I didn't originally intend to read this, no matter how much I enjoyed 'Legends & Lattes', because I hate prequels. But one day I thought, "Eh, why not give it a try?" Plus it has largely glowing reviews, so I thought I might at least receive something out of it.
What did I think of 'Bookshops & Bonedust', a prequel to 'Legends & Lattes' that can be read as a standalone? How was the experience for me?Despite a few passages, like at the beginning, that are odd and nonsensical and could have used a proofread, it is hard not to be absorbed into its writing, its world, its characters and their day to day lives and growing bonds with one another; brief as their encounters are, their presence, their memory, can stay with them, and last a lifetime.
It turns out not to be so rocky (figuratively and literally) in its beginnings...
Set around twenty years before 'Legends & Lattes', the young, arrogant and reckless warrior orc Viv is injured in the leg in a battle with a necromancer's army, and so her revered squad leaves her to recover in a small, slow, sleepy seafaring town called Murk. Suffice it to say, this situation is far from ideal for her. The big, hulking muscle woman with a fiery metabolism is impatient to get out there and swing swords at things again.
But maybe, lodging in a tavern owned by a sea-fey, helping a shy and sweet and surprisingly foulmouthed rattkin bookseller, with her gryphet (half-dog/half-owl), renovate and save her bookshop, reading books recommended by said bookseller, avoiding the shit list of a tapenti (cobra woman, basically) Gatewarden, slowly starting a romance with an enthusiastic dwarf baker, and getting to know a gnome who is eager to follow in her warrior mercenary path, plus her irritated elf surgeon... might get Viv to see a new, fresh perspective on life. A simple life in a simple sea-and-hills-and-dunes town, where little and lasting pleasures are afoot, always awaiting those who care to take notice and look.
There's a creeping necromancer mystery plot with living skeletons in here, too, but that's not important, really.
What is important is Viv's character development. By the end of the book, she does change, yet she doesn't. Her initial goals remain the same, but deep down she knows they won't last forever for her - a warrior's life is not her whole life, her whole story, and her story will not end that way, as is evident once 'Legends & Lattes' comes into play.
Overall, at 332 pages (longer than 'Legends & Lattes'), 'Bookshops & Bonedust' is an awesome and absorbing fantasy read. It is hard to put down. Like its predecessor, it is an enjoyable, heavenly haven for readers who like a cosy epic fantasy filled with books and baked goods. And adorable, funny fantasy creatures.
'Bookshops & Bonedust' showcases the process of organising a bookshop and its stocks, what its business entails, how bookselling and recommendations could go, and there are even book club events, like author meetings and signings (this happens practically offhandedly in this case!).
'Legends & Lattes' is a how-to guide on running a successful café and coffee shop, not set in our normal, boring, mundane world, but it might as well. It is warm, cosy and exciting.
'Bookshops & Bonedust' is a how-to guide on running a successful bookshop, specifically in a seafaring town where no one reads much, not set in our normal, boring, mundane world, but it might as well. It is cold (given its setting) yet warm, cosy and exciting. Though a bookshop is not what it is all about. It is about so much more. Like the unexpected friends we make along the way.
I think all of Travis Baldree's works are like this. It seems he really has got the tone and the execution of the newly coined "cosy fantasy" genre just right, more so than any other writer.
'Bookshops & Bonedust' is another delicious treat from Baldree. It's hard to believe, and kind of hilarious, that it is not what he originally had in mind at all for his second book, according to the Acknowledgments. It is longer and perhaps more thrilling than 'Legends & Lattes', with stakes, but both are excellent in their own way (I prefer 'Legends & Lattes', I think). I like the friendships that Viv forms with each of the characters, but her "romance" with the dwarf baker, Maylee, is scarcely present. The ending is a bit rushed and anticlimactic, and there are no big shocking twists (it's barely a mystery novel) - things just kind of happen, and come and go, as in life - but I don't mind much. I get what Baldree was going for. Keeping it simple turned out to be better.
Oh, and what a glorious, majority female cast of characters 'Bookshops & Bonedust' has, how could I forget! The amount of female players is eclipsing, titanic and fantastic for a fantasy story. Well done, Baldree! Now, maybe next time add in nonbinary and trans rep...
Beautiful, touching, life-affirming, soulful, and gentle yet sharp and edgy when it needs to be, the deeper you go in, like ocean waves at a beach. Funny as all the eight hells, too. I laughed out loud a few times.
An imperfect book about imperfect lives and arcs. Arcs for orcs. It remains a 'Lord of the Rings' style fantasy. It is just my kind of book, and cup of tea. And scone.
Read my review of 'Legends & Lattes' here.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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