Sourdough: A Novel

As I've become a sourdough enthusiast myself, I found the existence of this book intriguing; a story about a woman robotics worker living in Silicon Valley, who starts experimenting with sourdough, obtains a 'mother' from an exotic ex-boyfriend, becomes involved with privately-funded underground project based in an abandoned military base, where various 'mad scientist' types research their bleeding-edge food technology, working towards the opening day of the ultimate exotic food market - sourdough, but also crickets, slurry grown from fungus, etc.

I enjoyed it, but on reflection, the fact that the plot could be encapsulated as "woman programmer discovers that actually she prefers baking" left a sour taste. And that was before I discovered that the author, Robin Sloan, isn't a woman as I had assumed.

4.5 stars?
I want to bake bread.
I want the Lois Club to be real for my daughter's sake.
All you need are programmers and Loises <3

I just absolutely love this book so much.

fresh, but very short and not all that entertaining. also a bit annoying becuse of that food theme.

I found this novel intriguing and a just a little bit 'peculiar'. I never thought of yeast in the way this author (Robin Sloan) describes it... nor was I familiar with the Mazg, even though I'm a genealogist. Now that I am enlightened, I understand the inter-relatedness of existence in a much broader way. Truly this is a fun and entertaining read...

I adored reading this book. The story was like an old friend from the moment I began and Sloans talent for finding the magic (and hilarity) right under our noses in everyday life absolutely shone.

Someday someone will dig through the carbon nanotube graveyard of Silicon Valley and wonder, was there ever any humanity here? And someone else will hand them this book, gray and dusty from age, and say, "Yes. Many of the people here felt the yearning of creating something by hand, for no other reason than the pleasure of mastering a craft, and sharing it with their friends. Those people all left, and the ones that remained turned into robots, and died." The first person nods solemnly. It is a shame. Had more people read this book, perhaps this land might have been saved.

Gobbled this up like the eponymous bread. A delightful story from beginning to end.

I rather enjoyed this book, though I found myself thinking of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore a bit more than I'd expected to. I know it's a shared universe and all, but Lois Clary (the protagonist from this book) felt a little too much like Clay Jannon (the protagonist from Mr. Penumbra) to suit me; maybe R.S. just has a taste for that type of hero, I dunno.



That said, it was a fun little romp, with just enough fantasy to make the mundane feel a little bit magical.