Hello again!
I am back to my regularly scheduled reviews after the roaring success that was the #TransRightsReadathon. Thank you all so much again for reading, participating, and donating.
While the schedule may be regular, the book that I’ve chosen is something delightfully outside of my wheelhouse. It’s usually my job to come on here and recommend scary books that come with a long list of content warnings. Today I am proud to instead present Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, which I think is suitable for nearly everyone.
This post may contain affiliate links. I’ll receive a small commission through your purchase, and I’m so grateful!
What I Was Looking For
Those of you who followed my progress during the Readathon will probably remember that I chose a couple books that ended up being more fantasy than horror based. The first five books that I pledged all got their mini-reviews, and two of them were much lighter than I expected.
What you might not be aware of is that the additional bonus five books I read were, overall, quite depressing.
I read a couple very extreme horror collections, one very grim dystopia, and I wrapped up the challenge with a book that just took a lot out of me mentally. It also lined up with some especially bleak beta reading that I was doing for friends.
So for my first April review, I decided to pick up something different. I was in the search for a light-hearted palate cleanser that could brighten my mood some before I hop back into the depths of depravity where my usual preferences lie. It felt like the perfect time for Legends & Lattes.
What I Knew Going In
Everything that I knew about this going in was what can easily be seen on the cover. An orc in a coffee shop.
I didn’t do any kind of research because I knew this was something I eventually wanted to get around to. I first saw it showing up on my Twitter feed a couple months ago, and was just so amused by the idea of a cozy coffee book with orcs and what I assumed at the time was a tiefling. (I was wrong about the tiefling, but I’ll get back around to her, I promise.)
I put the book on my wishlist, and figured it would be something I rediscovered later down the line. Much to my surprise and interest, I was never given a chance to forget about it. Legends & Lattes has been on my radar pretty consistently all year. I’ve had plenty of friends and fellow bookish acquaintances sharing their own journeys with this one.
Everyone seemed so charmed with this title, that I allowed my expectations to get pretty high, despite not knowing anything about the plot or characters going in.
My Sales Pitch
As usual, I’m going to attempt to pitch you the book before I delve any deeper into my thoughts so that if you, like me, prefer to go in blind, you are given ample opportunity to do so.
Legends & Lattes describes itself as “a novel of high fantasy and low stakes.”
When I saw that pitch, I actually got a little worried. Even though I came into this looking for a comfort read, I am someone who generally likes my fantasy to be dark, gritty, and full of the highest stakes possible. Now, having read the book, I think it’s the perfect way to describe it.
It has the casual problems of a low-stakes comfort read, but in the familiar setting of your favorite fantasy inn from any tabletop RPG.
Cassandra Khaw, (whom I know from her horror work), describes it as “a must-read for every D&D player who has ever wondered what happens after “happily ever after.”
Again, I think that is a perfect way to describe it. As someone that has played my fair share of edgy characters that settled down after their adventures to retire, there was something very cathartic and wholesome about seeing that type of story brought to life.
This is not anything like what I usually recommend. But honestly, it’s not like anything I had ever read before either. It’s a very singular reading experience that does fill an important gap in my shelf I didn’t even know I had.
Pamela sent me the digital copy so I could review, and I ended up picking a physical copy so that I could feel the book in my hands as I read it with a nice cup of coffee and a cat purring on my lap. If that sounds like a good day to you, this is one you may want to pick up for yourself before reading further ahead.
What Worked For Me
This has been another absolute winner for me. Virtually every part of it worked. The story as a whole was strong, there was room for the characters to grow, there was progress, there were themes, goals, and obstacles. It was a complete story that met my expectations while also reading like something I had never seen before.
Of course, I do have a few more specific examples.
The Atmosphere
I think the atmosphere of the fictional coffee shop is perfect.
“Glancing around, Viv decided that she was extremely proud of the shop’s interior. It felt modern and forward-thinking but also cozy and welcoming. The combined aromas of hot cinnamon, ground coffee, and sweet cardamom intoxicated her, and as she brewed and smiled and served and chatted, a deep contentment welled up. It was a glowing warmth she’d never experienced before, and she liked it.”
The modern and forward-thinking design of the coffee shop in context helps make the aesthetic cozy and familiar to the readers without entirely betraying the technology of the time. An enchanted icebox allows for what we would understand as cold brews. Gnomish engineering helps create something akin to air conditioning, while also helping to establish the lore. Since food doesn’t keep particularly well without refrigeration systems, the baker creates a dried cookie with a longer shelf life that is made to be dipped in coffee (not so dissimilar to biscotti in our own world.)
It’s the integration of historical fantasy aesthetic with modern comforts that makes the atmosphere comforting, familiar, and easy to get lost in.
The Characters
I knew going in I was going to be a sucker for the main characters. Soft orcs are one of my favorite tabletop tropes, and I also have an affinity for demon characters — which is where the tiefling came in. Of course Tandri is not a tiefling, because this is not actually the same world as D&D. She is a succubus, which was surprising to me, but was also very good.
Viv, the orc, is everything I wanted and more. She is a tough woman who is strong and good at killing things, but is trying to turn over a new leaf and make a better life for herself. Tandri is shrouded in a bit more mystery, but has a similar arc — she wants to escape the role that society had previously painted her into.
When I say characters though, I mean the whole cast. Much like your favorite cast of NPCs from any role-playing game, it’s the secondary characters who really make the world what it is. There is the man who seems to be playing chess with himself. There’s the nervous stone-mason turned bard. There’s a vicious direcat who is easily bribed with food.
I think my favorite character, surprisingly, was Thimble. He is a genius baker, the canonical inventor of biscotti style cookies named “Thimblets”, and his biggest request for compensation is that he gets free coffee at work. He encompasses everything I love about the story, the relatability and often adorable nature of the world.
The Stakes
One thing that I wasn’t expecting going in was to get as invested in the stakes as I did. When you hear the term “low-stakes” in fiction, it’s usually in a negative context, and so I actually wasn’t prepared for there to be much plot.
Something that Baldree does exceptionally well is get you invested in the characters. When they care about something, it doesn’t matter how small or trivial it is, because you care about them.
It was incredible to read a fantasy book that wasn’t about taking over a kingdom or building armies or saving the world, and to still feel like everything hung in the balance. Viv is just worried about building and keeping a coffee shop, but you care about Viv so much that the idea of her losing her coffee shop feels like the end of the world anyway.
There were also a lot of small obstacles for characters to overcome which helped create a sense of progress while it built to the larger dangers. There was a plot here, and it struck a delicate balance of feeling realistic and unfathomably important.
What Didn’t Work For Me
If there was one aspect of the book that didn’t work for me, I’d say it was how circumstantial of a read this is.
Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about the book, but I also came across it at a time when this was exactly what I needed.
I am so glad to have read this, and it very well may be my new comfort re-read. But I could have just as easily picked it up at a bad time, and not found any of what I was looking for because it is so different than what I’m usually seeking.
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My Recommendation
If you need a palate cleaner, a pick-me-up, or just the single most wholesome comfort read you could imagine, then I highly recommend giving this book a chance. It was sweet, it was cozy, and there’s absolutely no shame in wanting to read something less serious every now and then.
Interested in Purchasing Legends & Lattes? Find it on Amazon!
Conclusion
All in all, I don’t think I could have been more pleased with this read. It is absolutely perfect for what it is, and I can’t think of another book like it.
Thank you all for reading my thoughts on this book, and I look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks.
Happy Reading!
Cat Voleur is a published writer of dark, speculative fiction and full time horror journalist. In addition to freelancing scripts and articles on the genre, you can find her co-hosting the Slasher Radio podcast. She currently resides in a house with her army of rescue felines. When she isn’t writing, gaming, or consuming horror content, she will undoubtedly be pursuing her passion for fictional languages. You can find Cat’s work on her website, and don’t forget to follow her on Twitter. If you’re interested in learning more about Cat, check out her origin story.
