Booklog 91/2025: Travis Baldree: Bookshops & Bonedust – Legends & Lattes #2 – Audiobook

[jacey]

Audiobook, read by the author. This prequel to Legends and lattes is a light-hearted, cosy fantasy about an unexpected interlude, friendship, the power of fiction, and first love. Viv is an Orc mercenary who is injured in a battle against a necromancer and is deposited in the quiet port town of Murk to recover, with the promise that her mercenary pals, Rackham's Ravens, will come back for her.. Bored, she finds a scruffy bookshop, and ends up with a book she can't put down. The bookshop owner, Fern, is struggling, but Viv sticks around, inadvertently falling for the local baker. When one of the necromancer's former operatives comes looking for a place to hide a valuable stolen artifact, Viv gets involved. She rescues a satchel that hosts a bony homunculus, enslaved by the necromancer. Yes, the necromancer fially puts in an appearance and Viv does wat must be done, leaving to rejoin the mercenaries with some regrets. I was in the mood for cosy and light after tackling Consider Phlebas, and this was just the ticket. Expect orcs, gnomes, elves and a whole load of skeletons. Very enjoyable.