Post-molecular Comfort Food - Anton Eine

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Author: Anton Eine

Translator: Simon Geoghegan
Genre: Sci-Fi short story
Rating: 4.5 stars.

A surprising short story that begins innocently enough but soon becomes as complex as the recipes it mentions.

Michael Turner - a top food blogger, a celebrated chef, and a bit of a snob – is devastated when he loses his top rank on the blog charts to a newcomer named Amy Williams. What infuriates him even more is that he was the first to highlight Amy’s recipe by giving it a 5 star ranking, never dreaming that she would overtake him on the charts. Now what can Michael do to win back his much-deserved no. 1 spot? With the upcoming food competition providing the perfect opportunity for a show-off, Michael begins investing day and night into getting the perfect recipe, much to the dismay of his wife who feels he must remember why he began cooking in the first place. Read the story to know what happens next.

I simply loved the first person narration of Michael. It was funny to see his thoughts begin from the irritated “How dare she?”, moving to the insecure “Is she better than me?” and the depressed “I don’t know if I can do it.” The story works much better because of the first person voice and the strong character it gives Michael.

This is a sci-fi short. (I had forgotten to expect the sci-fi!) The tale started off innocently but around the 15% mark came a revelation that made me go “Whoa!” in surprise. I loved the futuristic infusion into what would otherwise have been a regular story of rivalry and one-upmanship. The way the potential tech of the future has been balanced with a morbid depiction of what happened in the “past” of 2038 is both mind-blowing and dismaying to read.

All in all, I loved the family values, the technological innovations, the gastronomic offerings, and the characters. It is a unique story and makes a great impact.

This tale is a part of the “Human Kind” collection but also available separately on Amazon as a short. The author is a sci-fi and technofantasy author from Kyiv, Ukraine. The war has upset his writing schedule but he still lives in Kyiv and is working on his first nonfiction to bring stories from Ukraine to the world. Do support him by trying/buying his books. This story has been translated into English by Simon Geoghegan.

Caveat Emptor: Do NOT read on an empty stomach. The blurb is right for once!

I received a complimentary copy of this story from the author through ‘StoryOrigin’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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