Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 5, 2024 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Interstellar Megachef is the second American-published novel of Indian writer Lavanya Lakshminarayan. Lakshminarayan's The Ten Percent Thief, published in the US last year and in India a few years prior (under a different title), was one of my favorite books of last year: it was a brilliant combination of vignettes and short stories poking holes at and satirizing a future society supposedly organized entirely upon merit (among many other ideas). It was a piece of idea-based sci-fi, and while it didn't have a set of main characters who had much character development, the result was just an utterly brilliant take down of ideas of merit, equality, and where tech and other things are going. So I was super excited to see that this next book of hers would be out this year and would be a worldwide release.

And well, Interstellar Megachef succeeds again at setting up a supposedly better world - the planet Primus, settled in the future by Earth emigrants under a charter to reinvent human culture as a better more equal and sustainable culture - that it then pokes holes in as being not quite the utopia it claims to be. The story is less successful with its main characters and plotlines however - main characters Saraswati Kaveri and Serenity Ko are strong characters with understandable personalities, but their character growth winds up being abrupt near the end (and the romance between them seems almost shoehorned in). More annoyingly, the plot teases a whole bunch of potential conflicts and plot twists that never actually happen and are all saved for the sequel as this book is in fact the first book of a trilogy/series. There's still some really interesting themes and ideas here, but the result is kind of an unsatisfying package due to how it's all pulled together for a conclusion.

Plot Summary:
Two Millenia Ago, the Nakshatrans - a group devoted to reinventing human culture across the universe in a more equal and sustainable manner - left the Earth for the Stars. One of those Nakshatran ships landed on Primus, which it developed according to these ideals as the enter of human civilization across the universe. On Primus every human is welcome, there is no xenophobia, and everyone has their needs (food and shelter) provided for. A clear contrast from Earth, where wars still rage, people go hungry, and ruling families take lethal and controlling actions to anyone under their power.....

Saraswati Kaveri left Earth - and her horrible family - on a refugee ship headed to Primus, with nothing to her name and no allies other than her winger (AI flying robot) Kili. She's not truly a refugee (not that anyone can know her real background) but is truly a chef, with years of experience on Earth to her name. And when she arrives with an invite to appear on Interstellar Megachef, Primus' hit interplanetary cooking competition show, she is sure that she will prove herself as one of the best on that show, such that she can reveal her identity to mock her family and establish her chef bona-fides there on Primus.

Unfortunately, it doesn't go as planned and Primus is not anything like what Saraswati was told: it's a place dedicated to its own food culture of infusing flavors by injections into portions, dedicated to deliberately not using much of the wealth of food grown on the planet, and one that is extremely afraid of and intolerant of change: especially by "barbarians" who come from Earth and use fire as a cooking method. And despite the fact that a few strangers on planet are willing to help her, Saraswati still finds herself lost and wanting: wanting to prove that her skills are real and not the product of her family and wanting to show that she is in fact one of the best. To prove that, she'll have to team up with Serenity Ko, a primus-born workaholic who works for a company that creates sims (virtual reality experiences you can experience at any time with some nanopills) to create the best food borne experience ever. But Serenity Ko is herself a personal wreck - a mess of ego, insecurity, desperation, and more - and the combination of the two might not result in the next big food experience on Primus....and instead might create yet another flame out.....
The above plot description is kind of rough and I apologize, but you get the idea (although Serenity Ko is basically a co-protagonist and major POV character despite me barely mentioning her above). But I wanted to make clear the ideas of this setting - of the human collective, of Primus, and of Earth here - because it's honestly some of the most interesting parts of this book and thematically similar to Lakshminarayan's The Ten Percent Thief. Primus' culture ostensibly celebrates diversity and equality and showing that they are above infighting and hatred of others. Every citizen of Primus even takes a name upon majority based upon one of the nine virtues espoused in the Nakshatran charter: Courage, Good Cheer, Optimism, Grace, Curiosity, Serenity, Harmony, Honour, or Boundless (this does result in a lot of repeated names and almost satirizes itself as certain characters are in no ways the embodiments of the virtues in their names.). And it does, to be honest, contain free food and housing for everyone, refugee or natural born citizen, which is a strong achievement.

But despite that, Primus' supposed culture against Xenophobia actually contains its own strong elements of Xenophobia and conservatism, even if many of those who feel these feelings would never actually admit it or take action in such ways directly. We see this in many ways: for example, through a third smaller point of view character, Optimism Mand'vi, the Primian Secretary for Culture and Heritage (and herself a secret refugee from Earth) who is dedicated to ensuring that no outside influences change the Primus way of life....even if that means banning products or stealthily promoting things so that the humans of Primus don't get too enamored with the ideas and goods of new non-human allies. We see this in a pair of chefs who came from Earth as kids and who find themselves desperately trying to fit in to the Primus manner in their cooking, which everyone acknowledges to be brilliant but which is unable to prevent Primus snobs from looking down upon them....no matter how much they put down their Earth origins. You have others who will in one hand condemn xenophobia and in another repeatedly refer to people from Earth as barbarians and crack jokes about them. And of course there are still the outright racists/xenophobes whose blatant xenophobia is often ignored by people around them, even as they hurt those who are innocent with their jibes and actions. Primus does have some better aspects to it, but it has clearly devolved past the point of the principles it claims to uphold.

And this helps shapes Saraswati's narrative, as she tells roughly 40% of our story. Saraswati is the very type of person the ideals of Primus should love: a person who fled the horrible ways of old Earth (even if she's lying about her being persecuted there) in hopes of showing her own worth in a land that treats everyone as equals. And what better place for that than to do so on Interstellar Megachef, which is supposed to be a competition solely about taste and one's ability to make good food. But what Saraswati soon finds out is that on Primus, form is valued even more than good taste: and so her use of flame in her cooking and her using of actual whole ingredients instead of small portions injected with flavor makes her "barbaric" and a terrible chef worth laughing at. This is so even when her food might be admittedly tasting good - as the chefs in the backroom of a kitchen all concede - but it doesn't matter as long as she isn't making that food in the form that Primus has prided itself on for two millenia...even if the reasons for that form (scarcity, an idea about sustainability, et.) no longer really means anything to their civilization. Saraswati has her own internal struggles even before she encounters all this on Primus - not to spoil too much, but her family's actions on Earth made her extremely insecure and questioning of her own self-worth about whether her own cooking skills are that good (they are) - so Primus' issues only make this worse, and her eventual self-realization, if not quite as smooth as I'd like (see below), is thus incredibly enjoyable as she realizes the truth about herself and about Primus' bullshit prejudices.

We also see this a bit with Serenity Ko, our second major protagoniost essentially, who is a Primus native and begins the story pretty much as an asshole: she's self centered, doesn't think, and obesseive over her work and her own individual value to the point she pushes away others. But thanks to having a really loving family and some struggles over her latest idea - a sim to simulate the experience one gets from eating food that brings ones own memories back in how it tastes, just like the best of dining - Serenity begins to realize that she needs assistance from others, even as she struggles to think about why she needs it and thus occasionally acts in ways to sabotage those who are helping her. She's honestly still quite a bit of an asshole by the end of this book (again, there's some abrupt realizations here) but she has learned to value the rest of those who work with her, to understand that there are things she doesn't know that she can't simply learn in a day and needs help from others to overcome, and more. And that requires her to honestly shed some of those Primus prejudices we see in the beginning: where she sees Saraswati as a barbaric Earthling, where she doesn't understand why people would prefer real experiences to sims, and she learns to actually listen to and care for others.

The book also has some other interesting ideas, like the values of sims that virtually simulate experiences in one's mind vs actual physical experiences (think far far worse being distracted by one's cell phone while talking to people). But honestly, this is part of my biggest problem with this book and what keeps it from being another big success: there are too many ideas and potential plot twists being set up in this book and the book saves actually dealing with them for the book's sequel in a way that is honestly more frustrating than anything....you keep waiting for some of these events to pan out, and they never actually do, resulting in a happy ending that just seems undeserved. Both main characters have realizations at the end about their own self-worth (and for Serenity, the worth of others) that seem incredibly abrupt and not earned: Saraswati goes from still struggling to suddenly having a Eureka moment and it feels way too abrupt for example. And perhaps most annoyingly, the book shoehorns in a romance between Saraswati and Serenity that absolutely does not work, with the two characters having almost no chemistry on page, and the book only occasionally remembering to put in the narrative that they have an attraction to the other before in the end it turns out to go full on kissing. It's a romance obviously meant to really take place in book 2, but it's supposedly borne out here by the interactions between the two characters as they work together...except we don't actually see that working together for the most part and it happens off page. Like it's possible that this romance could work with more pages and may work in book 2, but here it just feels like we have two characters randomly interacting with each other and not for any romantic ways, one doing something extremely dickish to the other out of stupidity, and then off page they work together and blossom into major attraction? It feels way too shoe-horned in and just frustrating more than anything.

The result here is a book I wanted to love a lot more than I actually did: with strong ideas and setups but not enough payoff to be satisfying - a problem made worse by my ARC's cover not mentioning this was book 1 of a trilogy. But even I did know, this would be a more frustrating than satisfying series starter, even as it portends possibly really interesting things in future books, so I'm not sure I'll be back.

I went into Interstellar Megachef expecting a foodie romp through space—something fun, flavorful, and light. But honestly, the “foodie” part felt like maybe 10% of the book, tops. The rest was a mix of heavy technobabble, unexplained jargon, and characters I just couldn’t connect with. I’m all for inclusive language and pronouns, but this went overboard—it felt like every single character came with a detailed pronoun breakdown that didn’t add much to the story. I made it to about 20%, hoping it would click, but it ended up a DNF for me. I really wanted to love this one, but it just wasn’t my taste

This was a little Becky Chambers, a little Cat Valente (via Space Opera), a little Tournament of Champions/Top Chef. Somehow, unfortunately, it wasn't quite as good as the sum of its parts. There were inconsistencies in the timeline, the politics of the food in the world were a little mushy at times, and the political refugee plotline probably should have been cut entirely. There were a number of moving pieces on the board at the end that were never resolved, and even if this is a start to a longer series, it would have been nice to see some things tied up. It is still unclear to me whether Lakshminarayan wants us to think that the food sims at the end are an excellent, innovative idea or an insult to food culture. Or both? It was unclear to me.

That said, I had a romping good time with this. I loved the creativity, I loved the world, I loved the food of it all. Will recommend.

This was one of my most hyped releases for the end of the year. Bake-off in space is suchhh a fun concept and the cover art seemed t really capture the playfulness I was hoping for from the pitch.

The opening of Megachef was delightful, we are following Kaveri and her tiny (but very vocal) robot companion Kili. Kili is adorable, I was immediately attached! If you like magical animal companions, this character might hit a similar note for you. Lakshminarayan's writing was tasteful and engaging and it was fairly easy to become invested in Kaveri's goals. The descriptions of various languages and cultures felt richly imagined and the dialogue around diaspora and racial prejudice was impactful.

The problems for me started when our second protagonist, Serenity Ko, was introduced. I understand that not all characters need to be likeable, and Serenity did feel like a real person, but her actions even just within the first few chapters felt unnecessarily abrasive and not in keeping with her supposedly heightened awareness of what people want and what lengths they will go to to realise their desires.

I struggled to connect to Ko's story, but I also found that the tone of Megachef was much more sombre than I was expecting from the synopsis and the cover. I think I was hoping for this to be an escapism read, but the writing aims for something more meaningful than that.

I might return to this one in the future, but for now I am putting this down to personal reading tastes and saying it was not for me.

The worldbuilding definitely piqued my interest! I think the world is fun and has a lot of commentary that I enjoyed. The pace was quite slow and the writing style isn't my favorite, but I did enjoy reading about these characters.

Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan is a unique and imaginative science fiction novel that blends culinary arts with space exploration. The story follows a chef navigating a futuristic, intergalactic competition, filled with high stakes, humor, and vibrant world-building. Lakshminarayan’s writing is inventive and fast-paced, offering a mix of adventure, technology, and heart. With its fresh concept and engaging characters, Interstellar MegaChef is a fun and entertaining read for fans of sci-fi with a quirky twist.

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

The worldbuilding in this is dizzyingly cyberpunk and South-Indian inspired. The cooking show element from the title gets quickly sidelined. What should have been a cozy, foody, camp premise quickly becomes a heavy mess of political elements that touches on themes of immigration, galactic racism, class clashes, culinary colonialism, etc. Which is not a bad thing, it's ambitious, but there's entirely too many character POVs holding up this worldbuilding, and heavily dilutes the main first-person POV character's story and makes for a VERY bloated and scattered narrative. It's very vividly visual, and would make for great prestige TV a la Expanse, but man, I saw a space donut on the cover, and got a lot of kitchen snobbery and very little droolworthy content. Every character, except some very minor side ones, are extremely morally repugnant and bratty and very hard to root for. I wish the book knew what it wanted to be...whimsical and capery or a seriouspants space opera, because it tried to be both and ended up just kinda insufferable.

This book took a super fun premise—a cooking reality show far in the future—and crafted a politically complex sci-fi that explores how culture evolves over time, the influence of technology on human life, and the tension between progress and tradition, all through the lens of food.

Thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for my review.

Came for the Great British Bake off in Space, got caught up in the drama and trauma that it actually contained. There are many social and political issues covered, and while it took me a bit to get the world building set in my mind (mostly the names of units of time and the like), it was refreshingly original. The two main characters are impetuous and flawed, but that only made them all the more fascinating. A really great original story, with some heavy themes, but a great read.

I expected a light SF comedy. This was darker at times and with more layers. Classism, racism, envy, greed, revenge, you name it. I was looking for more fluff.

Saraswati Kaveri comes to the planet Primus to take part in the Interstellar Megachef competition. She has a little flying robot named Kili, a mysterious background and something to prove.

Serenity Ko is a prodigy and writer of immersive sims. She drinks too much, is pretty arrogant and not easy too like. One wild night too many and she is on mandatory leave from work.

Those two are the main characters. Both of them have serious issues with their parents. Eventually their worlds collide and they might or might not end up in a romantic relationship. That was a development I could have done without. Neither character is very mature. There is a lot of sulking and pouting involved.

And then there is Optimism Mahd‘vi, a mover and shaker in the background. At the beginning I thought she would play a more pivotal role, but she showed up pretty infrequently.

I really disliked all of the Primians and their culture. A whole planet of entitled and narrow minded bigots. On purpose, I am sure, but nasty nonetheless and not fun to read.

This was pretty unpleasant to read over large stretches of the novel. I don‘t understand why I should care about a story filled with mean people. I don’t see the attraction. Two-third into the book I almost tossed it. And when Ko was shown the errors of her ways, she behaved like a 5-year old. Aggravating and very unattractive. I did continue, but skimmed quite a bit, having mostly lost my remaining enjoyment in the story.

Interesting discourse on simulations, possible addiction and their dangerous potential of replacing the real deal.

Well done ending that leaves several plot points unresolved. I doubt that I will read the sequel, I skimmed entirely too much and disliked too many of the characters, including Serenity Ko.

"This was an entire culture obsessed with its past, while struggling desperately to assert its relevance in a rapidly evolving future."

Saraswati Kaveri has arrived to Primus all the way from long-forgotten, often-maligned Earth with her tech-bot best friend and a dream: to compete on Interstellar MegaChef and show everyone on Earth and the universe that she can cook. Except...nothing goes to plan, and as she struggles to find her footing in the culturally elitist world of Primus, she stumbles into tech genius Serenity Ko and a gambit to change the concept of food forever.

"And yet, every one of their traditions was preserved in a bell jar, hallowed like the ancient relic of a saint, never questioned or re-examined."

This book was so good.

It's a scathing indictment of empire and xenophobia and cultural superiority and immigration, with heavy, heavy comparisons to the UK and India. There is also a lovely idea of the role food plays in culture, and not a little jab at the elitist mentalities of the chefs of the Great British Bake-Off when they encounter non-white foods and BIPOC chefs.

"I don't know if I'll ever run into you again, and I hope I don't, because talking with you is like being stabbed with a billion needles all at once, but I won't forget your kindness."

Wrapped in the commentary is the story of Saraswati, who is trying to do her best and figure out her shit—and Serenity Ko, who is also trying to do her best (sure?) and figure out her shit. Both women are at odds personality-wise, and both are embroiled at opposite ends of a galaxy-wide conspiracy that neither is really aware of.

I really enjoyed how their relationship transformed and changed over the course of the book, as Serenity Ko very, very slowly got her shit together and realized that creation isn't a monolith but a framework of people, and as Saraswati found her place in Primus society. I wasn't entirely sold on one aspect of their relationship, but it was relatively new by the book's end.

There's more stuff going on, but the book does end in a something of a cliffhanger, so I'm hoping that the loose plot points will be resolved in book 2.

Anywho, if you're looking for a book that skewers the racist microaggressions of GBBO, this is the book for you.

I received an ARC from the publisher

Described as The Great British Bake Off in space, this book definitely lives up to that description but also gives so much more. The author manages to weave in complex social and political issues while still managing to make it a fun and entertaining space romp. I'm excited to see more from this author.

I discovered this book on Twitter when the author shared the cover reveal. Seeing it available on NetGalley, I quickly submitted a request. Food, sci-fi, and an interstellar culinary show… a recipe for perfect entertainment if you ask me. But, did the book live up to its hype?

What I liked:
Right off the bat, you meet Saras, short for Saraswati Kaveri. She’s your typical protagonist, the intergalactic equivalent of a small-town girl who comes to the big city (Primus, a planet with a more advanced and abundant society) to pursue her dreams. She’s talented, but she’s also naïve and starry-eyed with seemingly not enough awareness of how Primian culture functions. However, Saras never gives up, powering through each challenge with the drive and ferocity of a person with dreams.

Saras was a huge part of why I loved Interstellar Megachef. The story throws everything at her, from passive discrimination to outright xenophobic hate, to failure and constant letdowns; Saras never baulks under all that weight. Yes, she breaks down as would anyone in her position. But she always finds it in her to get up. Even when her past catches up to her, and we are made aware of the far-reaching consequences of Saras’ actions—and potential discovery—she stays true to herself and keeps striving to move forward.

The second, and larger, reason for why I loved Interstellar Megachef was the food. Not all of it was familiar. In fact, a lot of the culinary scenes included Primian cuisine and a strangely hyper-scientific approach to cooking. Yet, the author makes it work like magic. The philosophy behind how Primians perceive food really tells a larger story of humanity and excess. Primian culture follows what Earth desperately needs—not just in the story, but also in real life. Earth, ironically follows what Primian culture has easy access to, yet chooses not to for ideological reasons. The parallels between first-world countries/rich classes and Primus are subtle, yet evident. It’s easy to look down on someone because of their culture, but very hard to really empathize with why that culture is the way it is. It’s easy to self-impose moderation when you have access to excess.

Lavanya Lakshminarayan uses food and the culinary world to explore a lot more than just culture. Coming from a country where even diet has been politicized in the last decade—if you’re Indian, you know what I’m talking about—this one hit close to home. Some cooking techniques are rejected on the basis of ideology, while some food items are banned because they might offend new allies; the people’s opinion means squat, as long as the party in power are satisfied. History, culture, philosophy, politics, Interstellar Megachef doesn’t hold back in its exploration of food through the many lenses of human identity.

This last bit is particularly important because the other story arc—Serenity Ko’s—takes everything and cranks it up quite a few notches. I won’t spoil it for you, because discovering it along the read was a fantastic experience. I will tell you this though—food has evolved with humanity and its technological advancements. The dominant norm on Primus is moderation and ras-based cuisine. But, what could be the next step? What connotations could it attract, and what consequences could follow it? Interstellar Megachef has some ideas, and they are as thought-provoking as they are divisive. Definitely worth pondering over.

What I didn’t like:
I will say this—and this is my personal opinion—the blurb and the marketing for this book have done some disservice to the author and the book. While the “British Bake Off in Space” aspect of the book is an integral part of the narrative, it’s not as big a focus. In fact, <spoiler>Saras gets kicked out of the show in round one and only returns for one special round in the end. The rest of the book is mostly her trying to survive as an immigrant/refugee whilst proving her culinary skills in a fine-dine restaurant, a xenophobic society, and a corporate-sponsored food-based tech project.</spoiler> Food remains the key element here, with the author’s love for food shining through each chapter and each scene. However, if you’re expecting a dramatized bake-off tournament, you might be disappointed.

Another thing I didn’t particularly like were the B, C & D plotlines. Saras was great, but I had a hard time connecting with Ko. I will admit, her change of heart and upliftment were impressive, and I almost had a soft corner for her by the end, but my feelings towards her remain mixed. Maybe that’ll change in the sequel, but I did find myself wanting to skim through her chapters in this one. And I’m saying that despite loving her story.

The political plot with Optimism Mahd’vi and the Khurshid twins were nice touches to build the world, but the characters themselves felt a little underdeveloped. Interesting additions no doubt, ones that complicate the politics and power dynamics of the larger world, but something felt wanting.

Lastly, and this is purely my bias, <spoiler>I did not like the sudden Saras-Ko romance. I mean, I knew it was coming, I just didn’t like the way it happened. I’m not a fan of romance, so don’t take my word for it. Honestly, I just feel that both these characters have a lot to offer individually than as a couple. Their dynamic in the book also didn’t work for me all that well. </spoiler>

Conclusion:
Interstellar Megachef is being marketed as “The Great British Bake Off in Space”, but it is so much more than that. If you ask me, Interstellar Megachef is the author’s love letter to food, the culinary arts, and the deeply important space food holds within the larger blanket of human experiences.

It is a fun-loving cooking competition sci-fi, culinary drama, but it is also a thought-provoking and reflective piece of writing that poses some very important questions, not just about food, but also about human society and identity.

TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: Food and how the author has used it to explore aspects of human society and personal experiences. Also loved hte world-building and politics.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Some characters didn’t work for me, the “cooking show tournament” wasn’t as big a part of the story as I had expected.

Having seen this book described as being like The Great British Baking Show in space I was expecting a fun time. That’s not what this book is at all. It’s a much more serious work than the title and cover and marketing might lead you to expect. It ended up not being my cup of tea, but thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.

Lavanya Lakshminarayan's previous novel The 10% Thief was a clever-themed set of short stories that coalesced together to tell a single whole. High concept but lacking a central protagonist, it was a book I admired rather than loved. Interstellar MegaChef, as its lowish concept tile suggests, is a lot easier to grasp, has two hugely engaging central protagonists and I low-key loved it. It also manages to be philosophical, clever and questioning about all sorts of diasporic issues, not least the idea of ethical colonisation, post-settler independence culture, low impact consumption and class. And of course its central theme - food.

Earth civilization falls around 2300, regroups under a world civilization with a shared philosophy, and sends out colony ships a few years later. The first planet colonised is named Primus, and becomes the new hub for humanity, developing its own culture and extending its tenets over newly founded worlds, basically, no-one wants anyone to do with Earth which is still polluted and unstable despite the previous coming together. Our heroine Saras Kaveri is a chef from Earth who wants to take part in Interstellar Megachef, a show that no Earth human has been on for almost twenty seasons. A cooking competition which is a perfect way of showing how Primus, despite its seemingly enlightened culture, is snobbish and discriminatory against outsiders (including a few aliens, and other colony worlds). None of this is subtle but doesn't need to be, even the act of cooking with whole ingredients and an open flame is seen as hugely barbaric. At the same time Serenity Ko, a scion of a very successful family who now works for a virtual experiences company hits upon the idea of trying to recreate the high-end dining experience virtually - democratising the experience perhaps, but at what cost? Saras and Serenity's stories crisscross to a very satisfactory (if not exactly unexpected) finale, leaving a few tantalising threads for future exploration.

Interstellar MegaChef has that intelligence from before, the world-building here is subtle, and mainly done through a reality TV show, but extremely effective. But its key success in in its two lead characters who are both impetuous, short-tempered and display a myriad of other flaws but remain fascinating. But have complex back-stores that are partially revealed through action - though there is a lot untapped in Sars's Earth past. At its heart the conceit of this reality show allows certain shorthand of the form to create a very entertaining framework, upon which Lakshminarayan can have some really weighty conversations which don't have easy answers. Food in the age of virtual reproduction, and I am here for it.

Interstellar MegaChef is the first novel in the sci-fi series Flavour Hackers, a really clever book written by Lavanya Lakshminarayan, and published by Solaris Books. A novel which not only has an excellent plot woven around two deep characters and their way to understand food and cooking, but which also takes the opportunity to examine many current themes through the sci-fi lense.

Saraswati (Saras) Kaveri has arrived to Primus from the often deemed as primitive Earth, only with her techbot friend and with an invitation to compete on Interstellar Megachef, planning to show to the universe that she can cook; but things don't go accord to plan, and she struggles to find a place on the elitist Primus' culture. But opportunities appear in unexpected places, and stumbling into the tech genius Serenity Ko and her idea to change the concept of food forever is the gambit she needs to prove her value.

Lakshminarayan has written an excellent novel in all aspects, starting with the characters. Not only we have in Saras the figure of somebody fighting against adversity, constantly being shunned due to her origin, but in contrast with the Primus people, she's open to change her mind; she's marked by her past and wants to prove her value. We also have Serenity, a workaholic that is trying to create a revolution in a field she doesn't understand; she's trying her best even if her manners are not always good, and in reality, when paired with Saras, we finally have somebody that really wants to learn.

Outside of the characters, it's incredible how Lakshminarayan manages to organically weave into the novel themes such as the dismiss done by colonialism to the occupied places; how food plays a role in society, and how it is understood in different ways, all being equally valuable, even if many of them are not taken into account because of the origin. How Saras is treated because of her being a refugee is a perfect portrait of the racism experienced by many people (especially BIPOC nowadays).
The story is amazingly paced, told using several POV, and taking the story to a finale that I personally love (I have a soft spot for them).

Lakshminarayan has created something incredible with Interstellar MegaChef, and definitely I recommend it to people that like clever sci-fi with abundant social commentary; I've enjoyed every single page of it, and I can't wait to see how the Flavour Hackers series continue. And be sure to have a meal before reading this one, because you will end hungry!

This Iron Chef in space story takes place on Primus, a large and powerful planet settled many years earlier by humans. These humans wanted to escape the ravaged Earth, and its attitudes and practices that had led to the climate collapses. All the human colonies were founded with sustainability as a central tenet, but Primus has the most wealth, power and political and cultural influence on space-settled humans, most of whom have a variety of tech augments, but others have gone further with extensive body mods.

Saraswati Kaveri arrives on Primus at the novel's start. She’s upset about her life on Earth, and travelling incognito with her best friend Kili, a Winger, which is a flying artificial intelligence shaped as a sphere. Saras is there to enter a cooking competition, and make her name as a brilliant chef, a feat she has already achieved on Earth, but some event in her past has thoroughly tainted her memories of her earlier achievements.

At the same time, we meet Serenity Ko, a brilliant virtual reality designer, whose recent simulation SoundSpace has been incredibly successful. After getting thoroughly drunk and starting a riot, Serenity Ko ends up on a transport where Saras meets her. Ko does not make a good first impression.

Saras' dream of making it big on Primus are dashed spectacularly on air, while Ko is put on mandatory leave by her boss for not playing nicely with her coworkers (rather than inciting a riot). Ko is flummoxed and furious, as she sees this as a punishment, rather than a time to reflect on herself. She has worked harder than anyone else she knows to get to where she is at the company she works at, Xperience, after being dubbed a Techno-Aesthete Savant by the Primus Employment Council and recruited straight out of university.

Saras tries to pick up the pieces of her dream but keeps crashing into Primus preconceptions that Earthers are incredibly primitive barbarians, crass, dangerous and volatile, while Ko has an epiphany, not about herself, but rather, the next amazing sim she will create for Xperience. It will entail building on SoundScape, and using people's implants to evoke memories when seeing and smelling a cooked item. Ko attempts to recruit a star chef (also her grandmother) to her cause, but Ko's self-centredness, slapdash approach to cooking and lack of interest in food stalls her efforts.

Saras begins working in the kitchen of a high-end restaurant run by two siblings formerly of Earth, who have no desire to be associated in any way with their home planet. Saras learns about the cuisine of Primus, and how it developed from the early colonists' experiences, and when Ko needs a chef to help her to develop her sim, she remembers the weird Earther she met, and the two begin a friction-filled work relationship, even while each realizes they find the other attractive.

While all this is happening, a Primus cultural minister, Optimism Mahd’vi, is determined to remind all of humanity of the preeminence of Primus in all things.

The title and book cover both convey the impression of a fun, potentially bombastic, definitely cut throat competition amongst the best chefs in all the human settlements in the galaxy. And yes, there is some of that, but instead we also get author Lavanya Lakshminarayan posing some hard questions about colonialism, xenophobia, bigotry, bullying, empathy, the difficulties of assimilation into a dominant culture and its potential effects on mental health, cultural imperialism, familial expectations versus personal ambitions, and the idea that the prevalence of virtual reality may diminish curiosity, exploration, engagement and respect for nature and its diversity. It's also a slow burn love story between two messy, queer women.

The novel is fantastic. It's smart, it's funny, it's touching, it's infuriating, it’s sad, it's sweet (Kili!), and it made me so hungry. Lakshinarayan must really love food and all it entails: the ingredients, the care and attention it takes to cook something delicious (I'm not referring to only high-end cuisine) and how sharing a meal can bring people together.

I loved this story, and was a little surprised by its abrupt ending, but this book is listed as the first of a series, so I'm really eager to find out what happens next.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Rebellion for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Cooking show meets space romp

I can see exactly what Lakshminarayan is doing here, and it works to a point. As in any good Hallmark/Lifetime/GAF romcom, a plucky outsider arrives the biggest competition in their field, hoping to break into the big time. Meanwhile, they bump into a fractious local who might just be the key to ultimate success. What on earth might happen?

The tropes are strong in this one, and the ending is never out of sight, but the journey to that ending is entertaining enough, and as this is the start of a series, the burgeoning romance is sure to get ignited in future editions. I might pick these up if I see them, but I wasn't wowed by the world building or the techno-babble, and the attempt on the page to do the thing that Pixar's Ratatouille does so well is a spectacular failure.

I picked up this book because it was marketed as Great British Bake Off in outer space, and I was not disappointed! The author does an incredible job of highlighting nuanced social issues and bringing them to the forefront of the readers' attention. I really appreciated the story, setting, and relationship between the main characters. Their relationship and growth was the best part. I am invested enough to continue the series, and I look forward to seeing more from this author!