Sometimes reading just needs to be an escape. It needs to be light and fun and fantastical and so extremely different from all life we know. That’s exactly what Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes has to offer. To borrow an analogy from a friend, this book is like a frozen pizza—approachable, comforting, made to please the masses, and, while you can have a delicious and excellent frozen pizza, it’s still a frozen pizza. And this is a frozen pizza I’d happily eat again.
Legends & Lattes is an award-winning fantasy novel about an Orc (Viv) who dreams of retiring from her previous career as a bounty hunter to settle down and run a coffee shop after sampling the new and rare gnomish beverage. After battling a Scalvert Queen and retrieving the Scalvert’s Stone, which promised to bring a “ring of fortune” and “heart’s desire” to the holder, Viv journeys to Thune in search of the perfect location for her shop where the stone will also thrive.
After acquiring the ideal location for her shop, she meets Cal, a handyman she entrusts and employs to help her turn the livery she purchased into a coffee shop. When the work is complete, she places an ad and almost immediately hears from her soon-to-be partner, Tandri. As she opens the shop, she meets all sorts of diverse characters from gnomes, to elves, even a dire-cat, all of whom prove loyal beyond compare. Without giving away the major driving plot, this tale is a wonderful fantastical slice of life narrative that’s sure to captivate you from the very beginning.
The characters in this book are enough to keep you interested until the very last page. They are rich and diverse, well-rounded with thorough development that stays true to the characters. I would have liked to have more reason to care about the relationship Viv had with her past colleagues: Taivus, Roon, Gallina, and Fennus. We get a fair bit with Fennus, enough to explain the struggle within the novel, but not a lot about her time with the others outside of a prequel story added to the back. Rather than say how close Viv’s connection had been with Gallina, I would have preferred Baldree to show us that relationship and give us a reason to buy the connection.
That being said, the slice of life and light-hearted, low stakes (to borrow the words on the back cover) tale set in a fantasy world was refreshing. So rarely does a fantastical novel not contain an epic quest or battle of some sort (don’t get me wrong – there’s plenty of fun battle scenes, it’s just different). This novel isn’t trying to make a big point; it isn’t trying to save the world. Baldree simply chose to explore the question, What of these creatures’ every day lives? If you’re looking for a casual, light read that will warm your heart, look no further.
