Travis Baldree
Books: Fantasy | Queer | Romance
Legends & Lattes (2022), Bookshops & Bonedust (2023)
Legends & Lattes (2022)
Viv is read to retire from the life of an adventurer.
She has her dream, and she has the treasure to make that dream come true, which is what leads her to Thune.
After twenty-two years of adventuring, Viv had reached her limit of blood and mud and bullshit. An orc's life was strength and violence and a sudden, sharp end— but she'd be damned if she'd let hers finish that way.
And she has been working and preparing to that end.
She took a deep breath and tried to relax her face into a nonthreatening expression, something she'd been practicing.
This story has all the usual characters you'd expect from a sword & sorcery adventure, but none of them doing anything you'd expect from the same.
For instance, Viv is an Orc who has decided to open a coffee shop for her retirement. And she hires a hob, a succubus, and a ratkin to help her build her dream.
The way characters are not what you expect them to be reminds me a good deal of a Drew Hayes story. Which is a good thing.
"Help you?" she asked.
"Er, hello there. I wanted to ask if I … wait, um. Uh, hello," he stammered, starting over. "My name is Pendry. I'm a…" His voice dropped very low, almost to a whisper. "A bard?" It sounded more like a question.
This could read as a joke or a comedy, but it's not written as one and doesn't come across as one, so the author did an excellent job there, and I found to whole thing entertaining and pleasing.
Characters: Viv, Fennus, Roon, Taivus, Gallina, Laney, Ansom, Calamity / Cal, the Madrigal, Lack, Tandri, Hemington, Amity, Thimble, Pendry, Durias
Cover art by Carson Lowmiller
Publisher: Tor Books
- January 2023 | Rating: 8/10
- November 2024 | Rating : 9/10
- November 2025 | Rating: 9/10
Bookshops & Bonedust (2023)
The
sequel to Legends & Lattes recently came out, so I decided I really
needed to read the prequel to that so I could reread Legends &
Lattes and then the new book.
For some unknown reason I’d put off reading this story. I loved the first book, but I managed to convince myself I didn’t want to read about Viv before she retired.
This was, of course, silly of me.
The story is set at the very beginning of Viv’s career, when she is young and rash and takes foolish chances.
He glanced down at her, and the disappointed grimace on his lips made her nausea double. “Hells-damned fool. Clap a hand to that. Stay put, and try not to die, if you can.”
One of the things I especially like about Viv is how she is honest with herself–even if she doesn’t want to be.
With every impact, she found a new, more colorful epithet for Rackam. Not that it was his fault, of course. Still, it was a lot more satisfying to curse someone by name, even if that name should’ve been her own.
The boredom of healing quickly gets to her, so she wanders the town and managed to meet the local bookseller (after almost stomping through her floor) and takes the ratkin’s bet that she’ll enjoy the book Fern has recommended her.
Reading isn’t a complete distraction when one is healing from injury, but it’s a whole lot better than staring at walls.
Eventually Viv befriends not just Fern, but also the local baker, the local handyman, and a young woman who wants to become a mercenary.
But not the local constaulary,
“So what you’re saying is that you’d like to store a potentially dangerous object, which is of immense value to an even more dangerous necromancer, here. In my offices.”
Viv shrugged uncomfortably. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.”
Iridia smiled thinly. She slid the (object) off the desk and weighed it in both hands. “I do so look forward to your eventual departure.”
It was a lovely story.
Characters: Viv, Fern, Iridia, Potroast, Maylee, Gallina, Satchel, Brand, Ketch, Pitts, Highlark, Varine the Pale, Balthus, Zelia Greatstrider, Berk, Rackam
Cover by Carson Lowmiller
Publisher: Tor
Rating: 8.5/10