Five sentient digital beings form the crew of a small survey ship that has been sent out by the Company to explore and report its findings back to the Company. They encounter a mysterious black sphere that they know they must report. However, something seems to be happening to their perceptions of time and reality.

This got on my radar due to its sentient digital beings. It initially comes across like a very quirky read - as digital beings, the crew members can present themselves pretty much however they'd like, so one of them is a foul-mouthed balloon, another is a ball of hands, and yet another one is a swarm of wasps. As readers learn about them, their situation, and their relationship to the Company, it becomes apparent that there's some self-editing going on, revealing darker undercurrents.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. It felt like is was aiming for "happy" but presented from the viewpoint of the character with the least to be happy about.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

I’d never heard of this author or this book, but I happened upon it at the library and the synopsis sounded amazing.

It’s very hard to describe, explain, and understand so I’m going to let the official synopsis do the heavy lifting here ( )

A balloon, a goth, a science aristocrat, a ball of hands, and a swarm of insects walk onto a spaceship. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Well, that's unlikely since this premise sprang from the fertile mind of Paul Cornell in Rosebud.
Five digital beings are on a small spaceship in the outer part of the solar system, surveying rocks and sending useful items back towards the earth when they encounter a mysterious black sphere. Ordinarily, they would receive specific instructions on how to proceed, but communication with the Company has been cut off and they are on their own.

The crew decides to survey the sphere, which proves to be a little more complicated than anticipated. The sphere changes what they believe about themselves, and perhaps holds secrets about all of humanity.

Rosebud is a short novella with big ideas. The crew is interesting not only in their physical appearance but in their personalities and personal histories. The object they encounter forces them to look deep inside themselves as well as examine all of humanity. The mood shifts from light to dark and back again throughout. The novella is short, but it is not a quick read. The ideas are densely packed and this is a story you won't soon forget.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. ( )

2.5 stars ( )