An SF Villain

SM Stirling, Drakon (New York, 2000).

Gwendolyn Ingolfsson, a lone Draka based in the Bahamas in the late twentieth century, plans to enslave humanity or, failing that, exterminate it. So far, this makes her a standard sf villain.

However, Gwen's motivation and abilities are plausible because we have already read three novels about how the Draka grew from a colony of defeated exiles into a

world dictatorship. It is horrible to watch Gwen moving in on the innocent investment banker, Jennifer, who can have little or no resistance to the Draka's powers of personal persuasion and control.

Before the seduction starts, they eat, and we vicariously enjoy, yet another tasty meal:

Jamaican jerk-pork soup;
buffalo hump steak in a brown peppercorn sauce;

a pyramid of tiny pastries of tropical fruits - kiwi, mango, mangosteen and soursop;
Blue Mountain coffee.

We notice the food but know what is coming.

See also the Food Thread.