We’re wishing Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan a very happy book birthday!
This sophomore novel from the Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated author of The Ten Percent Thief explores colonialism, classism, and the future of food in a sci-fi tale following one woman’s determination to win the greatest cooking competition in the galaxy. It’s out now in North America, but don’t worry UK fans – it’ll be on bookshelves near you this Thursday!
Looking for your one shot to rise to the “top of the pots” in the cutthroat world of interstellar cuisine? Look no further—you might have what it takes to be an Interstellar MegaChef!
Stepping off a long-haul star freighter from Earth, Saras Kaveri has one bag of clothes, her little flying robot Kili… and an invitation to compete in the galaxy’s most watched, most prestigious cooking show. Interstellar MegaChef is the showcase of the planet Primus’s austere, carefully synthesised cuisine. Until now, no-one from Earth—where they’re so incredibly primitive they still cook with fire—has ever graced its flowmetal cookstations before, or smiled awkwardly for its buzzing drone-cams.
Corporate prodigy Serenity Ko, inventor of the smash-hit sim SoundSpace, has just got messily drunk at a floating bar, narrowly escaped an angry mob and been put on two weeks’ mandatory leave to rest and get her work-life balance back. Perfect time to start a new project! And she’s got just the idea: a sim for food. Now she just needs someone to teach her how to cook.
A chance meeting in the back of a flying cab has Saras and Serenity Ko working together on a new technology that could change the future of food—and both their lives—forever…
“A lot of fun.” —New Scientist
“An engaging story that dives into themes about the appreciation of food, colonization, and xenophobia and features two morally gray queer women attempting to find their footing with each other.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Absolutely bursting with flavor and thrumming with possibility – this is science fiction at its best.” —Tashan Mehta, author of Mad Sisters of Esi
