AS AN INVESTED SACREANT, Prosatio Silban ministered to the souls of the Uulian Commonwell’s faithful. But now, his mission is tending the palates and gullets he encounters in his cook-or-die quest for the next paying customer – whether demure courtesan, cranky giant, duplicitous wizard, mystical indigene, pretentious nobles, minor godling, or whoever else is hungry.
Inspired by Don Quixote, Brillat-Savarin’s The Physiology of Taste, and the Dreamlands Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft, these two volumes of episodic fantasies – The Cook For Any Price: Across the Rimless Sea and The Cook For Any Price: More Commonwell Tales – are part culinary tour and part spiritual adventure. Ride along in Prosatio Silban’s well-stocked galleywagon and through a world unlike any you’ve ever visited.
(Available through the above links as e-books, and also in paperback: Across the Rimless Sea – More Commonwell Tales!)
RECIPE COLLECTORS! Want to prepare meals (and eat!) like Prosatio Silban? The free download Commonwell Cookery will nourish appetites both gastronomic and literary. May the Flickering Gods smile upon your honest and sincere emulations.
What Are Readers Saying?
Ransom Stephens, author of The Book of Bastards
“Sometimes you just need to let someone else deal with the BS of life. … Prosatio Silban is the man for the job!
“This intrepid chef travels a world that reminds you of places you’ve been, places you’d like to go, and places you’d prefer to avoid. With his old-school (really old) food truck, he achieves a view of the world (well, a world in a different time and a different place (a very different time and place)) that’s sort of like Norman Rockwell would have had, if he’d been in that very different time and place. All the while, he leaves your mouth watering with recipe ideas! Semi-seriously, it’s sort of like Patrick Rothfuss meets Julia Child.
“Our intrepid cook has what it takes. He never gives up, doesn’t know the name of surrender! But, you know, now and then, there’s a better, less bitter, way out than the obvious.
“Plus, this guy Neal Ross Attinson? He can write. I mean he can string a sentence together so well that you wonder, how the hell does the publishing industry not go to his house, kidnap him, set him in a chair, and force him to crank out pithy novels for 7% of the net? They’d make a fortune!”
Alana Dill (cover artist, Commonwell Cookery)
“They are very refreshing, and require attention and thought. Not popcorn reading!”
Grant Smith
“Right below your ebook are examples of other 5-star reviewed documents priced at $9.99. … it is how much I would value your work.”
Beth Bergen
“Heartwarming and a great reminder of the value of kindness. Thank you for writing them.”
Caolifhionne Mears
“… It’s an entire world. Gods, countries, foods, drinks, cultures, critters, beliefs, oddly, I can smell the inside of Prosatio’s wagon. I know what Onward feels like and how he sounds. I can taste yava, and don’t EVEN get me started on the Flickering Gods! (Ok, maybe a little) flickering… FLICKERING!!! Holy moly!!! Is that a dead on description or WHAT?!?!?!? I want to sit down on a wooden bench with Prosatio and share cooking stories and recipes, tales of near misses and lost loves, drink brandy and laugh over silly adventures, plan imaginary banquets for our heroes and discuss the best way to keep harness galls from affecting buopoths. I want to be his friend and travel around with him asking “With what may I please you?” to folks and then cooking for those hungry people. I want to hear a hushed and fervent “We affirm!” after a miraculous event and feel the goosebumps on my own skin because I witnessed said event too. I want… I want to go live in that world.”
Kat Koch
“The scenes are so descriptive, I can picture the surrounds and events clearly and the stories are great entertainment. Keep up the fantastic works!”
Bernard Rizzo
“They are well written. They flow well. They are bite sized nuggets of creamy goodness. They whet my appetite and left me wanting for more. They ‘caught’ me. You have something here. You have a gift for writing and a grand world and character worthy of that world that you have created. It would be a shame if these did not see wider distribution. Keep them coming. Please.”