#Review - A Feast for Starving Stone by Beth Cato #Fantasy #Historical

Series: Chefs of the Five Gods (#2)
Format: Paperback, 396 pages
Release Date:  January 9, 2024
Publisher: 47North
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Historical

Two countries at war. A delicious taste of magic. And a fierce princess comes of age in a rousing adventure by the author of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge.

Princess Solenn’s marriage into royalty should have unified the continental neighbors of Verdania and Solenn’s homeland of Braiz against a common enemy: the country of Albion. Thanks to Albion’s cunning sabotage, Verdania is now Braiz’s lethal rival. And the dead Braizian sailors washed ashore near Solenn’s château are just the beginning.

Arriving in the midst of danger, Ada Garland, rogue Chef to the Gods, is desperate to reunite with her daughter, Solenn. Not only has open war begun; it’s become heart-wrenchingly personal. Ada’s long-lost, beloved Braizian musketeer, Captain Erwan Corre, is being held in a Verdanian prison, with execution imminent. And her daughter has been tasked with the near-doomed responsibility of uniting violently adversarial countries in peace.

Can Solenn and Ada, coming together, stop their land from descending into all-out war? And what will Solenn become to achieve victory? As ambassador between the human and magical worlds, Solenn must now draw from both to prevent catastrophe, and this time, even the Gods are working against her.

Beth Cato's A Feast for Starving Stone is the second installment in the authors Chefs of the Five Gods series. Key Characters: Princess Solenn of Braiz and Adamantine Garland. This story picks up 3 weeks after Solenn removed her own tongue to prevent herself from becoming a meat puppet of the God Gyst who she is still having nightmares about. Even though she struggles to speak, and needs to write things down, she has become the only human ambassador to ever exist between the world and the parallel magical realm known as Arcady.

Not too long ago, Solenn’s marriage into royalty should have unified the continental neighbors of Verdania and Solenn’s homeland of Braiz against a common enemy: the country of Albion. But thanks to Albion’s cunning sabotage, Verdania is now Braiz’s lethal rival thanks to her intended being poisoned. And the dead Braizian sailors washing ashore near Solenn’s château are just the beginning of a major war that could end with the surrender of Braiz.

Solenn’s main mission though has its own challenges as the ingredients known as Epicurea are in fact made out of magical creatures. If she can get the Queen of Arcady to come to her aid, it will mean making sure that nobody in her country can every have access to Epicurea that gives humans super strength. On a strange whim, Solenn may have an answer. What if she calls one of the most powerful Gods to life in order to help save her people, and defeat the invading Albion army and navy?

Adamantine “Ada” Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordained rulers of Verdania—until she had enough of injustice and bloodshed and deserted, seeking to chart her own destiny. She also left her own daughter behind at the court of Braiz to be raised as a Princess. Ada is desperate to reunite with her daughter, Solenn but this is dangerous times. 

Not only has open war begun with Albion; it’s become dishearteningly personal. Ada’s long-lost, beloved Braizian musketeer, Captain Erwan Corre (who is also Solenn's biological father), is being held in a Verdanian prison, with execution imminent because Solenn has been accused of murdering the Verdanian Prince she was supposed to marry. And her daughter has been tasked with the near-doomed responsibility of uniting violently adversarial countries in peace.

Can Solenn and Ada, coming together, stop their land from descending into all-out war? What must Solenn become, what more will she sacrifice, to do it? As ambassador between two worlds—one of humans, one of magic—Solenn must now draw from both to prevent the worst of things to come. With Gods making mischief and taking sides perhaps only Solenn is brave enough to try to not just communicate but actually release true danger back into their world. Although you really should read A Thousand Recipes For Revenge first, Cato does a good job covering all of the main aspects of that book and who the main characters are. 

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