Fantasy novel, written by Travis Baldree. It is subtitled "A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes." It was originally published by Cryptid Press in early 2022, with a second edition from Tor Books later that year, fueled by the popularity of the book on BookTok, which is apparently TikTok where they talk about books. (shakes fist angrily at clouds)
Our lead character is Viv, an orc barbarian who has gotten tired of the adventuring life. After one last job, she's able to kill a giant spider-like monster called a Scalvert Queen, and the only treasure she takes from its hoard is a Scalvert's Stone, a magical organ the monster has grown in its skull. The Scalvert's Stone is rumored to bring fortune to its owner. From there, Viv travels to the city of Thune, where she buys a run-down livery stable, buries the Stone under the building, and gets to work to realize her fondest dream: owning a coffee shop.
Yes, a coffee shop.
And almost no one in Thune has any idea what coffee is. Ale? Yes. Tea? Yes. Coffee? Crushed-up beans mixed with hot water? Sounds weird, yo.
But before you can have a coffee shop, you need to have a shop -- and a busted down livery isn't inviting to customers. So she hires a hob (probably a hobbit) named Cal, and they get to work renovating the property. While that's going on, Viv hires an assistant to help run the place. Tandri is a succubus -- but not the "horny demon that fucks you to death" kind of succubus. In fact, she keeps herself severely buttoned-down and works at being as emotionless as possible. Still, she's helpful, creative, and artistic, and takes over maintenance and updating of the shop's signage and menu, along with working at the front counter. And finally, she hires Thimble, a very quiet ratkin who is an absolute genius baker, and who keeps customers stuffed with delicious pastries.
Once the shop opens -- under the name "Legends & Lattes," of course -- it enjoys slow but steady growth, particularly as new items are added to the menu, and it attracts a host of regulars, including an aspiring musician with an experimental guitar, a wizard student who really just wants somewhere to study, a chess-playing gnome who may exist outside of time, and an extremely large and extremely useful dire cat.
But the success of the business brings other problems. The local crime boss, the Madrigal, sends bands of thugs to pressure Viv to pay the protection racket, and Fennus, an elf who used to be part of Viv's adventuring party, figures out that she has a Scalvert's Stone and has decided to steal it from her, no matter what the cost.
Can Viv figure out a way to keep her shop afloat in a world of cutthroat thieves and crooks? Can she keep her customers and her employees happy? Can an orc barbarian find love in a world of iced lattes, ley lines, and cinnamon rolls?
So what the heck with this thing, huh? A fantasy novel where there's relatively little swordplay or magic, where the action sequences are few and far between, where there's more emphasis on coffee, baking, carpentry, and feeeeelings? How is that supposed to work?!
Well, the thing is, it works a peach. The plot and characters are engaging, it's a fast-moving and fun read, and it's absolutely a pleasure to read a fantasy novel where you don't have to constantly worry about assassins and dark mages and quests and chosen ones and dragons.
You always hear stodgy old-timers complaining about these cozy fantasies, but it's not like it's a new upstart sub-genre overthrowing True Fantasy. Elements of cozy fantasy have appeared in dozens of established classics. A major element of Tolkien's work was the detail and love he put into descriptions of feasts and the joys of living in a homey community like Hobbiton. Almost every Studio Ghibli movie has strong elements of coziness running through it. Authors whose books regularly explore cozy fantasy include Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Brian Jacques, Becky Chambers, T.J. Klune, Diana Wynne Jones, T. Kingfisher, Katherine Addison, and many others.
Still, cozy fantasy didn't really become an important sub-genre until this book came out and proved to be extremely popular. Cozy fiction in general seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity. Basically, we live in interesting times. We can't afford houses. Prices on food keep going up. We can't afford many luxuries. We can't trust politicians, judges, the media, the police, or much of anyone else. The environment is absolutely falling to pieces. Our rights as human beings are being attacked on multiple fronts. Nazis march in the streets, and no one does anything to stop them. Everything is stress, stress, stress, and more stress.
But a cozy fantasy like "Legends & Lattes" gives you access to a warm, welcoming coffee shop in an entertaining setting, where you can imagine yourself sitting quietly, enjoying an iced mocha and a biscotti, watching an orc brew coffee, an oversized mouse baking cinnamon rolls, a giant cat curled up in the corner, and a gnome playing chess with himself. It's comforting, and fun to read, and that's a fine way to spend a weekend.
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