Bookshops and Bonedust

by Travis Baldree

356 pages

English language

Published 2023 by Pan Macmillan.

ISBN:: 978-1-0350-3586-1

(48 reviews)

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek.

In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

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, …

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek.

In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned.

What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

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.

12 editions

BigBear1014 reviewed Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes, #0)

Review of 'Bookshops & Bonedust' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is as perfect a prequel to "Legends and Lattes" as it could be.
I love that we get to know more about our protagonists history and meet a whole lot of new, interesting characters.
Even though the author wrote in the acknowledgement that he had a hard time writing it, it speaks for his abilities that you can't feel that when reading the book and I really hope of a third book in the series, that let's us meet my favourite fantasy barista again.

Tak! reviewed Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes, #0)

Bookshops & Bonedust

4 stars

I was pleasantly surprised.

My takeaway from Legends & Lattes was that it was a cozy fantasy adaptation of a modern concept àla Pratchett, but I didn't get a particular feeling of depth.

With Bookshops & Bonedust, it's the converse - I felt like it was mainly a story about Viv and her forced journey of self-discovery, while all the rest of it was just set dressing.

Apollo reviewed Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends and Lattes, #0)

Another Cozy Fantasy

3 stars

This prequel to Legends & Lattes doesn't have quite the same charm as that novel, but it's still a fun, low-stakes fantasy. The characters in this one were the highlight, with the ratfolk and bone homunculus being delights.

Bean reviewed Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes, #0)

Review of 'Bookshops & Bonedust' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

My perspective is different than most - I haven't read Legends & Lattes, and picked this up somewhat on a whim. I didn't even realize it was a prequel until the Epilogue.

Thoroughly enjoyed it though, and I'll definitely be reading Legends & Lattes too. Kingfisher's review on the jacket summed it up better than i could - "A warm hug of a book."