The Astral Highway [A Cooking LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The secret to feeding a crew of hungry aliens? A contract with a Demon.

Lusac works as a low-ranking member of a space pirate crew traveling along the chaotic, galaxy-wide wormhole network known as the Astral Highway. When the Demon in his fridge offers Lus a system in exchange for his eventual freedom (not that Lus would ever do that), he finds that his wildest dreams might finally become a reality.

The only catch? It’s a cooking system and [Chef] Lusac has almost no experience in the kitchen.

In a galaxy torn apart by civil war, can Lus grow beyond the standard [Chef] to discover all the secrets held inside the Astral Highway?

What To Expect:

- Weak to strong MC

- Secondary FMC with intersecting storylines

- Action mixed with slice-of-life stuff and cozy cooking chapters

- A vast, unique galaxy where Humans arenotthe dominant species

- 2,000+ words per a chapter

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: Raine3

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 377
Views: 138,956

Chapters(108 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

sueqRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really am enjoying reading this story. The storyline is engaging with the right amount of humor. The characters are a lot of fun, especially the cat. I love the sci-fi setting and the idea of a cooking system is unique. Having the demon in the interbox makes things a lot of fun especially since Lus sucks at cooking. 😂😂
(Related to author)
UlyssesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A great start and a promising future. With a sprawling world to explore and interracial relationships to learn about.
In the kitchen of a spaceship flying through reality we are introduced to this little gem and our protagonist Lus, who is lucky enough to get himself a system.
Overall 5/5
Style 4/5
Great, it's detailed and descriptive. I especially loved some setting choices, like the red sun coming through the windows. Impactful to say the least. I really enjoyed it.
Story 5/5
Early action leading into setup, simple in it's exécution and well known to our community, but set in a world so different and seemingly so big that I just can't wait to see where it goes.
Grammar 5/5
Really, no mistakes. There may be a single typo that I remember, but in more than ten thousand words that is more than impressive.
Character 5/5
While still early in the story I can tell that Lus has a lot of growing to do while at the same time being a man capable to handle himself. I can't wait to see him grow closer to those on his ship as they recognize his efforts, they seem like interesting people too.
Go read it. I had fun, the more I read the more it drew me in. So much so that I didn't even realize what chapter I was on.
animeball zRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a great novel, giving us a unique mix of elements from a space opera, along with elements of litRPG through the interesting cooking style system.
The book is well-written. It isn’t overly verbose and the description keeps you entertained. It’s definitely a style you will like throughout the reading.
The characters are splendid, especially the relationship between Lusac and the Leviathan. Their encounters always bring that humour that gets you wanting to read more. Just like Lusac once said, this team of space travellers seem more like a family instead of a group of people just working together.
The story is great and I’m loving to see Lusac slowly increasing the quality of his recipes. To be quite honest, the cooking scenes are a great addition to the novel and I hope to see more of those in the future.
The grammar is definitely okay, I’ve probably seen only a handful of errors, and they do nothing to hinder the overall reading experience.
My only little point is that at the start of the book I was a little overwhelmed with the several non-human species introduced to us but this confusion is solved in literally the first few chapters so it’s no bother.
This is a great and fun novel, and I don’t think you’d want to miss out on it.
AuthorSeanHallRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This book is such a fun mix of space opera and LitRPG, with a cool twist—cooking! You follow Lusac, a space chef, who's leveling up his recipes while traveling through space with a crew full of quirky personalities. Honestly, I didn’t expect to enjoy the cooking scenes as much as I did, but they really bring something unique to the story and keep it fresh.
The characters are definitely the highlight. Lusac’s interactions with the Leviathan are hilarious, and their banter really makes the crew feel more like a family than just a group of coworkers. It gives the story a lot of heart and makes it easy to connect with everyone. The world-building is also on point—you can really picture the vastness of space and all the cool places they visit. Plus, the action kicks off right away, so it’s super easy to get hooked from the start.
The writing is smooth and easy to follow, with a nice balance between action and description. There weren’t many grammar issues—maybe a typo or two, but nothing that gets in the way of the story.
Overall, I'd give it a 5/5. If you love sci-fi and are looking for something a bit different, this one's worth checking out!
DracorexRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Fans of sci-fi and cooking rejoice! The story starts off in an intense firefight that also does a great job of characterizing several of the main cast right off the bat. Then, what feels like a classic space-pirate adventure of finding powerful ancient technology takes a sharp and delightful turn.
Style: 5/5 Descriptions and imagery is wonderful and keeps me engaged and wanting to read on further. Some deliberate choices are made to help stylize the world more, such as the alien naming conventions. It's like a cookbook combined with a space opera.
Grammar: 4.5/5 Very very few issues that I noticed. Not much else to say here.
Story: 5/5 I loved it. Even the cooking segments are engaging, and, as an amateur chef myself, very believable. I feel Lus's pain and want to try some of the dishes he's making. Everything is kept on a tight and engaging pace
Character: 6/5 Probably my favorite part of the story! Characters are believable and engaging. I haven't seen a ton from the cast so far, but I can already tell that they are going to grow and develop in very nice ways if the early parts are anything to do by. They have banter between each other that serves to improve the story and give us readers more information about the world they live in.
Gold stars all around. Give this a read!
GanuRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This novel is a really fun mix of space opera and litRPG, with the unique addition of cooking! It follows Lusac, a space chef who’s leveling up his recipes while navigating space with a crew that’s full of quirky personalities. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the cooking scenes as much as I did, but they really add something different to the story and keep it from feeling like just another sci-fi adventure.
The characters are where this story really shines. Lusac's interactions with the Leviathan are hilarious, and their banter makes the whole crew feel like a family instead of just a team of space travelers. It gives the story a bit of heart and humor, which makes it easy to connect with the characters. The world-building is also solid, with vivid descriptions that make it easy to picture the vastness of space and the different locations they visit. The action kicks off right away, and it doesn’t slow down, so it’s easy to get hooked from the start.
The writing is smooth and easy to follow. There's just the right balance of description and action, so it doesn’t feel bogged down. As for grammar, it’s clean. I didn’t notice many errors—maybe a typo here and there, but nothing that breaks the flow of reading.
Overall, I’d rate it a 5/5. The mix of cooking, space travel, and a quirky crew gives this novel a unique twist. If you’re a fan of sci-fi and looking for something a little different, this is definitely worth checking out!
LitBurstRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Astral Highway is a very fun story that chooses its focus well and thinks deeply about what kind of world its setup would logically create. I like that the System doesn't instantly make Lusac OP and the amount of time spent worldbuilding around the multiple different alien species that the story has to show us, as well as humanity's place in the galaxy.
Lus is a guy with a tragic backstory and some growing up to do, and as the story progresses you can see him doing it. The FMC is very stubborn, but she's an excellent way to delve into the concept of Demons in the story's universe. I'm invested in not just the main character but the fate of the entire ship, and there's already plenty of mysteries sprinkled into the story that I'm looking forward to seeing the resolution for.
I don't know if Lusac will end up a big enough fish to change the entire galaxy, but I can't wait to see him explore it and plumb its secrets.
ranocheRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
It's a good story but it follows a formula and the characters are a bit dickish. We need object 1/10, we go to place, things go wrong, MC barely escapes, cooks new recipe. We need object 2/10 etc. sometimes there will just randomly be someone watching TV cooking show and that will be the whole chapter. Many of the side characters treat the MC like crap and only stop because he becomes more useful as the MC becomes stronger. The ending is also kind of lackluster and kind of just explains things
The pottery shards? Oh they're going to a gang boss as a secret weapon. A pay check with no real story pay off except a promise of a bonus and maybe promotion in the future
Leviathan? Still just stuck in a fridge. He really doesn't do much for most of the story.
DatateqRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Overall the story is not too bad. I found the MC to be more lucky than good, but I suppose that is fine. I was disappointed supposedly life-changing gift of a system was only moderately life changing. On the other hand, he made good use of what impacts it did have. The world-building was interesting and while sometimes frustrating, the new names for things was interesting and believable since language does tend to shift over time. I’d say the biggest problem with the story is the MC’s nemesis. The sequence of coincidences that kept the MC and nemesis running into each other was completely unbelievable. The plot involving the nemesis was more tedious than interesting and I found myself eventually skipping the chapters from her POV. I found the ending to be abrupt and rather flat, but at least you closed the loop. It seems like you have potential with your creativity, but you could probably use a beta or two to help refine your ideas. Thanks for sharing your time and creativity.
Fenyx39Royal Road
★★★ 3.0
I want to like this story, there are some really funny moments and it is well written. But I just can’t get over the poor decision making, judgement and self deception that keeps happening.
Mild spoiler here: After the ship’s cook is accidentally killed, our heroic mc becomes the cook, despite being totally inept. This is compounded by the fact that he doesn’t have any recipes and for some reason can’t get any either, except through his system. Like seriously, no recipes onboard or even picking up a recipe book at a port call.
More of a spoiler here
The crew is on a mission to gather all the pieces of this shattered pottery puzzle. This includes breaking into a decently high tech museum and stealing only that one object. I feel like if you had an interplanetary thief stealing random pieces of pottery you might catch on. They are using zero subtlety after all.
Part of this brings them to an abandoned mine of unknown history. Despite multiple people seeing and feeling things, they continue to practice self deception and convince themselves that there is nothing there. Like seriously, you are in an abandoned mine on an unknown planet and seeing things, your partner sees things, then you stick your head in the ground like an ostrich and pretend you didn’t see anything.
The last thing I feel strongly about is the police officer who is going after Leviathan. She is a single person not making use of her network of fellow officers insisting on her making the capture, despite the fact that she is just a patrol cop who goes where directed and basically relies on coincidence yet is set up as the big baddie here.
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third is plot armor