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About The Book
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...
Why We Love It
Imagine The Great British Bake-Off in space, but with aliens, robots, intergalactic geopolitics and a tantalising will-they/won't-they romance. It’s a completely bonkers concept and yet it works brilliantly.
The story begins with Saras’ arrival on Primus, the most dominant planet of the United Human Cooperative, where she strives to make her mark as a chef in a society that regards Earth’s culinary traditions as savage and barbaric.
It's every bit as entertaining as you might expect from the concept and cover, which cleverly allows the author to explore much more complex issues around food sustainability, cultural imperialism, colonialism and xenophobia.
And as if that wasn't enough to hook you in, there's also a beautiful slow-burn, messy yet real romance between the two main characters - Saras and Serenity.
Blending humour and social commentary with characters that you really grow to care about, Interstellar Megachef is every bit as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
Lavanya Lakshminarayan has created a rich and complex world here, with so much potential for future story-telling - I can't wait to see what happens next!