A Halo of Mushrooms by Andrew Hiller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a weird book! I mean, from the title, it should be rather obvious, but instead of getting a magic mushroom ride of a book, I get a REAL MAGIC MUSHROOM RIDE OF A BOOK, with the sparkly bits, too. :)

At its core, the novel is both literally and subjectively focused on Wonder. It's a genre all by itself. We're supposed to ooh and ahh and get all tingly and say, "That's pretty cool," and guess what? It succeeds.

I was entirely sold in the cooking magic. I was completely enchanted. Think about a cooking urban fantasy and then turn it up a few notches, and you'll get this...

An epic fantasy spanning many alternate worlds, armies of monsters wanting to snuff out the Wonder? Whoa. I thought this was a novel about magic in the kitchen!

It is pretty cool. It kinda jarred me at first, because who expect that? I was still completely sold on the kitchen stuff. :) Why go the epic route, too? With kitties? Nah, it's okay. It remains interesting and a real trip. Literally.

Take a ride on the wild side. Taste of the vigor. Meditate on the ring.

But most of all, feed your mushroom!

There's a taste of the absurd, a taste of the magic, but more than anything, it lets you swim in the wonder all the way through the text. :)

View all my reviews