Leavened by the same infectious intelligence & lovable nerdiness that made Robin Sloan's Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore such a sensation Sourdough marks the triumphant return of a unique & beloved young writer Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions She codes all day & collapses at night her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighbourhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening Then disaster! Visa issues The brothers close up shop & fast But they have one last delivery for Lois their culture the sourdough starter used to bake their bread She must keep it alive they tell her
- feed it daily play it music & learn to bake with it Lois is no baker but she could use a roommate even if it is a needy colony of microorganisms Soon not only is she eating her own homemade bread she's providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer's market & a whole new world opens up When Lois comes before the jury that decides who sells what at Bay Area markets she encounters a close-knit club with no appetite for new members But then an alternative emerges a secret market that aims to fuse food & technology But who are these people exactlysourdough is a soup of skilfully balanced ingredients there's satire a touch of fantasy a pinch of SF all bound up with a likeable narrator whose zest for life is infectious The novel opens a door on a world that's both comforting & thrillingly odd
- The Guardian