitchen. It monitors the health of the people in the home and changes the food to meet their individual needs. Sick? It will add nutrients. Depressed? Get mood boosters in your food. There is no question that it increased the cyanide levels in the trout almondine but did the defendant request it or did it do it on its own?
I loved the two original ideas in this novella - the generative kitchen and the vacationing jurors. The main character is Julio, a juror. I hated him from the beginning. He has a wonderful girlfriend at home. He is planning on breaking up with her because she isn't very feminine looking and she won't change her look to please him. Well good for her! He starts to get obsessed and stalkerish over another juror at the resort. She has an ultrafeminine look due to extensive body modification. He can't talk to her due to the jury rules but he tries to get as close as possible within the rules. He imagines a life with her based entirely on how she looks since he has no idea what she is actually like and it never occurs to him to care.
When the jury heads back to Chicago to deliberate he finally gets to talk to this woman of his dreams and finds out that his fantasy and her reality don't line up. It is sort of like every internet troll who suddenly has to deal with a woman who has the nerve to be different from what he thought she should be.
I'm not usually a fan of books with unlikeable characters but it served this story well. No one is on their best behavior but characters learn even confronted with it. There is a lot packed into a novella.
The effects of aging on women and how other people (especially other women) judge them
Perception vs reality when dealing with strangers
How much power over your life should you give artificial intelligence
This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
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