Legends & Lattes

For years Viv wandered the road, taking bounties and quests alongside her companions. But after a while, the orc barbarian wanted a change. Instead of bashing heads for a living, she wanted to settle down and start a new life. One that brought joy to herself and others. Viv sets her sights on the city of Thurne. There she would begin a new adventure, building the first-ever coffee shop in the city. But setting up shop isn’t as easy as it seems. Especially when life on the road leaves you with a sometimes undesirable past.

How could I possibly pass up reading a fantasy book about starting a café? I was also intrigued to see if such a theme could hold my attention and entertain me. Travis Baldree did an amazing job putting together this novel. It may be a book with low stakes and small moments of tension, but the characterization and story are just as compelling.

The relationships in this book foster understanding and acceptance. Being an orc Viv has faced the scrutiny that goes along with it. Due to her experience, she is less judgmental than most. This perspective paves the way for Viv to hire on metahumans others would look down on. And it’s the best decision she could make as she forms friendships and a comradery that helps the shop thrive. Together her companions create a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere in the coffee shop.

However, Viv does have some mountains to climb to keep her shop afloat. Not only does she have to entice people in with a new beverage no one has heard of, but she also has to navigate the local gang. The pressures of starting a new business in town were turned delightfully entertaining by adding humor and a bit of misdirection. While Viv does encounter rough patches, there isn't a central focus on the unsavory bits of her adventure. The tone remains light-hearted and makes the villains, while not overtly dark, still worthy foes.

And once the café is up and running, be prepared to crave a sweet pastry and cup of coffee as you read. The descriptions used for the food and coffee are mouth-watering. I loved reading about the characters' experiences with each new delicacy. Witnessing the apparent confusion over the newness of it all to the genuine enjoyment of each treat was heartwarming.

Legends and Lattes is a feel-good book. The tone is light and set towards Viv beginning life anew. And while she may want to fall back on her warrior ways at times, she fights against her road instincts. Forced to rethink the situations she’s put in causes some slight mishaps in the adventure that make it all the more entertaining. This was such an enjoyable read!

Should've read it with a cup of latte

The first chapter is nice, kinda anti cliche or anti adventure, but then it feels like a quest log to upgrade a coffee shop. And overall it’s written in a simpler style compared to other fantasy books, maybe similar to young adult books, but it’s not for that age, so there’s some dissonance for me.

A few cute moments here—drinking the first latte, adding cold drinks and baked goods to the menu, various, unique customers. But sometimes it's just too sweet, and they actually literally invent things from our world without any fantasy features except calling it a “gnome technology”. Also the romantic relationship feels like it was added in the last moment, maybe because there are almost no hints about it.

When describing most of the dialogues the author doesn’t specify emotions or a way of speaking which can be a little confusing sometimes. And the stakes are really low as stated on the cover and that’s the point, but the villain feels very simple and not threatening at all.

Super light read overall, the ending is fine but the epilogue isn’t interesting at all.

Maybe the prequel is a bit more interesting.

was juggling three books at once (this, space politics, and horny queers fighting zombies) and this was the lightest fare and the narration was fun. (and i don't even like/drink coffee) turns out this homebody really enjoyed the soft, cozy companionship and reno projects. the cast is very sweet and tender 🥹 i wanna be friends with viv and tandri and cal and thimble 🥺 also lol at all the other characters commenting on viv's obliviousness regarding a certain someone.

Unfortunately, I was never invested in the characters or the story to be able to enjoy it. I decided to push myself through it, because the book was short. Otherwise, I would have DNFed. I am so sorry. I wanted to like it so badly.

light hearted and whimsy

I think I'm not in the mood for a cozy fantasy—keep looking at how many pages I have left and trying to rush through it. Putting it aside for when I need a soft book like this!

Great, fast, fun lighthearted story of life after dungeon crawling. I'm always a sucker for strong, unbreakable friendships. 

3.5 stars rounded up. I had to pick up this book after hearing so much about it. It is a nice, cozy fantasy. I hope the author writes more stories in this world.

It was ok. Cute.

I enjoyed the book and it was a slow paced and lighthearted story as advertised. I enjoyed the story for what it was, but can't think of much that I would take away from it. I wouldn't be oppose to re-reading it one day, but I don't feel the need to do so either.

Very much my style of fantasy, where the world of the supernatural is the setting - the window dressing, almost - for the story rather than the point of the story. Lots of modern touches paved across the classic ‘medieval' World of Warcraft style too, which is fitting for a story that's fundamentally about a hipster coffee shop.

I'm also a big fan of ‘slice-of-life' style Japanese literature, and for the most part Legends & Lattes feels like a solid western spin on that. In fact, the ‘cosy' nature of the story, the slow and methodical approach to building up Viv's little domain, and the way pretty much any and all conflicts are resolved put me very much in mind of the anime/manga That Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime. Both are also so equally comforting that you'll be surprised how quickly you burn right the way through it.

I deliberately picked it up after a series of quite heavy books as a gentle palate cleanser, and I can heartily recommend it to anyone for the same purpose. It's not perfect, and if you're not used to this style of story-telling, you might simply find it dull and uneventful, but if you're just looking for a low-stakes taste of escapism, it'll more than do the job.

My goodness, this was boring!! Things happened, but at the same time nothing really happened. It was like playing a game of Burger Dash - they level up the coffee shop and now they have a ceiling fan. Level up again, and they can buy a bigger oven!

This is comfy reading at its simplest, and somehow I got stress reading it. For me it read like a to do list that was never finished 🫣 I regret spending money on this book, although it was the only reason I kept reading.

(I'm not surprised part 0,5 in this series is called 'Pages to fill', that's exactly what this book felt like as well.)

I listened to this as an audiobook, and whilst the narrator - who was also the author - gave depth to the story with their expressive reading, I do feel like it's better to indulge in the book by physically reading it as sometimes the gruff reading voice was distracting and sometimes unclear.

The story itself was quite easy-going and light-hearted, based on the main character, Viv, building and opening the town of Thune's first Coffee Shop. Viv is likable, an orc barbarian who seeks something different after a 'retirement' as such, and the other characters are also quite quirky and lovable.

I would recommend this as a good, easy-going read to anyone who enjoys the Dungeons and Dragons universe and wants a cosy read. I'd be keen to read - or listen to - more of Travis Baldree's works.

Obscure reference time:

Harker: “My God, now she’s dead.”

Van Helsing: “No, she’s not.”

Harker: “She’s alive?”

Van Helsing: “She’s Nosferatu.”

Harker: “She’s Italian?”

-Dracula – Dead and Loving It (1995)

The title threw me off. Who in this fantasy world would name brown water an Italian word? Shark-suited elves? Dwarves that all look like Joe Pesci? Perhaps a talking donkey that needs a fix?

Nope. Its gnomish. Gnomes who have to stay up late and drink something so that they can build some doohickey or thingamabob.

And I thought: “You know what? Rumpelstiltskin DID stay up awfully late doing that straw to gold thing.”

My stupid OCD calmed down enough after I learned that that I was able to appreciate the characters.

Say one thing for Viv the orc: she did not have a lot of baggage. She’s a tired warrior that doesn’t want to die as a tired warrior. When it was time to move on, she did. No sentimental or drawn-out boo-hoos, no regrets, no regerts (no I didn’t stutter), just a willingness to finally move on with her old bones.

She is just an orc, however, and needs some help. A small cast of characters get introduced into her life, and slowly they start fitting all the pieces of a new life together. Brick by brick, room by room, item by item, Viv and her team build a business from nothing.

“I love it when a plan comes together.” -Viv, maybe, if she smoked a giant stogie

I loved the characters all the way, but about 90% of the way through the book a major event happens, and the ending felt rushed to me. Building a business is a struggle, but in the last 10% of the book the struggle becomes charity and things resolve quickly and easily. I would have loved a little personal revenge or divine retribution, but there was comeuppance, so it wasn’t all bad.

Overall, it was a lovely, mostly well-told slice of life story. This was my first foray into the cozy fantasy genre, and I very much enjoyed my time in this world.

Super cute cosy fantasy.
I liked it a lot.

I’m not sure what I expected going into this however I found it a good read. Like the “Happily ever after” of a good D&D campaign.

This is a warm and cosy book.

A beautiful tale of friendship and hard work. I really appreciate how slow and interesting the story goes. It has a wonderful flow. I love the way it's written.

The main characters are adorable, as are most of the side characters.

This is a five star read for me.

“Well, shit. Milky bean water. I'll be damned.”

A story about an adventurer that stops adventuring to open up a coffee shop instead. It's cute, cosy, and very low-stakes. Everything goes a little too smoothly, conflict is resolved a little too easily to be a pageturner or an I'll-think-about-this-story-for-weeks kind of experience. Still worth it if you don't want to read something too intense, but doesn't really have much else too offer.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree is a delightful and cozy fantasy that will sweep you into a world of magic, warmth, and good coffee. It’s a refreshing take on fantasy, filled with low-stakes adventure, rich world-building, and a wonderful sense of community that leaves readers with a smile on their face.

The story follows Viv, a former orc barbarian who’s decided to leave her violent past behind and embark on a new chapter of life. Tired of the bloodshed and violence of adventuring, she moves to the small city of Thune with the goal of opening the town’s first-ever coffee shop. Of course, opening a business isn’t as easy as it sounds, Viv faces many challenges, however. She is quickly joined by a quirky cast of characters, including a fellow former adventurer, a skilled barista, and a lovable succubus. Together, they work to make Viv’s dream a reality.

What makes Legends and Lattes so special is its subversion of traditional fantasy tropes. Unlike other traditional fantasy novels released lately, there’s no great evil, no kingdom, no gory battles with which to win—just a former warrior looking to find peace and happiness in a simpler life. Baldree’s world is full of magic, but instead of world-shaking sorcery, the focus is on the small, everyday magic of building something new and creating a sense of belonging.

Dont know how much else is there to share about this book. This was a very easy read, very enjoyable and peaceful.

Cozy fantasy - the opening of a coffee shop in fantasy setting - very comfy read as fall settles in New England. If you want a relaxing cozy read - this gets strong recommendation from me.

Endearing. But it's like Friends. The premise isn't really all that exciting. It's enjoyable but also really predictable.

I became aware of this book through two different ways. The first was through listening to Baldree narrate the first book of the Cradle series (a series I firmly mean to get back to at some point). Generally when someone does a really good job narrating or translating a book that they didn’t write I feel obligated to check out some of their own work as a sign of appreciation. This practice was what led me to Ken Liu’s novels so I can say that it has very much rewarded me by giving me more good books to read.

The second way was through the low-stakes fantasy that has been getting popular over the past couple of years. Fantasy has historically been a genre with very high stakes. Someone has to save the world or the kingdom and their actions have consequences that will impact millions of people. And that has always been part of its appeal for many of its fans, myself included. But every cliche or trend will inevitably have backlash or media created that goes against the prevailing idea, and now we have low-stakes fantasy. The idea of ‘low-stakes’ fantasy is to have stories that take place in fantasy worlds without necessarily having world-altering consequences. Admittedly this is not something that I was super interested in initially. I like fantasy in part because of how much each story impacts the world it’s in. My thought was that low stakes are for other genres, not fantasy. But out of obligation to Baldree and some curiosity, I decided to make Legends and Lattes my first low-stakes fantasy book.

Despite my misgivings I will say that I did enjoy Legends and Lattes quite a bit! It does provide a cozy type of feeling that you don’t get from a lot of other fantasy books. Baldree proves himself to be quite the talented writer, to the point that I was outright shocked to find out that this was his first novel. Some of the worldbuilding is a bit clumsy at times but other than that this is a book that totally works once you buy into its premise that an accomplished orc warrior is retiring and just wants to settle down and open a coffee shop. Weirdly enough buying into this premise was one of the things I struggled with the most. This is just so different to any other fantasy book I’ve read in terms of how innocent it is. But once I got over that initial hurdle I had a really fun time.

You can kind of hear Baldree’s inner audiobook narrator come through in his characters. They are all described very vividly with distinct characteristics and I can easily picture Baldree imagining how he is going to narrate these characters as he is writing them. First-time authors can struggle with characters but I do think he does quite a good job with them here. The book really needs you to buy into this ragtag group as they try and build a small business and I felt like I did. Viv and Tandri are the obvious standouts but really every character here works.

Based on how much I liked Legends and Lattes, I feel like I need to give low-stakes fantasy more of a try. Well done Travis Baldree!

This was an adorable, lighthearted read that had just enough depth and character to it to remain interesting. Great subversion of a lot of fantasy/D&D tropes done in a loving way.

4.5 I put off reading this for so long because I just can't seem to get into fantasy but this was such a nice cozy read. If you like TJ Klune's House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, you'll like this. Same vibes - I really liked it!