Audiobook review: Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Balder
After my first sip of cozy fantasy with the first book in the series, Legends and Latte, and loving it, I was more than willing to return for more Viv the Orc and her adventures. And, in case you’re wondering, an author as narrator made for a two-punch of fabulousness.
Bookshops and Bonedust takes place chronologically before Legends and Lattes, but released afterward. I don’t suppose it matters which book is first for readers-listeners, but the last chapter of Bookshops and Bonedust includes a scene that takes place after the end of Legends and Lattes’ events and would be spoilerish. So, I recommend reading-listening in release order.
In Legends and Lattes, the reader meets Viv the Orc at the end of her merc career when she makes the wise move to retire before lameness or death becomes her lot. Instead, she goes with a career selling delectable coffee and bake goods in a city surrounded by found family, neighbors, and friends. Bookshops and Bonedust takes things back to the early time of Viv’s merc career when an unwanted interlude in her fighting work happens because of a serious injury so she is sidelined to a coastal town, impatient for recovery.
Knowing Viv from the previous book, I wasn’t surprised when she hadn’t been in Murk long before she’s helping people out and making friends- or in the case of the town’s head security warden- gets a watchful eye.
Things move gently forward as relationships and the situations with these new friends take up her time and energy, but all the while, Viv has the distant worry that Rackham’s Ravens her mercenary group might not return for her after trailing their current job, a powerful necromancer making trouble. And, as things turn out, Viv has growing worries about that powerful necromancer coming to this area.
Meanwhile, she helps a reclusive, sad Ratkin fix up her dusty and dingy failing bookshop, meets a truculent troll who’s a more brash fighter than she is, makes a connection with the dwarf who is as hot as her baked buns, and takes up a new hobby courtesy of her bookshop friend. But Viv is learning some lessons through her forced inactivity and experiencing life that may very well be what she needs to make her fight smarter and not just harder in the future. It’s not like trouble doesn’t have a way of finding Viv and the sleepy coastal town of Murk.
I love the soft glow fantasy world and the compelling characters. The focus is on people and relationships and yet, there are some good spikes of suspense and a big action climax scene, too. I’ve heard this world is a tribute to Dungeons and Dragons and it may be (I’ve not played so couldn’t say), but it is a good way for those who aren’t into the bloody battles and epic dramas of high fantasy to still get the fantasy world and feel.
Narration: Travis Baldree is a talented narrator so it’s no wonder he narrated his own book supremely well. I enjoy the various changes and patterns for each character, the pacing and emotional tone he acted with the story.
All in all, this was as good as my first venture with the series and I can’t wait to see what comes next after that little surprise at the end of the story. This is for Cozy Fantasy readers and those who wanted to try fantasy, but want the focus on the characters and not battles.
My Ratings
Story: A-
Narration: A+
Sophia Rose
About the Book:
Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.
Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.
What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.
Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Author: Travis Baldree
Narrator: Travis Baldree
Series: Legends and Lattes #0.5
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Audiobook Release Date: November 7, 2023
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Length: 8 hours and 1 minute
Source: Library
Audio Speed: 1.2x
Reviewer: Sophia Rose