Sci fi novel with murderous houses

August 8, 2018 4:25 PM

Different planet, perfectly manicured self sustaining houses, if you enter them, all the robot vacuums and appliances attack you. The inhabitants think they are houses for Gods, but in fact they were designed for planet’s people, but because of genetic drift the houses don’t think they’re human any more. Any ideas?
posted by leotrotsky to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

I've read this - I think it was in those 1920's to 1960's decade anthologies of science fiction that had the white covers and were edited by Asimov. I can look this weekend if no one finds it.
posted by mercredi at 5:06 PM on August 8, 2018

“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Bradbury has a similar idea - the smart house of the future keeps on going after its inhabitants are long gone. No posthumans, though, if I remember correctly.
posted by brittanyq at 8:19 PM on August 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Ventus by Karl Schroeder has this. Ventus is a planet that's stuck in a medieval mode because of a pervasive terraforming nanotech that destroys overt advanced technology and doesn't recognize the arriving colonists as human, and immediately stranded them there having destroyed their tech.

As the novel starts some generations after that, and it's not clear that there's any nanotechnology, just a low-tech society in stasis because of weird supernatural creatures and phenomena that suppress technological advancement. The truth, above, is teased out over the course of the book, partly with the help of a human from offworld.

At one point, they visit a house which is hazardous to explore because the house considers them to be wildlife.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:18 AM on August 9, 2018

Best answer: Ventus was my first thought on rwsingnthe questions - Sunburnt beat me to it - and here is the full text of Ventus
posted by Gilgongo at 1:49 AM on August 9, 2018

Jane Everlasting!!!
posted by jeszac at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2018