A review by czarina_misha
Death of an Author: A Novella by Stephen Marche, Aidan Marchine

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It’s . . . interesting. A prominent Canadian author is murdered. There’s no gun, no witnesses. A scholar of her work is invited to her invitation-only funeral, questioned by the police, harassed by a reporter, and accused of murdering the writer. And someone impersonating him has been emailing the writer for months. This novella about creative AI was 95% AI written. (Aidan Marchine is an AI-generated pen name for the combined efforts of Stephen Marche and his several AI co-writers.) More interesting than the plot is Marche’s short essay on how he created this novella and his thoughts on creative AI technology. So it’s worth reading for both the mystery story (spoiler: the ending is not quite satisfying) and for the afterward.