I always wanted a review in Kirkus Reviews. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it.
And now, in 2020, it happened. Here’s an excerpt from it:
“In this fantasy, an expert in preparing orgasm-inducing food courses enters a kingdom to seek retribution on his master’s behalf.
(…) Gurgu’s (Chronicles From the End of the World, 2011, etc.) intent in this offbeat fantasy is clearly to provoke readers, as he fills his pages with startling imagery. (…) But the author has created engaging characters within a bizarre, indelible world. Phrils and phriliras (females), for one, resemble humans and use swords as weapons. But both genders evidently have the same sexual organs (vulbas) and some, like Morminiu, have gills. Moreover, the protagonist has depth; he seems to have genuine feelings for Valiria and, at one point, questions whether Plabos’ Recipes are art or simply vice.
And with Gurgu’s rich descriptions, readers won’t likely forget characters reside in a huge creature: “The walls were formed by thousands of thin bones connected by dense cartilage, looking like a fence of deformed and bent poles held together with mud.”
An engrossing and disconcerting revenge tale that’s gleefully outlandish.”
For the entire review you can go here.
And I repeat: RecipeArium is “An engrossing and disconcerting revenge tale that’s gleefully outlandish.” — Kirkus Reviews