There's a certain genre of anime, of which the Girl is very fond. Best described as "food porn", it involves high drama about the best way to boil toast, fry soup or roast icecream. World diplomacy is dependent on how well someone can boil an egg or shout at Norwich City.
But the bit that's most important to the Girl is the unnecessarily opulent descriptions of food. A pan of pasta is described in terms that might allow one to make a reasonable entry into the Booker prize. It's something best watched when already eating, otherwise you tend to get a bit hungry. For a quick example of the type of thing, try having a quick look at Love is Like a Cocktail for a booze-related version.
Anyway, it's never been my thing. I don't really see the appeal of watching someone cook something for twenty minutes and then not be able to eat it. Seems a bit self-defeating.
Which is why I'm amazed to discover that I will happily devour (heh heh) books about the concept, as long as what they're cooking for is some hideous monster from the fourth dimension.
Such is the premise of the Sin du Jour series, of which Envy of Angels is the first. Our point of view characters, Darren and Lena are unexpectedly hired by a catering company, and are so desperate for the work that they don't question the slightly odd rules. Until they break one and find themselves on the menu.
So begins a series about a catering company who serve the more supernatural elements of society, such as this book's demons. They like nothing more than the flesh of the divine ("tastes like chicken") and so Sin du Jour begin their first morally questionable menu selection.
It's a rather madcap affair, capturing the crazy energy of a busy kitchen (he said, having never worked in one) along with the twists on reality that come with the urban fantasy genre. It's nice to see a UF that doesn't take everything deadly seriously. I mean, it's about cooking. You can't help but have fun with that.
And boy is fun had. There are ninja waiters, booze-fiend alchemists and a shopping team that wouldn't be out of place in Blackwater. This is rather silly, and that's what makes it enjoyable. There's about five in the series thus far (the most recent of which has only just come out) and I suspect I'll eventually get through all of them.
Highly recommended.
Tagged: Book Urban fantasy Working joes Novella Audio