Monday, April 24, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

 


Legends and Lattes is a debut fantasy novel by author Travis Baldree. The novel is now a Nebula Award Nominee and had an odd route to get there: it was first self-published, but got attention and went viral due to its pretty remarkably fun cover. Then popular author Seanan McGuire gave it a glowing review and it wound up picked up by Tor Books for a traditional republished edition (complete with a bonus extra story). And well, here we are, with it seemingly a pretty big success, at least in terms of popular acclaim.

The story is a spin on a couple of SF/F archetypes I've enjoyed in the past: first, it's kind of an "after the adventure ends" story, as it follows Orc Barbarian Viv as she quits adventuring after one last quest to try and fulfill her dream: to open up a successful coffee shop and bring the glories of coffee to towns who've never heard of it. Secondly, it's the type of low key SF/F story which doesn't have a big bad or a big world ending or even small scale conflict to fight - this is a low key cozy novel showing a group of people, most notably Viv, just trying to succeed at the happy life of their dreams. So while the novel clearly takes the tropes and trappings of dungeons & dragons for its setting, it's going in a very different direction.

And as I'll explain below in further depth, it's a very good direction: Legends and Lattes is excellent cozy fun, with a wonderful lead protagonist, solid enjoyable side protagonists who you really want to root for, a slow but very well done F-F romance, and more. The novel is short, but is an absolute delight and really drew me in such that I couldn't stop reading Viv's story as she tried to establish a new life for herself, one in which she wasn't still the brutish Orc Barbarian people assumed she must be, but was instead the coffee shop owner of her dreams. Great characters, great sweet fun, and some solid themes? Yeah, Legends and Lattes is a winner.


-------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------
For years, Viv has been a successful adventurer a type everyone is seemingly familiar with: the Orc Barbarian with the huge greatsword who intimidated and smashed through a party's enemies. But Viv was also something more than that - a sensitive soul who enjoys reading and libraries, and who always wished there was something else she could do with her life, where she could put down her sword for good. And in a gnomish city she found that thing: Coffee, with a smell and taste she quickly became infatuated with, and which she wanted to spread to people outside gnomish territories...like the city of Thune, a small city of no large repute, where coffee is completely unheard of. But Thune is the center of magical leylines, and Viv's last quest provided her with a magic stone that supposedly can connect leylines to give one luck, and so Viv plans to take all her hard won riches, buy a space in Thune, and open the city's first ever coffee shop.

But while Viv is more than the brutish Orc people assume her to be, she's also not someone who has experience opening up, managing, or promoting a store in a city, to say nothing of opening a store for a product which no one else has ever heard of. Fortunately, she finds help in a hob carpenter named Cal, who helps her build the store, a succubus named Tandri who can work as an assistant manger, a rattkin named Thimble whose baking skill will lure customers even who don't like coffee, and more. Together with these companions, Viv will find herself not only the successful store of her dreams, but also a family....if problems caused by the local mob boss and one of her old adventurer "pals" doesn't cause the whole thing to come burning down....
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As I mentioned above the jump, Legends & Lattes is often described as a cozy warm and enjoyable fantasy novel, and that's really what it is. The story is told throughout from the perspective of Viv, whose goals throughout are NOT to do any heroics or fighting....and unlike the classic fantasy novel, this isn't a story that intends to force Viv to do so. For unlike the classic reluctant hero, Viv HAS done the fighting already and knows its the stereotype for her look - the big Orcish Barbarian with the huge ominous greatsword - and is tired of it. She wants to make coffee, the drink she came across that she fell in love with, and wants to run a shop that sells coffee to a town who hasn't even heard of it before and nothing else. The story presents Viv with times when a typical hero might break into violence....bu Viv consciously isn't interested in taking such steps, because it would draw her back into the role that she's tired of and wanted to escape. This isn't just an escapist novel for the reading audience, it's one for Viv and her newfound companions (more on them in a bit) as well, as they try to escape out of the roles they're tired of and just fulfill a simple dream of building and running a successful coffee shop.

And while I describe the themes up front in that last paragraph, don't get this wrong, this is a tremendously enjoyable and fun story as we follow Viv try to overcome the struggles that come with.....well, opening up a new business for a good that no one has ever heard of before. Viv's struggles as she has to figure out concepts such as construction of the shop, naming the shop, marketing and advertising the shop (especially difficult when no one knows what "coffee" is), and how to keep customers interested are really well done (plus occasional other difficulties), and Viv's naivete in these areas always feels natural and never gets annoying. It helps that Viv winds up with a group of companions she hires who become more than employees, but kind of found family, who guide her to a successful venture. There's Cal at first, the hob carpenter who Viv hires because she sees him taking risks others wouldn't to work on his own boat, and then comes Tandri, a succubus who helps Viv run the store and introduces her to marketing concepts that are important to try to get customers to come in. Then we have rattkin Thimble, whose baking is brilliant and a huge complement to the store and later we meet others, like a musician and a wizarding student who come handy at particular times. Baldree does an incredible job writing these characters such that their introduction and how they each help Viv solve problems she never realized she had - or might have had if not for their intervention - always feels natural and enjoyable, keeping this book feeling cozy and just a joy to read.

And again we still deal here with some solid themes, as the cast alongside Viv have similar issues, most prominently in Tandri - a succubus who absolutely wants to be something other than the stereotypical sex crazed or inducing woman that she's expected to be, but who can't seem to find a fair shake anywhere else, even at a magical academy. Tandri's own journey is really well done, and her development alongside Viv leads to a romance that is slow and not overt but is just incredibly well done, and highly enjoyable. And when the book does throw in a conflict in the form of the local mob boss demanding their due from Viv's new business or Viv's own adventuring partner who was always jealous of her looking for the artifact she's seemingly using to bring luck to her venture - it also finds ways to solve those conflicts that don't interrupt the vibe....or if it does, does so in a way that allows Viv to realize all she has gained in her new venture and the friends that come with it. This is the story of Viv (and the others - such as Tandri and the aforementioned musician) becoming not what others expect, but who she wants to be, and its just utterly charming and delightful.

The Tor edition of the book comes with a short story that is fun as it shows one of hte last of Viv's adventures and leads up to this novel, although its unessential, and a prequel is coming out in the fall dealing with a younger Viv. But honestly, while I'll check that out, the Viv I want to read more of is this one, the one who has changed from the orc barbarian into a charming fun coffee maker fulfilling her dream, and I highly highly recommend you check this one out. Well worthy of its Nebula recommendation.


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