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Reţetarium
Inca de la inceputul lecturii iti dai seama ca tii in mâna un volum ce debordeaza de imaginatie si prospetime, zaharul literar ascuns printre paginile cartii dezvaluinduni-se in portii bine cantarite, ornamentate cu elemente fantastice dar si de hi-tech, spre deliciul nostru, al cititorilor. Reţetele prezentate surprind si socheaza uneori, mai ales atunci cind insotesc anumite rituale, totul rezonand cu lumea de basm in care destinul eroului leviteaza pe o panta ascendenta, asemeni unui cozonac lasat la dospit. Recunosc ca nu m-am grabit sa o citesc preferand sa savurez cu nesat aromele si miasmele ce te urmaresc pas cu pas acaparandu-te in lumea miraculoasa a ingredientelor si metodelor culinare asa cum nici o carte cu bucate nu a facut-o vreodata. Blatul in jurul caruia se construieste perdeaua de frisca a povestii este pregatit in detaliu fiind insiropat din loc in loc cu schimbari de situatii sau evenimente neprevazute.
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Costi Gurgu
29 books133 followersSpeculative fiction writer with eight books and over forty short stories published in the USA, Canada, England, Denmark, Romania, Poland, and Hungary.
Twenty-seven times awarded for his fiction, including the prestigious "Alexandru Odobescu" award for debut book, two times the "Vladimir Colin" award for novel and short story collection, and the "Romanian National Convention Award" for Best Story of the Year.
Books:
- "Black Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2025
- "Pink Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2024
- "Green Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2023
- "Servitude" - novel, Kult Books, 2022
- "RecipeArium" - novel, White Cat Publications, 2016
-"Chronicles from the End of the Earth" - short story collection, Millennium Books, 2011
-"Retetarium" - novel, Tritonic, 2006
-"The Glass Plague" - short story collection, ProLogos, 2000
Recent sales:
- "Corrosion" - short story, "Water - Optimistic Sci-Fi" Anthology, editor Nina Munteanu, 2017
-"The Glass Plague" - novelette, "Dark Horizons - An Anthology of Dark Science Fiction", editor Charles P. Zaglanis, 2016.
-"Children of God" - short story, "Street Magick - Tales of Urban Fantasy", editor Charles P. Zaglanis, 2016
-"Cosmobotica" - a short story written together with Tony Pi, "The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk", editor Sean Wallace, 2015
-"Secret Recipes" - short story, "Tesseracts Seventeen Anthology", Edge SF & F Publishing, 2013
-"The Black Citadel" - short story, "Steampunk the Second Revolution Anthology", Millennium Books, '11
-"Angels and Moths" - short story, "Third Science Fiction Megapack" Anthology, Wildside Press, 2010
-"Angels and Moths" - short story, "Ages of Wonder" Anthology, Daw Books, 2009
-"The Glass Plague" - novella, "Creatures of Glass and Light Anthology" (New European Stories of the Fantastic), Science Fiction Cirklen, Denmark, 2007
- "Cosmobotica" - a short story written together with Tony Pi, to be published in July 2015 in "The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk", edited by Sean Wallace.
Twenty-seven times awarded for his fiction, including the prestigious "Alexandru Odobescu" award for debut book, two times the "Vladimir Colin" award for novel and short story collection, and the "Romanian National Convention Award" for Best Story of the Year.
Books:
- "Black Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2025
- "Pink Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2024
- "Green Corrosion" - novel, Kult Books, 2023
- "Servitude" - novel, Kult Books, 2022
- "RecipeArium" - novel, White Cat Publications, 2016
-"Chronicles from the End of the Earth" - short story collection, Millennium Books, 2011
-"Retetarium" - novel, Tritonic, 2006
-"The Glass Plague" - short story collection, ProLogos, 2000
Recent sales:
- "Corrosion" - short story, "Water - Optimistic Sci-Fi" Anthology, editor Nina Munteanu, 2017
-"The Glass Plague" - novelette, "Dark Horizons - An Anthology of Dark Science Fiction", editor Charles P. Zaglanis, 2016.
-"Children of God" - short story, "Street Magick - Tales of Urban Fantasy", editor Charles P. Zaglanis, 2016
-"Cosmobotica" - a short story written together with Tony Pi, "The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk", editor Sean Wallace, 2015
-"Secret Recipes" - short story, "Tesseracts Seventeen Anthology", Edge SF & F Publishing, 2013
-"The Black Citadel" - short story, "Steampunk the Second Revolution Anthology", Millennium Books, '11
-"Angels and Moths" - short story, "Third Science Fiction Megapack" Anthology, Wildside Press, 2010
-"Angels and Moths" - short story, "Ages of Wonder" Anthology, Daw Books, 2009
-"The Glass Plague" - novella, "Creatures of Glass and Light Anthology" (New European Stories of the Fantastic), Science Fiction Cirklen, Denmark, 2007
- "Cosmobotica" - a short story written together with Tony Pi, to be published in July 2015 in "The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk", edited by Sean Wallace.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 22, 2018
Probabil, primele ginduri care ii vor trece prin minte unui viitor cititor al cartii Reţetarium cind o va avea in mâna si dupa ce va studia backcoverul vor fi, undeva intre mirare – cum de a reusit sa stranga atatea aprecieri din partea unor lucratori de prima mina pe "ogorul" sci-fi-ului romanesc si anume, Voicu Bugariu, Mihai Dan Pavelescu, Michael Haulica cu o postfata semnata de Dan-Silviu Boerescu - si vesnicul semn de intrebare, oare sigur nu este tot o carte din vesnicul tipar scrisa de mine pentru mine, voi, restul (cititorii) sunteti cu capu-n nisip nu stiti nimic, lasati-ma-n creatia mea de treaba.
Si, daca mai citim si prezentarea scriitorului Costi Gurgu si vedem ca Retetarium este scrisa in 1994 castigand premiul doi la un concurs Nemira (sunt curios cine a luat premiul I), ramânând de atunci nepublicata, ma intreb ce gusturi si ce arome trebuiesc servite editorilor si celor ce se ocupa de sci-fi pentru a mirosi un fel de mincare de succes.
De remarcat ca autorului i-au si fost publicate in strainatate povestiri, in Marea Britanie mai precis, in doua antologii, Hologram Tales si Quantum Muse, avand la activ peste 30 de texte in reviste si almanahuri romanesti, fiind membru fondator al grupului Kult coordonand si primele trei antologii "Cronicile sangelui" (ProLogos, 2000), "Vremea Demonilor" (Revista Fictiuni, nr.5, 2001) si"Radharc" (Millennium Press, 2005).
Inca de la inceputul lecturii iti dai seama ca tii in mâna un volum ce debordeaza de imaginatie si prospetime, zaharul literar ascuns printre paginile cartii dezvaluindu-ni-se in portii bine cantarite, ornamentate cu elemente fantastice dar si de hi-tech, spre deliciul nostru, al cititorilor. Reţetele prezentate surprind si socheaza uneori, mai ales atunci cind insotesc anumite rituale, totul rezonand cu lumea de basm in care destinul eroului leviteaza pe o panta ascendenta, asemeni unui cozonac lasat la dospit.
Recunosc ca nu m-am grabit sa o citesc preferand sa savurez cu nesat aromele si miasmele ce te urmaresc pas cu pas acaparandu-te in lumea miraculoasa a ingredientelor si metodelor culinare asa cum nici o carte cu bucate nu a facut-o vreodata. Blatul in jurul caruia se construieste perdeaua de frisca a povestii este pregatit in detaliu fiind insiropat din loc in loc cu schimbari de situatii sau evenimente neprevazute. Nu poti sa stai si sa nu te intrebi, oare cum ar arata o traducere in limba engleza? Oare ce impact ar avea in strainatate?
In fapt, cartea urmareste cativa ani din viata Reţetarului Morminiu, un fril aspirant, in principiu, la o viata incununata de retete reusite in orasul capitala al Regatului Verde, Caramiul Regal, si resedinta permanenta a Regelui acestei imparatii. Accentul se pune pe evolutia artistului desavarsit ce tinde mereu spre perfectiune, spre atingerea telului suprem, nici un sacrificiu nefiind prea mare pentru a-si atinge scopul.
Personajele frilirice sunt bine puse in scena, sunt credibile, interactioneaza cu naturalete, firul actiunii tintuind pe scaun un cititor imbatat de coloritul exotic al meniurilor halucinante prezentate.Avem parte de retete gurmande, de rete politice, de rete antice ale onoarei, etc. toate detaliate in cele mai mici amanunte, ingrediente, ritualuri si miasme incantand si socand ochiul dar si stomacul deopotriva.
Pentru cineva care nu a citit pina acum fantasy si sf, probabil ca va fi destul de greu de digerat lumea construita de Gurgu, fiintele ce o populeaza, retetele si prepararea lor, insa originalitatea ideii ar trebui sa surprinda pe oricine, impatimit de sf sau nu. De azi, am inceput sa traiesc cu speranta ca poate vor mai aparea si alte povestiri din Universul Regatului Verde, scriitorul putand exploata literar numeroasele portite lasate in povestire si ramase nedetaliate. Sau ne putem multumi doar cu originalitatea romanului de fata.
Se stie despre un fel de mincare ca iti va fi destul de greu sa-ti dai seama daca-ti va placea pina nu-l gusti, la fel si cu scriitura lui Costi Gurgu, trebuie incercat personal insa odata ce i-ai prins gustul Reţetariumului nu va fi decat un pas pina la a-l devora din scoarta-n scoarta cu nesat si lacomie. Eu stiu, ca asa mi s-a intamplat.
Voi Ce Mai Asteptati?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
septembrie 2008,
http://www.cititorsf.ro/2008/09/28/re...
Si, daca mai citim si prezentarea scriitorului Costi Gurgu si vedem ca Retetarium este scrisa in 1994 castigand premiul doi la un concurs Nemira (sunt curios cine a luat premiul I), ramânând de atunci nepublicata, ma intreb ce gusturi si ce arome trebuiesc servite editorilor si celor ce se ocupa de sci-fi pentru a mirosi un fel de mincare de succes.
De remarcat ca autorului i-au si fost publicate in strainatate povestiri, in Marea Britanie mai precis, in doua antologii, Hologram Tales si Quantum Muse, avand la activ peste 30 de texte in reviste si almanahuri romanesti, fiind membru fondator al grupului Kult coordonand si primele trei antologii "Cronicile sangelui" (ProLogos, 2000), "Vremea Demonilor" (Revista Fictiuni, nr.5, 2001) si"Radharc" (Millennium Press, 2005).
Inca de la inceputul lecturii iti dai seama ca tii in mâna un volum ce debordeaza de imaginatie si prospetime, zaharul literar ascuns printre paginile cartii dezvaluindu-ni-se in portii bine cantarite, ornamentate cu elemente fantastice dar si de hi-tech, spre deliciul nostru, al cititorilor. Reţetele prezentate surprind si socheaza uneori, mai ales atunci cind insotesc anumite rituale, totul rezonand cu lumea de basm in care destinul eroului leviteaza pe o panta ascendenta, asemeni unui cozonac lasat la dospit.
Recunosc ca nu m-am grabit sa o citesc preferand sa savurez cu nesat aromele si miasmele ce te urmaresc pas cu pas acaparandu-te in lumea miraculoasa a ingredientelor si metodelor culinare asa cum nici o carte cu bucate nu a facut-o vreodata. Blatul in jurul caruia se construieste perdeaua de frisca a povestii este pregatit in detaliu fiind insiropat din loc in loc cu schimbari de situatii sau evenimente neprevazute. Nu poti sa stai si sa nu te intrebi, oare cum ar arata o traducere in limba engleza? Oare ce impact ar avea in strainatate?
In fapt, cartea urmareste cativa ani din viata Reţetarului Morminiu, un fril aspirant, in principiu, la o viata incununata de retete reusite in orasul capitala al Regatului Verde, Caramiul Regal, si resedinta permanenta a Regelui acestei imparatii. Accentul se pune pe evolutia artistului desavarsit ce tinde mereu spre perfectiune, spre atingerea telului suprem, nici un sacrificiu nefiind prea mare pentru a-si atinge scopul.
Personajele frilirice sunt bine puse in scena, sunt credibile, interactioneaza cu naturalete, firul actiunii tintuind pe scaun un cititor imbatat de coloritul exotic al meniurilor halucinante prezentate.Avem parte de retete gurmande, de rete politice, de rete antice ale onoarei, etc. toate detaliate in cele mai mici amanunte, ingrediente, ritualuri si miasme incantand si socand ochiul dar si stomacul deopotriva.
Pentru cineva care nu a citit pina acum fantasy si sf, probabil ca va fi destul de greu de digerat lumea construita de Gurgu, fiintele ce o populeaza, retetele si prepararea lor, insa originalitatea ideii ar trebui sa surprinda pe oricine, impatimit de sf sau nu. De azi, am inceput sa traiesc cu speranta ca poate vor mai aparea si alte povestiri din Universul Regatului Verde, scriitorul putand exploata literar numeroasele portite lasate in povestire si ramase nedetaliate. Sau ne putem multumi doar cu originalitatea romanului de fata.
Se stie despre un fel de mincare ca iti va fi destul de greu sa-ti dai seama daca-ti va placea pina nu-l gusti, la fel si cu scriitura lui Costi Gurgu, trebuie incercat personal insa odata ce i-ai prins gustul Reţetariumului nu va fi decat un pas pina la a-l devora din scoarta-n scoarta cu nesat si lacomie. Eu stiu, ca asa mi s-a intamplat.
Voi Ce Mai Asteptati?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
septembrie 2008,
http://www.cititorsf.ro/2008/09/28/re...
September 7, 2023
Let`s face it!!!
Being at a second reading i must admit that I was still impressed.
Big!Big!Style!!!
And that`s because the book has one of the most original ideea in fantasy that i`ve stumble upon, until now.
The characters are well made and the only complaint that i could made now, at a second reading, after some years, is that i wanted that others characters from this play to be developed a little bit more. Especially the bad ones. There are some chapters with them, true, but there aren`t enough of them in my opinion.
The book has a nonlinear narrative course and a surprising and not so common ending to it. it involves some very interesting ideeas about the male and the females of the race depicted here, and these informations are quite inventive and surprising.
in some moments the recipes depicted and some of the actions of the characters, could give you the creeps, and this aspect contributes to a more complex experience.
Definitely this book has what it takes to impress the fantasy readers, but also, the ones that are in search of something new and truly fascinating.
And the paper book looks awesome with it`s new and interesting formatting. And i`m insisting on this aspect because the romanian old version had only some small glimpses of this peculiar job.
Highly, highly recommended!
Being at a second reading i must admit that I was still impressed.
Big!Big!Style!!!
And that`s because the book has one of the most original ideea in fantasy that i`ve stumble upon, until now.
The characters are well made and the only complaint that i could made now, at a second reading, after some years, is that i wanted that others characters from this play to be developed a little bit more. Especially the bad ones. There are some chapters with them, true, but there aren`t enough of them in my opinion.
The book has a nonlinear narrative course and a surprising and not so common ending to it. it involves some very interesting ideeas about the male and the females of the race depicted here, and these informations are quite inventive and surprising.
in some moments the recipes depicted and some of the actions of the characters, could give you the creeps, and this aspect contributes to a more complex experience.
Definitely this book has what it takes to impress the fantasy readers, but also, the ones that are in search of something new and truly fascinating.
And the paper book looks awesome with it`s new and interesting formatting. And i`m insisting on this aspect because the romanian old version had only some small glimpses of this peculiar job.
Highly, highly recommended!
June 1, 2017
I read RecipeArium in its three versions across the two decades span since Costi’s first version. And I have a lot to say about these experiences…
1.The first version in 1994 that brought him the Nemira Award for best unpublished novel of the year, was shorter and flamboyant. Costi wanted to see if he can write a novel happening in an alien world, with only alien characters and no human perspective, as no one has done before. And as you’ll see later, this is an unwritten rule of the Science Fiction genre that Costi successfully breaks with RecipeArium.
It was a huge success as Grand Masters of the Romanian Science Fiction praised it and awarded it. It was also a huge failure as Nemira Publishing House didn’t honor their award and never published RecipeArium, thus missing the opportunity of being the first in the world to publish a new weird novel.
2.The second version came shortly after we returned from England in 1999 and Costi had his first literary agent. Agent that encouraged Costi to re-write RecipeArium using his English experience. The second version was longer, reaching the 90,000 words threshold and it somehow felt more mature. Costi sold it in 2004 to Michael Haulica, the first editor to brave the system. He published it in 2006 at Tritonic.
3. By 2008, Costi thought that it will get easier, because the new weird market was already established and RecipeArium has proved a success after two more awards, good sale numbers and a lot of excellent reviews. So, he started on the third version, the English one. He got some expert advise from late David G. Hartwell and the help of an amazingly talented editor, Marg Gilks. It wasn’t easier for Costi, because as Dr. Hartwell explained to him, the rule RecipeArium breaks scares all editors and publishers and there will be none brave enough to risk it.
Until 2015, when a courageous and visionary editor, Charles P. Zaglanis, bought RecipeArium for White Cat Publications, taking on the Science Fiction establishment and thus bringing to the American public the next generation of speculative fiction.
The rule breaker and creator of worlds, RecipeArium. You should not miss out on this revolution.
1.The first version in 1994 that brought him the Nemira Award for best unpublished novel of the year, was shorter and flamboyant. Costi wanted to see if he can write a novel happening in an alien world, with only alien characters and no human perspective, as no one has done before. And as you’ll see later, this is an unwritten rule of the Science Fiction genre that Costi successfully breaks with RecipeArium.
It was a huge success as Grand Masters of the Romanian Science Fiction praised it and awarded it. It was also a huge failure as Nemira Publishing House didn’t honor their award and never published RecipeArium, thus missing the opportunity of being the first in the world to publish a new weird novel.
2.The second version came shortly after we returned from England in 1999 and Costi had his first literary agent. Agent that encouraged Costi to re-write RecipeArium using his English experience. The second version was longer, reaching the 90,000 words threshold and it somehow felt more mature. Costi sold it in 2004 to Michael Haulica, the first editor to brave the system. He published it in 2006 at Tritonic.
3. By 2008, Costi thought that it will get easier, because the new weird market was already established and RecipeArium has proved a success after two more awards, good sale numbers and a lot of excellent reviews. So, he started on the third version, the English one. He got some expert advise from late David G. Hartwell and the help of an amazingly talented editor, Marg Gilks. It wasn’t easier for Costi, because as Dr. Hartwell explained to him, the rule RecipeArium breaks scares all editors and publishers and there will be none brave enough to risk it.
Until 2015, when a courageous and visionary editor, Charles P. Zaglanis, bought RecipeArium for White Cat Publications, taking on the Science Fiction establishment and thus bringing to the American public the next generation of speculative fiction.
The rule breaker and creator of worlds, RecipeArium. You should not miss out on this revolution.
May 29, 2017
One recipe to rule them all
Costi Gurgu creates an alien universe that is inherently human in it’s resolve. Like with all his writing (I read a few of his short stories in various collections) he manages a condensed complex creation of characters with rich environment.
Besides the really good story I’ve read with pleasure, I liked the courage, rarely shown by nowadays writers, to approach in a direct manner the gender differences and find a method to transcend them as well as making his characters choose the right path to immortality.
Imagine a world were only music matters and the singers are the real rulers beyond any official form of power, government or kings. Now imagine an alien world were chefs are influencing and shaping the world they live in through their recipes. You did? Good. Start reading Recipearium next.
Costi Gurgu creates an alien universe that is inherently human in it’s resolve. Like with all his writing (I read a few of his short stories in various collections) he manages a condensed complex creation of characters with rich environment.
Besides the really good story I’ve read with pleasure, I liked the courage, rarely shown by nowadays writers, to approach in a direct manner the gender differences and find a method to transcend them as well as making his characters choose the right path to immortality.
Imagine a world were only music matters and the singers are the real rulers beyond any official form of power, government or kings. Now imagine an alien world were chefs are influencing and shaping the world they live in through their recipes. You did? Good. Start reading Recipearium next.
July 29, 2018
An intense and synestesic page-turner from the twisted and brilliantly imaginative mind of Costi Gurgu. “RecipeArium” is surely unlike anything you’ve read before. It is a New Weird work of art for all the sense, fast-paced and wickedly delicious. Vivid and disturbing, it will take you out of your comfort zone. Bizarre, yet seductive, it will grab hold of you and won’t let go. It made me think of a mix between the “Barsoom” stories, “EXistenZ” and “Finnegans Wake”.
August 9, 2018
O carte bine scrisa, cu un univers extraordinar. Pacat ca naratiunea a cotit-o spre o poveste de dragoste iar finalul este dezamagitor. PS: capitolul bonus de la sfarsitul romanului mi s-a parut chiar inutil
March 16, 2018
You have never read a novel like this one. Never. In any case I hadn't till now.
I hardly know how to begin to do it justice but let me try.
If I were to “taxonomise” Recipearium I'd have to devise a new term. It's sf; it's written from a totally alien point of view and it's definitely weird. But not “new weird”; it's weirder than that. So what to call it? “Alien weird” perhaps?
Costi Gurgu has written the near impossible: a novel-length story set on an alien planet with no reference to anything terrestrial.
The title points to one of the singular pre-occupations of this world, this society – food. The reader is left to his or her own devices to uncover that another of the major pre-occupations is, well, sex. Make no mistake, this is neither an easy nor a titillating read. I found myself struggling to predict the motivations, actions and reactions of the characters and unsurprisingly found my ingrained instincts useless at almost every point. So no, not Kansas Dorothy. And, really, how exciting can alien sex be? To us. Adding insult to delight, the book is infused with a decided whiff of the decadent.
Get the idea now? No, of course not. How could you unless and until you read the book. Should you read the book? If you like to be transported to strange new places then most definitely. If you read for pure escapism than this is not your best bet.
Recipearium will not be a best-seller. Published by a small press with little to no marketing, the odds are simply not in its favour. Even if given a healthy marketing boost I suspect that much of the reading public would find the book perplexing. It truly is not an escapist read. I do, however, expect it to attract a cult following and would not all be surprised if it became a cult classic in due course.
Bravo Costi Gurgu!
I hardly know how to begin to do it justice but let me try.
If I were to “taxonomise” Recipearium I'd have to devise a new term. It's sf; it's written from a totally alien point of view and it's definitely weird. But not “new weird”; it's weirder than that. So what to call it? “Alien weird” perhaps?
Costi Gurgu has written the near impossible: a novel-length story set on an alien planet with no reference to anything terrestrial.
The title points to one of the singular pre-occupations of this world, this society – food. The reader is left to his or her own devices to uncover that another of the major pre-occupations is, well, sex. Make no mistake, this is neither an easy nor a titillating read. I found myself struggling to predict the motivations, actions and reactions of the characters and unsurprisingly found my ingrained instincts useless at almost every point. So no, not Kansas Dorothy. And, really, how exciting can alien sex be? To us. Adding insult to delight, the book is infused with a decided whiff of the decadent.
Get the idea now? No, of course not. How could you unless and until you read the book. Should you read the book? If you like to be transported to strange new places then most definitely. If you read for pure escapism than this is not your best bet.
Recipearium will not be a best-seller. Published by a small press with little to no marketing, the odds are simply not in its favour. Even if given a healthy marketing boost I suspect that much of the reading public would find the book perplexing. It truly is not an escapist read. I do, however, expect it to attract a cult following and would not all be surprised if it became a cult classic in due course.
Bravo Costi Gurgu!
Read
November 26, 2017"RecipeArium" is uniquely captivating, intriguing, and compelling. Costi Gurgu engages all the senses, tears the envelope to ribbons, and triggers the deepest erogenous crevices of the mind. The story lingers, long after you finish the book, enticing you to question the existential boundaries of hunger. Costi Gurgu accomplishes what all great science fiction authors aim to do--look at something commonplace (eating a meal) in a primal and ultramodern way. "RecipeArium" drops nouveau cuisine and lust in a blender and presses liquify.
May 4, 2016
E într-atît de bine scrisă încît la unele descrieri de situații și feluri de mîncare riști să te ia cu greața, mai ales dacă ai o imaginație vizuală foarte activă.
O recomand tuturor celor interesați să citească un sf / fantasy bizar și plin de originalitate. Merită.
O recomand tuturor celor interesați să citească un sf / fantasy bizar și plin de originalitate. Merită.
August 7, 2017
Costi's imagination when it comes to food delicacies has no boundaries. The writing has an unique flowing that give your taste buds a tingle. Nevertheless, it should come with a disclaimer 'Please don't try this at home!' Highly recommended.
May 25, 2017
I’ve read RecipeArium not knowing what to expect. In a way, you think you know from its description what to expect and yet, you have to read it to actually know, to actually glimpse into its world of wonders.
For me it wasn’t a page turner, because I wanted to savor everything. The world (and especially the recipes) seemed genius to me. And the characters walked me through the décor. It was like one of those virtual realities in which you immerse yourself and when it is over and you’re back into the real world, you still feel connected and somehow it alters your real-world perception.
I’ve never read something like this before and I think what Gurgu did in RecipeArium is revolutionary. It’s one of those novels turning instantly into cult novels. I don’t think China Mieville should move over as Robert J. Sawyer said (I love his novels!), but I think he should make room for Costi Gurgu.
For me it wasn’t a page turner, because I wanted to savor everything. The world (and especially the recipes) seemed genius to me. And the characters walked me through the décor. It was like one of those virtual realities in which you immerse yourself and when it is over and you’re back into the real world, you still feel connected and somehow it alters your real-world perception.
I’ve never read something like this before and I think what Gurgu did in RecipeArium is revolutionary. It’s one of those novels turning instantly into cult novels. I don’t think China Mieville should move over as Robert J. Sawyer said (I love his novels!), but I think he should make room for Costi Gurgu.
August 26, 2019
An interesting tale of a phril’s political rise and the inherent challenges.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2017
Art in the monster city, the Royal Carami of the Green Kingdom, consists mainly in the art of preparing Recipes, the art of tasting. Because “…tasting involves a Course with its story. A Course’s story involves its preparation.” And the most offensive thing for the phrils, the inhabitants of the Royal Carami, is for the Recipe to be cooked and not prepared.
RecipeArium is a book in which you do not necessarily follow what is happening (and it is happening a lot), but the details, the writing. This is a sign of the first-class writers. Because Gurgu is a first-class writer. And at the end of the reading, he leaves the reader with both the regret that the book is over, and the desire to see a new book signed by Costi Gurgu.
RecipeArium’s reading is a delight. It is like tasting an unbelievable Course, unheard of. A novel like no other. An abundance of imagination—the Recipes, the customs, the rituals, the laws—perfectly balanced, entirely serving the story.
To write good science fiction or fantasy means to create a functional world filled with everything the real world has. Well, the Green Kingdom works. In a world in which life’s supreme goal, the fundamental art, is to invent Recipes, everything that happens in this novel—its characters, their lives—everything is integrated perfectly. It’s a seamless part of the mechanism. It works!
RecipeArium is a Course sort of a novel, with a story of preparation culminating in the tasting of it. It is not cooked food.
A good tasting for the readers of Jeff VanderMeer and China Miéville.
RecipeArium is a book in which you do not necessarily follow what is happening (and it is happening a lot), but the details, the writing. This is a sign of the first-class writers. Because Gurgu is a first-class writer. And at the end of the reading, he leaves the reader with both the regret that the book is over, and the desire to see a new book signed by Costi Gurgu.
RecipeArium’s reading is a delight. It is like tasting an unbelievable Course, unheard of. A novel like no other. An abundance of imagination—the Recipes, the customs, the rituals, the laws—perfectly balanced, entirely serving the story.
To write good science fiction or fantasy means to create a functional world filled with everything the real world has. Well, the Green Kingdom works. In a world in which life’s supreme goal, the fundamental art, is to invent Recipes, everything that happens in this novel—its characters, their lives—everything is integrated perfectly. It’s a seamless part of the mechanism. It works!
RecipeArium is a Course sort of a novel, with a story of preparation culminating in the tasting of it. It is not cooked food.
A good tasting for the readers of Jeff VanderMeer and China Miéville.
January 22, 2025
Un volum care face cinste SF-ului romanesc. Creativitatea autorului este mult peste medie. Mi-a placut la nebunie universul creat de Costi Gurgu. O sa mai citesc alte carti de CG.
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