Cooking Up Magick bills itself as Legends and Lattes meets The Lord of the Rings, and it delivers both at once, at full volume. On one side there’s a looming war, an ancient sorcerer, a centuries-old purge of magic users, and a mountain siege. On the other there’s a halfling chef whose quest is a culinary research trip to upgrade the menu at her aunt’s B&B, a talking cat, and kitchen magic. The author’s afterword acknowledges how far apart cozy and epic fantasy are, and the book works best read as an affectionate send-up of both.
Read that way, it’s a lot of fun. A cat handles reconnaissance by strolling into the enemy war council and sitting on the table. A villain’s spy turns a tavern artist into his surveillance network. A key clue gets pulled from the memory of a pack donkey. Orc culture comes with some truly memorable ideas about battlefield efficiency. Paisley happily cooking from a dwarven cookbook while boulders pound the fortress walls sums up the book’s tone perfectly.
The found family is the heart of it: loyal dwarves (a male botanist, a bi female warrior, and a non-binary AFAB warrior), a high-elf ranger, and a gentle half-orc love interest.
The downsides are a large cast, constant tonal whiplash, and a page count that’s long for a story this light, though it reads fast. It ends on a cliffhanger, with the party headed for the Dark Elf kingdom, but one trip was enough for me.
Recommended if you enjoy trope-heavy cozy fantasy and don’t need the stakes to feel serious.
REVIEW: Cooking up Magick H.L. Berabe
RATING: 3-stars
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