Gather round, adventurers, for a nice cup of joe!
Published: 2022
Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQIA+
CW: Fire Injury, Sexual Harassment, Violence, Death
★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
After several years of adventuring, Viv the orc has decided to hang up her blade and pursue her dream of opening the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. But with the combined threat of the local mafia seeking protection payments and a former ally looking to take what he thinks he's owed, does Viv's dream really stand a chance?
I'm usually pretty wary about books that are popular on the internet, mostly because my past experiences have been largely disappointing. So, when I discovered this novel through TikTok recommendations (I know, I know. Judge me all you want.), I was surprised that I had any interest in it. To be honest, the main reason was because the title made me laugh. After reading the synopsis, I was under the impression that this would be similar to the Discworld novel Going Postal by Sir Terry Pratchett, in which a conman finds himself put in charge of a fantasy realm's postal system, and so, I sat down expecting a funny read about an orc struggling to attract clientele who have no idea what coffee is.
That isn't what I ended reading though.
Despite how ludicrous the premise of Legends and Lattes is, Baldree plays it straight and sincere. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised about that. The blurb at the back of the book describes it as "[a] novel of high fantasy and low stakes", and that is exactly what Baldree delivers. What stakes arise in the story are dealt with in the most pacifistic way possible to show how Viv has grown from someone who constantly watches her back to someone who actually trusts others not to entirely screw her over.
And in small doses, I guess this works. I genuinely smiled when Viv considers getting herself her first bed and when her friends find a way to repurpose her old sword. But the novel never really clicked for me. I'm sure part of it was because of the expectations I had set for the story beforehand, rather than the story itself. There is little about the book that I can really critique, other than the prologue and the short prequel story at the end really not being necessary. I guess that I'm just not a fan of "cozy fantasy," as this novel's been classified as.
Maybe I would have liked the story more if it were shorter; after all, there is only so many times one can hear Viv call her baker a genius for creating ordinary pastries and other characters tell Viv that she's really created something special here before it sounds like filler. Or maybe a novel is just the wrong medium to tell this story in. I could totally see this taking off as a Stardew Valley type video game after all.
As I mentioned before, there isn't really much wrong with novel. I can understand why people are quickly becoming enamored with it. I guess this is just a case of a book not really being my cup of tea. Or coffee, in this case.
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