Skip navigation

Tag Archives: cozy

Brigands & Breadknives: A Review

Travis Baldree may not have set out to turn the fantasy world upside down with his first novel, Legends & Lattes, but he definitely managed to shake things up by introducing us to Viv the orc. Viv was a retired adventurer who had given up her rough and tumble daily life to open the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune with the aid of Tandri, a local succubus. While this turned out to be a drastically different sort of adventure, she found herself falling in love with big city life. Baldree’s follow-up, Bookshops & Bonedust, gave us an earlier portion of Viv’s life when she was recovering from an injury in the small seaside town of Murk. It was there that she met Fern, a rattkin bookseller who traded Viv books in exchange for help in revitalizing her store. We got to see Viv as she was before her first cup of coffee sent her life down a completely different path.

Brigands & Breadknives picks up after the events of the first book. Years have passed now, and Viv’s coffee business is booming. She and Tandri (now Viv’s wife), are excited to welcome Fern to Thune, where they have all planned for the rattkin’s new bookstore to be located next door to the coffee shop. It doesn’t take long for Fern to begin to feel unsatisfied with the change in her life, though, questioning whether she should have ever left Murk. After a drunken night trying to build up the courage to confess these feelings to Viv, Fern finds herself waking up in a wagon with the legendary elf adventurer, Astryx One-Ear and her equally legendary Elder Blade, Nigel (don’t get him started). Astryx is on a mission to deliver a bounty, the goblin Zyll, and she reluctantly allows Fern to travel with them. Swept away from everything the bookseller has ever known, Fern is remarkably out of place in the company of someone of Astryx’s stature. Initially, she’s only wanting to send a letter of apology to Viv and get back to Thune as quickly as possible. Throughout the course of the journey, though, she begins to find her own courage. It may be late in life for a hero’s journey, but adventure rarely strikes when we’re ready.

Astryx isn’t the only one looking to cash in on the bounty on Zyll’s head. This, naturally, complicates things, as does Astryx’s own penchant to be the folk hero she’s spent most of the last thousand years being. Fern’s journey ends up taking her much farther from home than she ever anticipated.

Baldree mixes up his cozy fantasy formula quite a bit with this title, but to no great loss. While we don’t spend as much time with Viv and Tandri as many readers might have hoped, we’re still treated to phenomenal moments of calm amidst the storms. It’s an absolute pleasure to return to this world again, seeing new cities and the lands in between them and meeting a whole new cast of characters.

My utmost thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing an eARC of this title in exchange for a fair review. I’m sorry it’s late. Brigands & Breadknives has been out in the world since November 11th. I loved it, and I hope you do to.

Bookshops & Bonedust: A Review

Travis Baldree is a master of cozy fantasy novels. Prior to reading Legends & Lattes last year, I never would’ve guessed that was a genre of fiction I needed. Now, though, I don’t know how I can carry on without more. Thankfully, Bookshops & Bonedust, a brilliantly crafted prequel, is out today.

Viv the orc is back, and this time around we get to see her in her more wild, young adventurer years. She’s in the employ of a mercenary band called Rackham’s Ravens, hunting down the dreaded necromancer, Varine. When her recklessness gets her injured during a battle, she wakes up in the town of Murk. As its name might suggest, there’s not a lot to see about town, and her room at the local inn is claustrophobic at best. Her arrival quickly puts her at odds with the local surgeon and the head of the gate wardens, and all early encounters promise a less than engaging stay. With at least a few weeks of recovery time ahead of her, Viv reluctantly sets out to occupy her time until her fellow mercenaries come back through.

Viv quickly finds a local bookstore and makes the acquaintance of Fern, a foulmouthed ratkin who runs the shop. Not normally the reading type, Viv is hesitant to take up the recommended titles that Fern offers. After a few chapters, she’s hooked. Soon, she’s devouring the books that Fern provides just as quickly as she’s going through the local baker, Maylee’s, wares. Despite a rough start in town, Viv starts to build friendships (and maybe something more, as far as Maylee is concerned). Fern’s struggling business benefits from Viv’s new perspectives, and Viv gets the opportunity to learn more about herself than she’d previously thought possible.

Small-town living isn’t necessarily all that it’s cracked up to be, though. Viv isn’t ready to settle down from her mercenary life just yet, and the threat of Varine and her necromancy is closer than anyone is expecting. We know, since this is a prequel, that Viv will survive the experiences ahead of her. What we don’t know is just how much she’s going to change over the course of her time in Murk. The fates of her new companions are on the line, as is the success or failure of Fern’s beloved indie bookstore. Viv is going to have to learn quickly that not all of her problems can be solved with a swing of a sword.

Baldree has landed another instant winner with his sophomore effort, with no sign of the dreaded slump. I’m happy to report that he’s managed to put the romance in necromancer, and I eagerly await Viv’s next adventure, whenever it may arrive. Bookshops & Bonedust is out today. Get to it.

My utmost thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for a fair review.