Bookshops and Bonedust

Travis Baldree
Completed 9/18/2024, Reviewed 9/18/2024
4 stars

This is the second book in the Legends and Lattes series.  It is actually a prequel, taking place a while before Viv, the lesbian orc retires to open a coffee shop.  This book retains all the charm of the first, with wonderful characters, world building, and prose.  Its only fault is that the plot is not as much of a surprise as the first book.  Still, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and was glad to spend a little more time in Viv’s world.  And it was great to have another cover by the same artist, who so captures the essence of Viv and her friends.  This book was nominated for a 2024 Mythopoeic Award.  

The story begins when Viv gets injured in a battle with her mercenary compatriots while searching for a terrible necromancer.  They take her to recover in an inn in the sleepy coastal town of Murck.  One day while hobbling along on her injured leg, she happens upon an old bookshop run by Fern, a cat-like creature with a pet gryphet.  Fern gives Viv a book to read and a new friendship begins.  Viv takes an interest in the shop, helping Fern infuse it with life and a few cans of paint.  She also meets the proprietor of a bakery with whom Viv begins to tentatively date.  This peaceful tableau is soon interrupted by a strange hooded figure who has some connection with the necromancer she was hunting initially.  Soon Viv and her new friends find themselves in the midst of a mystery with wights and a homunculus skeleton worthy of a story in the Fern’s bookshop.

What I liked most about this book is the same thing I liked about Lattes.  It’s a story of getting a business going with a mystery to accompany it.  In this case, the business is an existing but floundering bookshop that needs an infusion of life.  It illustrates different strategies for bringing in customers into a town whose inhabitants haven’t been reading for a while.  Being a guy who loves books, and having spent many hours in book stores of many different kinds, it was very fun reading about all the tricks proprietors use to bring in customers.  

I just love Viv.  Yes, she’s a badass mercenary orc, but she also loves the things in life that are magical, like books, coffee, and pastries.  And the way she stumbles over her summer romance with the bakery shop owner is just adorable.  She’s the kind of orc who is a true and lovable friend.  The tie-in back to Lattes in the epilogue will just melt your heart.  

It will be interesting to see what else Baldree can do.  Will he pull another winner out of this universe he’s created, or will he move on to something else?  I’d love to spend more time with Viv, but don’t want the world to get tired.  These books are some kind of special and I want them to live on as wonderful pieces of imagination.  I give this book four stars, just missing five stars because the formula was new and exciting in the first book, and in this one, it was more familiar.  It is still tremendous, and my only regret is that I waiting so long in reading it.