![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Travis Baldree |
---|---|
Cover artist | Carson Lowmiller |
Language | English |
Series | Legends & Lattes |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | Cryptid Press |
Publication date | February 22, 2022 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (paperback), ebook |
Pages | 316 |
ISBN | 9798985663211 |
Followed by | Bookshops & Bonedust |
Legends & Lattes is a fantasy novel written by American author Travis Baldree. It was first published by Cryptid Press in February 22, 2022; a second edition was issued in trade paperback by Tor Books in November of the same year, with the first British edition issued in hardcover and ebook by Tor UK in the same month. [1] The second edition includes an added prequel story, "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Story".
The novel was nominated for the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy, [1] the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Novel, [2] and the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel. [3]
Orc swordswoman and mercenary Viv has long made a rough living as one of a band of adventurers—dandyish elf Fennus, dwarf Roon, stone-fey Taivus, and gnome Gallina. Viv dreams of retiring from adventure and opening a coffee shop, in preference to the more customary Orc retirement plan of dying in battle. The band's latest foray, against a Scalvert Queen, a spider-like monster and hoarder of treasure, offers her the opportunity. Claiming as her sole share of the treasure the Scalvert's Stone the monster has grown in its skull, Viv quits the group.
A Scalvert's Stone is reputed to bring fortune to its owner. Purchasing an abandoned stable in the town of Thune, Viv buries the stone inside and sets about realizing her dream. She recruits hob carpenter Calamity "Cal" to help her get the property in shape, and artistic succubus Tandri as a work-mate with whom to open and run the business. Subsequent recruits include ratkin Thimble, a genius baker, hesitant would-be bard Pendry, who blossoms into an entertainer, and volunteer watch beast Amity the dire-cat.
After a humble start, the Legends & Lattes coffee shop blossomed into a beloved establishment in the town of Thune. The highly popular in cozy ambiance and delectable beverages attracted a loyal clientele, including the enigmatic witch Laney, the studious student Hemmington, and the peculiar gnome magician Durias, whose uncanny ability to manipulate time provided an extra layer of intrigue.
Viv and Tandri's flourishing venture caught the unwanted attention of The Madrigal, a notorious protection racket, and Fennus, Viv's former colleague who harbored suspicions about the true extent of her share of the legendary Scalvert's treasure. With the support of Viv's former allies, including the formidable warrior Taivus, they managed to thwart the Madrigal's threats.
However, Fennus remained relentless in his pursuit of the Scalvert's Stone. His relentless attempts to seize the relic culminated in a disastrous confrontation that engulfed the café in a devastating blaze, leaving Legends & Lattes in ruins. This tragedy sent shockwaves through Thune, as a beloved sanctuary had been reduced to ashes.
With support from the friends Viv has made, Legends & Lattes is eventually rebuilt and soon thriving more than ever, despite the loss of the stone. Fennus, however, fares less well with his prize. It seems the powers of the Scalvert's Stone have been misrepresented. It doesn't bring good fortune, but rather attracts to its bearer others of like mind. To Viv, striving to build a good thing in her community, it brought helpers. To malignant, selfish Fennus it draws individuals of a different sort.
The Tor edition includes an added prequel short story, "Pages to Fill: A Legends & Lattes Story". It relates one of the final adventures of Viv's band prior to hunting the Scalvert Queen. In the gnomish city of Azimuth, they are tasked with capturing the dapplegrim (shapeshifter) Bodkin, a legendary thief, and recovering property she stole. Bodkin escapes but leaves behind a satchel containing bottles of paint.
The crew splits up to learn what they can from this material, Viv and Gallina visiting the local Athenaeum to pinpoint where one bottle might have been bought. Viv, already contemplating her retirement it, takes the opportunity to research scalverts while there, filling her notebook with new information.
The two follow the trail of the paint to the dwelling of Leyton, a clockmaker, with whom Bodkin lives in the guise of his elfin lover Valeya. Viv secures the booty the band had been hired to recover before Bodkin returns. In a final struggle with the thief, Viv learns the dapplegrim had actually given up thievery for Leyton's sake, and considering her own dreams decides to let her go.
Afterwards Viv and Gallina pass a café, a relatively new business in town, and go in. When served a cup of coffee, Viv's dream for her the next phase of her life comes into focus.
Publishers Weekly characterizes the novel as "a gentle little cozy set against an epic fantasy backdrop," noting "[t]his charming outing will please anyone who’s ever wished to spend time in a fantasy world without all the quests and battles." [4]
Sarah Rice in Booklist calls the book "a novel, and shop, that will delight anyone who enjoys coffee shop alternate universes, slow-burn romances, and the vindication of friendship." She feels "[t]his setup combined with the positive messages of defying societal stereotypes, letting go of violence to build peace, and trusting in your friends feels like a premise from Terry Pratchett's Discworld ." [5]
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian fantasy writer and the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for Dragon magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold the rights to the setting to TSR, the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, in 1986. He has written many Forgotten Realms novels, as well as numerous articles and D&D game supplement books.
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, appearing in English folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his A Midsummer Night's Dream as a hobgoblin.
Warhammer Fantasy is a fictional fantasy universe created by Games Workshop and used in many of its games, including the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) pen-and-paper role-playing game, and a number of video games: the MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the strategy games Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Warhammer II and Total War: Warhammer III and the two first-person shooter games in the Warhammer Vermintide series, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide and Warhammer: Vermintide 2, among many others.
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.
The Wishsong of Shannara is an epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the final novel in the Original Shannara Trilogy, with the other two being The Sword of Shannara and The Elfstones of Shannara. The story revolves around Jair and Brin Ohmsford, the children of the main characters from The Elfstones of Shannara: Wil Ohmsford and Eretria. The siblings, each possessing an inherited magic, must save the Four Lands from the evil magic within a tome called the Ildatch.
Diana J. Gabaldon is an American author, known for the Outlander series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantasy. A television adaptation of the Outlander novels premiered on Starz in 2014.
Hugh Walter Gilbert Cook was a cult author, whose works blend fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for his series Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.
The Enchanter Reborn is an anthology of five fantasy short stories edited by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Christopher Stasheff, the first volume in their continuation of the Harold Shea series by de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books in 1992; an ebook edition followed from the same publisher in May 2013. The book has also been translated into Italian. All but one of the pieces are original to the anthology; the exception, de Camp's "Sir Harold and the Gnome King", first appeared in the World Fantasy Convention program book in 1990 and was then published as a separate chapbook in 1991.
A hob is a type of small mythological household spirit found in the English Midlands, Northern England, and on the Anglo-Scottish border, according to traditional folklore of those regions. They could live inside the house or outdoors. They are said to work in farmyards and thus could be helpful; however, if offended they could become nuisances. The usual way to dispose of a hob was to give them a set of new clothing, the receiving of which would make the creature leave forever. It could, however, be impossible to get rid of the worst hobs.
The Last Ringbearer is a 1999 fantasy fan-fiction book by the Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov. It is an alternative account of, and an informal sequel to, the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It has been translated into English by Yisroel Markov, but the translation has not been printed for fear of copyright action by the Tolkien Estate.
The trasgo, trasno or trasgu is a mythological creature present in the tradition of several cultures of what is now northern Spain, especially in Galician, Asturian and Cantabrian traditional culture, it is also found in legends of North Portugal. There are similar creatures in the mythologies of other European cultures, such as the "gnome", "sylph", and the "kobold". The origin of this mythological creature is Celtic.
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on the story and country of origin, ranging from mischievous household spirits to malicious, bestial thieves. They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon, such as the ability to shapeshift.
The Little Grey Men: A story for the young in heart is a children's fantasy novel written by Denys Watkins-Pitchford under the pen name "BB" and illustrated by the author under his real name. It was first published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1942 and it has been reissued several times. Set in the English countryside, it features the adventures of four gnomes who may be the last of their race. At the same time it features the countryside during three seasons of the year.
Preludes is a series of novels comprising two trilogies set in the Dragonlance world of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
The Lord John series is a sequence of historical mystery novels and shorter works written by Diana Gabaldon that center on Lord John Grey, a recurring secondary character in the author's Outlander series. Secretly homosexual "in a time when that particular predilection could get one hanged," the character has been called "one of the most complex and interesting" of the hundreds of characters in Gabaldon's Outlander novels. Starting with the 1998 novella Lord John and the Hellfire Club, the Lord John spin-off series currently consists of six novellas and three novels.
Sofia Samatar is an American scholar, novelist and educator from Indiana. She is an associate professor of English at James Madison University.
Jade City is a 2017 fantasy novel by Fonda Lee. It is the first novel in the Green Bone Saga and was followed by Jade War (2019) and Jade Legacy (2021). A prequel novella, The Jade Setter of Janloon, was released in 2022. The novel received critical praise, winning the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel as well as the 2018 Aurora Award for Best Novel.
Coffee Talk is a visual novel developed by Indonesian indie studio Toge Productions, and released on 29 January 2020 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game was released in Japan for Nintendo Switch a day later on 30 January 2020. The game follows a barista working in a coffee shop in a fantasy version of Seattle as they listen to the concerns of the coffee shop's various patrons and prepare drinks. The game features an aesthetic inspired by 90s anime, pixel art, and the lofi chillhop genre of music.
Bookshops & Bonedust is a fantasy novel written by American author Travis Baldree. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tor Books and in audiobook by Macmillan Audio in November 7, 2023. It is a prequel to the author's 2022 novel Legends & Lattes.