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A review by speculativebecky
The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz
5.0
FOODIE ADVENTURES IN SPACE!
The Sol Majestic follows a sixteen year old boy named Kenna who’s spent his life traveling the galaxy at the whims of his proud Inevitable Philosopher parents, last bastions of a dying religion who aim to enlighten and feed the masses, no matter the expense to themselves or their starving son. But, on Savor Station he meets Paulius, the eccentric head chef of famed restaurant The Sol Majestic, who’s so taken by Kenna’s plights he dedicates his staff to preparing a feast to honor Kenna and revitalize the Inevitable Philosophies. The Sol Majestic becomes the first home Kenna has ever known, and he’s forced to choose how much he will sacrifice to repay their extravagant belief in him.
I came to this book for the luscious food descriptions and the exciting premise of the unique struggle to maintain a high caliber restaurant in the depths of space, but surprisingly the heart of the book was Kenna’s coming of age and forming his own beliefs after being raised in the indoctrination of his parents’ Inevitability. Kenna’s push/pull between his life changing experiences at The Sol Majestic and the weight of everything he’d been raised to believe felt so authentic, and I loved closely following his journey, even as he screwed up and committed hard to disastrous courses of action. Most of all, his relationships with the other glorious characters of this novel were so special, vibrant, and carefully rendered like a perfect consommé. I absolutely loved reading this book, which brimmed with hope and refreshed my soul.
Cw for slavery, torture, suicide.
The Sol Majestic follows a sixteen year old boy named Kenna who’s spent his life traveling the galaxy at the whims of his proud Inevitable Philosopher parents, last bastions of a dying religion who aim to enlighten and feed the masses, no matter the expense to themselves or their starving son. But, on Savor Station he meets Paulius, the eccentric head chef of famed restaurant The Sol Majestic, who’s so taken by Kenna’s plights he dedicates his staff to preparing a feast to honor Kenna and revitalize the Inevitable Philosophies. The Sol Majestic becomes the first home Kenna has ever known, and he’s forced to choose how much he will sacrifice to repay their extravagant belief in him.
I came to this book for the luscious food descriptions and the exciting premise of the unique struggle to maintain a high caliber restaurant in the depths of space, but surprisingly the heart of the book was Kenna’s coming of age and forming his own beliefs after being raised in the indoctrination of his parents’ Inevitability. Kenna’s push/pull between his life changing experiences at The Sol Majestic and the weight of everything he’d been raised to believe felt so authentic, and I loved closely following his journey, even as he screwed up and committed hard to disastrous courses of action. Most of all, his relationships with the other glorious characters of this novel were so special, vibrant, and carefully rendered like a perfect consommé. I absolutely loved reading this book, which brimmed with hope and refreshed my soul.
Cw for slavery, torture, suicide.