Announcing COOKING FOR WIZARDS, WARRIORS AND DRAGONS

Hello, fellow readers, book nerds, and friends! We are proud to announce that… Thea wrote a cookbook! Not just any cookbook (though, who doesn’t love a good cookbook?)–this one is a fantasy cookbook, inspired by so many of the wonderful books that we’ve had the pleasure of reading, reviewing, and sharing here on The Book Smugglers and in real life.

About The Book

100+ Spell-Binding Recipes Inspired by Diverse Fantasy Worlds, from The Witcher to The Broken Earth

Created by Hugo Award-winning co-founder of The Book Smugglers, Thea James, Cooking for Wizards, Warriors and Dragons collects recipes inspired by fantasy classics and groundbreaking new voices, including: Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher, N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha, Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle, Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness, and many more.

Fortify yourself for the road with classic dishes, such as Pernese Meatrolls or Geralt’s Life Saving Chicken Sando. Embrace your dark side with King’s Landing Barbecue smoked meats a la Daenerys, channel your inner Saruman with Charred Broccoli Stalk Salad, or a Fifth Season-inspired Solving the Meat Shortage Osso Bucco. Learn to make your own Grishaverse-inspired Butter Week Cakes or Orïshan Coconut Pie, and try your hand at  a Spiritwalkerverse-inspired Lamb Tagine.

Organized by different meal types and ingredients (including Breakfasts & Second Breakfasts, Soups & Stews, The Hunt, The Farm, The Catch, Snacks & Sides, and Desserts), Cooking for Wizards, Warriors and Dragons includes forty illustrations from noted artist Tim Foley and recipes developed and tested by professional chef Isabel Minunni. With five bonus feast spreads, this grimoire is sure to sate hungry readers from any realm.

Sample Recipe Pages

A Few Words From Thea

I really like to cook. And I really, really like to read. (Probably a good thing, considering the past year has given me plenty of practice in both reading and cooking.) I also like to write about books (if you’re reading this, then you probably know that already). So, I’m really thrilled that I was able to combine all of those things I love into a single book, and share it with others who like cooking and fantasy fiction.

In this book, you’ll find recipes inspired by classic genre novels: The Lord of the Rings, The Earthsea Cycle, The Dragonriders of Pern. You’ll also find the more recently heralded new classics, like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy. There’s also new favorites and award-winners like N.K. Jemisin, as well as favorites like Andrezej Sapkowski’s The Witcher (book, TV, and video game-inspired). Finally, perhaps most importantly (at least to me), is the inclusion of emerging voices and important writers such as Tomi Adeyemi, Aliette de Bodard, Zoraida Córdova, Zen Cho, Tochi Onyebuchi, and many more. 

I didn’t want to write a cookbook that only featured basic soups, bread, and roasted meats–don’t get me wrong, I love a good hunk of hard cheese, crusty bread, and spit-fired roasts! But it was important to me to create a collection that embraces the diversity of storytelling, cultures and cuisines that make up today’s fantasy genre. Alongside steaks and stews, you will find biryani and lentils, dumplings and potages, sambal and salted fish carefully plucked from the myriad fantasy settings my favorite authors have created.

What Else Should You Know About The Book?

While I love cooking food at home and coming up with these different concepts was a delight, I am not a professional chef. Thankfully, I had the incredibly talented Isabel Minunni to collaborate with! Thanks to Isabel’s creativity, culinary skill, and experience, we could bring all of these recipes to life.

You should also know that this cookbook has been blessed with some jaw-droppingly gorgeous illustrations from Tim Foley. I had a blast watching his early sketches come to full form over the course of this project and feel incredibly lucky to have had his artwork featured in this book.

Finally, you should know that the supremely talented mega rockstar author Kate Elliott (whose Spiritwalker books are featured throughout the cookbook) wrote the foreword. (Still pinching myself over that!)

So When Is COOKING FOR WIZARDS, WARRIORS AND DRAGONS Available?

All earth-bound realms will be able to cook from the book on August 31, 2021. Note that currently only the hardcover version is available for preorder, but an ebook is coming. (I’ll update with links on the book page as soon as I get the good word from my publisher.)

What else can you expect? I’m hoping to have read/cook/watchalongs, share some recipes, and (re)review some of the excellent books whose worlds comprise the book over the next few months. I’d also love to hear from you, readers, if you have a favorite book with delicious food that you want to share.

Until then, I’m including preorder links below–much more to come!