“Interstellar MegaChef” (Flavour Hacker No. 1) by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Stepping off a long-haul star freighter with one bag of clothes, her little flying robot Kili and the forged documents she used to flee Earth, Saraswati Kaveri is ready to take on the world. Primus, the oldest and most powerful colony in the United Human Cooperative, is the heart of all art and culture. Primian food is the highest and most sophisticated cuisine in the galaxy. And Interstellar MegaChef, now in its twenty-fifth year of broadcasting, is the showcase and standard of that cuisine. And this year—no matter what obstacles Primus throws in her way, whatever prejudices she encounters, however they sneer on her “Earthling” tastes and methods—Saraswati’s going to win it.
Review
This book was a bit complicated and I’m not entirely sold on any of the characters. It’s described in some places as satire so that explains why things seem to be exaggerated (while also realistic in some ways). That said it’s a fun book and many of the characters were interesting. It’s just that the main characters weren’t the most likable. I did like the fact that there was some character development towards the end but I felt like some realizations came a little too late. Food was obviously a big theme of the book and I really enjoyed all the ways it was described. The central conflict between the way Primian food has been developed and Saraswati’s food knowledge from Earth was well done. I also liked what the book had to say about racism and xenophobia. While the ending isn’t exactly a cliffhanger there were a few important plot lines left unresolved, however this is meant to be the first book in a series and I’m interested in seeing how things progress.
Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Interstellar MegaChef”
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Lavanya Lakshminarayan (BlueSky)
- Publisher / Date
- Rebellion, November 2024
- Genre
- Science Fiction
- Page Count
- 415
- Completion Date
- May 25, 2025