Sourdough

`As with his first, bestselling novel, Robin Sloan had a great deal of fun. It comes through in his slightly delighted tone, his lilt and the way he laughs at himself...This relishing of language-and Sloan's awareness of the reader-forms a helpful lens, allowing us to hear the interior Lois, the one who deserves a life much richer than robots and Tetra Paks of slurry.' * NZ Listener * `This novel does a superb job of capturing what life is like-lonely, exhausting, at times quite strange-working at a tech start-up in San Francisco...Utterly charming.' * Whimn * `Sloan's charming storytelling, a mix of magical realism, and a dash of fabulism make for a fun read. It's dessert.' * Dallas News * `[Sourdough] plunges through so much terrain: microbial nations, assimilation and tradition, embodied consciousness and the crisis of the tech industry, all without losing the light, sweet, ironic Sloanian voice familiar from Mr Penumbra's, a plot that makes the book a page-turner and a laugh-out-louder, with sweetness and romance and tartness and irony in perfect balance. What a great book, seriously.' * BoingBoing * `In his novel Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Sloan unraveled a mystery about a web designer who takes a job in a peculiar all-night Bay Area book shop. New technology clashed, then melded, with classic history. Sourdough promises a similar sort of tech and analog mashup, in this case involving the food industry: a software engineer learns to bake bread and uncovers a secret underground market. We're already hungry for it.' * The Miami Herald, Fall Books Preview * `Through narrative and email correspondence, Sloan captures contemporary work environments, current reality, and future trends...[Sourdough] offers much to savor.' * Publishers Weekly * `Sloan's comic but smart tone never flags, and Lois is an easy hero to root for.' * Kirkus Reviews * `A wild, geeky, flour-dusted ride through the oddball food and techie communities of San Francisco...A winning story that-like its namesake bread-carries a satisfying tang.' * Shelf Awareness * `How many novels can boast an obstreperous sourdough starter as a key character? A delightful and heartfelt read.' * Library Journal * `As he did in Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan will have readers looking for magic in the mundane.' -- Nora Horvath, Real Simple `Delightful... It's equal measures techie and foodie fodder, a perfect parable for our times.' * San Francisco Magazine * `A beautiful, small, sweet, quiet book. It knows as much about the strange extremes of food as Mr Penumbra did about the dark latitudes of the book community.' * National Public Radio * `Sourdough is the story we all secretly dream about.' * Washington Post * `Filled with crisp humor and weird but endearing characters... [A] delight, perfect for those who like a little magic with their meals.' * Booklist starred review * `Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore is an inventive Da Vinci Code bibliophilic romp. So visit Mr Penumbra's tall skinny bookstore and enjoy Robin Sloan's intriguing biblioverse.' * Canberra Times on Mr Penumbra * 'A fable for the computer age, this jaunty colloquy, replete with pop-cultural references and pithy asides to the reader, celebrates the restorative power of friendship and the creative spirit in whatever form if manifests itself.' * The Weekend Australian on Mr Penumbra * 'Part love letter to books, part technological meditation, part thrilling adventure, part requiem... Eminently enjoyable, full of warmth and intelligence.' * The New York Times Book Review on Mr Penumbra * 'A real tour de force [and] a beautiful fable...The reader is swept along by Sloan's enthusiasm.' -- George Saunders * on Mr Penumbra * 'There is nothing about Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore that I didn't love.' -- Cory Doctorow on Mr Penumbra