A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
Viv is an orc who, with a band of mercenaries, has managed to scrape together quite a sizeable nest egg, and wants to retire. Unlike most orc mercenaries who die in battle, Viv dreams of opening a coffee shop, and is given the opportunity to when a job leads to her band crossing paths with a Scalvert Stone, a mystical item alleged to bring good luck to those who possess it. Viv retires from mercenary life, opens her shop with the help of friends new and old, but soon finds that those who live by the sword are forced to confront the past.
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree is an enjoyable adventure, but hard to categorize. The plot, built around the opening of a coffee shop, could be conceived of as mundane, but that low-stakes issue set within a fantasy world adds a kind of mystique to the whole process that was engaging. While by no means is Baldree telling a mystery or thriller, the way he dresses up the invention of common coffeehouse features (such as a cinnamon roll, biscotti, fans, etc.) doesn’t always explain exactly what these things are until they’re done. In this way, Legends and Lattes does afford the reader the opportunity to “discover” things along with the character and perhaps force their perspective out of the preconceived ideas that are taken for granted anytime someone walks into a coffee shop.
Further, Legends and Lattes has a lot of feel good elements to it that go beyond the traditional stories that get told about a business trying to get off the ground. In most works, there’s a focus on the hardships of the process, including making ends meet and figuring out ways to develop a market for people to buy a product, but Baldree focuses instead on the ways that Viv connects with other characters throughout her journey. She leaves behind the band of mercenaries she’d been accustomed to travel with, but builds a circle of friends that support her through her endeavors with the coffee shop and her transition away from her old life as a mercenary. Though there are opportunities for Viv to reclaim her old identity, her friends Tandri (a succubus with an artistic bent), Cal (a hob who likes DIY projects), Thimble (a ratkin baker with an affinity for experimentation), and others help Viv take a more diplomatic approach when faced with a challenge.
Legends and Lattes is a great read for anyone who wants something light and entertaining. It has substantial elements to it – an exploration of friendship, a few whispers of identity, the hope of changing one’s stars, and notes of a LGBTQ+ romance – but the book doesn’t focus heavily on any of these in its attempt to entertain. In some ways, it feels more like a push to its reader to shift their perspective and consider how wondrous life really is, even the most mundane aspects that no one thinks too deeply about.
For writers, reading Legends and Lattes would be good for a break, but it’s also a great tool for understanding how to shift readers’ perspectives on traditionally mundane facets of existence. Baldree can offer a template for fantasy writers who want to get a band of adventurers together, but he also shows how to illustrate characters that leave space for one another without sacrificing plot. In some ways, Legends and Lattes provides a great template for writing a story that realistically reflects healthy relationships while still showcasing the fact that there’s a story to tell.
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What’s Next?
I am an avid reader and have quite a few thoughts on how some books could benefit both people that want to be entertained and those looking to sharpen their literary skills.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what I’ve been reading – and how it could benefit you – I will be publishing those thoughts on Fridays on a weekly basis. Check back next week for a discussion of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea!
The Writerly Review 