Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, a Book Review

After losing my reading mojo and finding myself delved into a very big book which I was enjoying but just not enough to get it finished. I found my To Be Read pile growing bigger and bigger. Then my son bought me Legends and Lattes for Christmas.

So I had to read this next or he would have been upset. To be fair he chose well because just reading the blurb had me hooked.

Legends and Lattes

High fantasy, low stakes – with a double-shot of coffee.

After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she can’t go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.

But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined . . .

My Review of Legends and Lattes

Yes, it’s a fantasy book so if you are not a fantasy reader then it’s probably not for you. It’s described as cosy fantasy so you don’t get the deeper intricate storylines that a lot of fantasy needs to draw you into their world. This is a different world which reminds you of our own but with different creatures living in it. It reminded me a little of Terry Pratchett who built and entire world that started off primitive but emulated the beginnings of our world today. Reading reviews of comparison with Terry Pratchett the claims are that Travis Baldree lacks his wit and insight. But Pratchett’s first books are not actually claimed as his best. These are the type of stories that just get better with time.

Now, onto the story. Viv is an Orc and a very powerful one with her own ‘gang.’ But she longs for something different and wants to open a coffee shop like one she went to in a dwarf town. So, the story starts violently with Viv stealing a ‘magic’ stone from the brain of a monster, a scalvart.

Then she runs off, leaving her gang and finds an old livery which she buys and immediately buries the stone in the ground. She starts finding a community of people ready to help her dream come true. She opens a coffee shop, and it soon becomes popular with people who have never even heard of coffee before. Of course Viv believes it’s the stone. Luck just seems to keep coming and things get better and better, until it all goes wrong in a BIG way.

What happens next surprises Viv and and I’m not going to say anymore because I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone.

I’ve already ordered the next book Bookshops and Bonedust. We all need a little light reading sometimes…well, I do.