REVIEW: LEGENDS AND LATTES

An orc entrepreneur...

After being pleasantly surprised by Andrew D. Meredith's QUAINT CREATURES, I've been increasingly curious to give other cozy fantasies a try. With fall upon us and winter coming close behind, I figured it was the perfect time of year to start doing just that. 

HOW I RATED IT 

4/5 After trying a more recently released cozy fantasy book, I found myself wanting to go back to where this subgenre really kicked off. While not everything worked perfectly for me, I can absolutely see why this book has been such a smash hit. 

CHARACTERS

The story stars Vic who's an orc warrior that's had enough of the violence she's seen and done during her time as a mercenary. After extracting the magical heart of a fell beast, she suddenly leaves her company and sets off on her own. The special stone heart she bears seemingly leads her to a property for purchase and a gruff hob named Cal who she hires to fix it up. Cal is probably my favorite member of the cast. He's not a particularly expressive fellow, but you can tell he feels his emotions very deeply and finds some funny and endearing ways to show he cares. Tandri, a succubus, is later hired as a barista of sorts. There's an interesting discourse on prejudice and preconceived biases when she and Viv both meet and I thought the way those themes factored into their story had a graceful subtlety to them. On the flip side of this, there's a romantic angle to their relationship that didn't fully work for me. Although there are definitely some moments later in the story that solidify how they'd work as a couple, I felt as though there was absolutely no romantic tension or chemistry whatsoever earlier in the story. We're told multiple times by multiple characters that something is there and I guess the point is that Viv herself doesn't see it right away. Given that the story is told in third person, I think we really needed to be shown rather than told that these two are right for each other such that we could see it before Viv does. 

I'd initially thought that the members of Viv's old adventuring party would be forgotten after the prologue, but the way they all factored into the story ended up being quite fun. There's also a shady faction within the city of Thune that Viv encounters which were super interesting. A fidgety ratkin named Thimble joins Viv's staff and though he doesn't say much, I found him to be such a charming presence in the story. There are some other side characters such as an aspiring minstrel, a quirky neighbor, a quirky gnome, and a delightful magical creature who round out the side cast. The way Baldree handles all these personalities is a huge part of what made this story so memorable to me. The characters are funny, distinct, and each endearing or relatable in their own way and it was such a treat to get to spend time with them. 

PLOT/TONE

At this time, I wouldn't say I'm particularly well read in "cozy" fantasy. I don't know if this book specifically invented the subgenre as there are certainly other fantasies with cozy elements, but it definitely popularized it and I think that gives it some bonus points. I was a little surprised that despite the lower stakes, there is still some pretty dark stuff to be found here. The story opens with Viv slaughtering a bug monster, there are little bits of dark magic sprinkled in, there's a sort of mafia vibe at one point, and a pretty narly incident that serves as a sort of climax for the story which is then followed by a couple of pretty bleak chapters as the characters deal with the aftermath. This is all to say that I think the comments I've heard that this subgenre doesn't really have a plot are greatly exaggerated. There's no dark lord trying to destroy the world, but there is still a lot that Viv personally has at stake which is threatened in different ways throughout the book. I was honestly a little thrown off that it was as dark as it was and wasn't expecting there to be some usage of course language thrown in either. I've only read one other officially "cozy" book before and I think I found it a lot cozier than LEGENDS AND LATTES due to its keeping things clean. 

Despite this book being about running a coffee shop, I found the descriptions of coffee and baked goods to be rather light. The pastries could have been a little more creative and fantastical and I was hoping I'd get a bit of a caffeine buzz just from reading about all the lattes, but that was not the case. It's not that what we got was bad exactly, the author really just could have pushed out these elements far more as I have read more mouth-watering descriptions of food in a murder mystery before. Again, I think because LEGENDS AND LATTES sort of defined the subgenre (whether it really meant to or not), it gets a bit of a pass on some of these small nitpicks, but it's worth noting that things are not going to be quite as cozy as you might expect them to be. 

SETTING/WORLD

While I am not a big tabletop RPG player, this fantasy world felt distinctly like something that draws heavily from DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. There are orcs, gnomes, succubi, ratkins, humans, elves, gobs/pucks, and probably a couple other types of people that I'm just forgetting. It's a land filled with adventurers, enterprising criminal organizations, and simple people just trying to make an honest living. Magic exists too, though it is presented as more of an arcane science than something to be hurled about haphazardly. What's maybe most interesting about this place is that something rather mundane from our world causes quite a stir in the city of Thune. Seeing the fantastic meld with the ordinary seems to be something of a staple in the cozy fantasy subgenre and I will say that I think it's rather fun to see something I'm perfectly familiar with either reimagined as something more whimsical or presented as something that's rather alien to lands and people that do not exist in our reality. While I've mentioned already that I would have liked to see a little more creativity put into the menu of the Legends and Lattes coffee shop, I still enjoyed seeing such ordinary things be regarded with so much wonder and I suppose it made me appreciate them a little bit more myself. The story mostly stays contained within Thune, but this is a living, breathing place that I think could easily be revisited in one way or another. The coffee shop itself also had a lot of character to it and I found myself growing as attached to it as I did the characters.

PAPERBACK

I specifically have the traditionally published edition of this novel (as opposed to its original self-published version. One of the main draws for me originally (beside the unique concept) was the vibrant cover art that beautifully captures the spirit of the story within. Fortunately, the traditionally published version retains the same cover that the book was originally self-published with. The interior is also beautifully embellished with nice fonts/formatting and decorative icon illustrations attached to each chapter heading (none of which repeated as far as I could tell). This particular edition also comes with a bonus short story set before the events of the novel. While it doesn't really reveal anything new, it was fun to see Viv doing a job with her old crew and stumble upon what would become her inspiration for the Legends and Lattes shop. It's worth noting that this story is quite a bit more action packed and bloody than the events of the novel as this is showcasing a part of Viv's live before it took a turn for the cozy. 

CONCLUSION

If you are in the market for something a little less intense or involved than a lot of other fantasy books, then this might make for a nice, chill read. I think it's a perfect choice for the fall, but it can really be enjoyed any time of year. 

(+) A fun blend of familiar fantasy elements that get shaken up by things we'd consider ordinary

(+) A colorful cast of memorable characters who each have important roles to play in one way or another 

(+) The narrative and pacing flow along in a satisfying way that kept me engaged

(+) A really unique style of story that has given birth to an entire subgenre of fantasy 

(+) A lovingly put-together paperback with great attention to detail and a cover that fits the story perfectly

(-) Food and beverage descriptions could have been more robust

(-) The romance only kind of worked for me due to a lack of early chemistry between Tandri and Viv