Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree is a prequel to Legends Legends & Lattes Lattes which features Viv, our coffee making orc, while she was still working as a mercenary. In this story she is injured and has to spend time recovering from her wound in the small quiet town of Murk. She is not happy about the arrangement but understands that she needs to rest in order to recover and return to her work. While resting in the town, she becomes acquainted with some of the residents, reads some books, and finds a bit of time for some romance. I enjoyed this book but due to a couple issues I had both with the story and with how I read it, I did not enjoy it as much as Legends & Lattes.
One of the reasons that I did not enjoy this book as much has nothing to do with the story but with the circumstances of when I read it. I started this book before I read Dungeon Crawler Carl (full review here) and I was enjoying it but, as I mentioned in the Dungeon Crawler Carl review, I only had the Carl book for two weeks and I needed to get through it in that time. It forced me to almost completely stop reading Bookshops & Bonedust which I believe contributed to me not enjoying it as much. It made the issues I had with the story a lot worse.
The main issues I had with the story, especially in comparison to Legends & Lattes Lattes, was the sort of aimless feeling of the story. It felt less focused with no clear objective that Viv and the other characters were working toward. There was the bookshop and the frequent mention of Varine which made it clear that she was going to be the final boss of the book, but it rarely felt like the characters were working toward preparing to face her. It was only at the very end where it was clear that she was on her way that any real focus was put on defeating her. That being said, I think that these issues actually fit with what the author was trying to do and why I believe that this book is better written than Legends & Lattes.
This book captures the feelings of impatience and anxiety that Viv was feeling while she had to wait and recover from her injury. She is a person of action, but in order to recover from her wound, she needs to rest and recover and not train or fight. She finds things to do in the town and ends up enjoying her time there, but the whole time she is trying her best to remain calm and not accidentally make her wound worse and prolong the recovery period. She, initially, doesn’t want to prolong her stay any longer than it needs to be.
There were several things that I did enjoy in this book despite the complaints that I voiced. First, it had some of the cozy vibes that the first book had but they weren’t as prevalent as they were in the first one. I liked Fern a lot. It was really funny to picture this small ratkin with a high-pitched voice swearing like a sailor. It was a unique character and a stark contrast to the ratkin we saw in Legends & Lattes who rarely spoke at all. I also like her bookshop and how Fern was recommending books for Viv and other characters to read. It was really funny to see all the people reading the “saucy” (I don’t remember the term that was used in the book and I can’t find it again) books, even some unexpected characters like one of the guards. During the time I was reading the book, I actually talked to two different people about reading more and recommended books for them to read. I found that to be an interesting coincidence although it was January so it was more likely for me to talk to people who wanted to read more as a new years resolution.
I thought Varine’s book was very interesting. A book where you can store physical objects in the pages. The potential for what could be inside from a story perspective and just curiosity’s sake intrigues me. I thought that its use in the final fight against Varine was clever. I hadn’t thought that it could be used the way that Viv used it. When the battle was getting closer, I was unsure how Viv was going to face Varine. As I mentioned earlier, Viv hadn’t really done much to prepare for the necromancer, so it was unclear how the fight was going to play out. I was satisfied with the fight and thought it made clever use of the options that Viv had at her disposal.
It was also interesting to see the origin of Blackblood and how Viv met Gallina. At the beginning of the story and when I saw the cover of the book, I was a little confused as to why Viv was using a sabre and not the named sword we saw in Legends & Lattes. Later when Viv pulled Blackblood from the book and talked about how good it felt in her hands I realized that it was the same sword from the other book. I had a similar reaction when Viv met Gallina. At first I was confused as to why she was being emphasized and why she felt familiar. It took me a little bit until I remembered that she was the gnome that came to visit Viv at her shop. It was interesting seeing how Viv came upon Blackblood and Gallina although it does feel slightly contrived to have both of them in the same book around the same time.
The last chapter of the book really captures the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye. The excerpt from the book that Viv was reading did a good job of capturing this feeling. Fern’s choice for the final book to give to Viv was sweet and fitting and it captured the feeling Viv had now that it was time to leave Murk. It also captured the feelings of Viv and Maylee as they need to say goodbye to one another. Maylee has hung up her mace and needs to stay while Viv is just beginning her adventures and needs to leave. Their relationship was short but special. I used to think “what’s the point” to a relationship if it doesn’t last but eventually I realized the time spent is important and I believe that this captures that idea.
Finally, I liked the epilogue jumping forward several years after the first book and setting up the plot for the sequel. I look forward to seeing what happens with Fern if/when she gets to the coffee shop. From the description of the next book, it seems like it might be her adventures on the way to the city rather than when she gets there. Hopefully there are some parts when she get to the shop and meets up with Viv. It will be nice to see them meeting again and for Viv to introduce Fern to her wife 😉.
Bookshops & Bonedust was an enjoyable book but I did have some issues with it although I did the story no favors by having to put it to the side for a bit. Despite the issues I had, I did enjoy the story and the characters. It was a fitting prequel to Legends & Lattes and still had some of the cozy vibes the the first book had. It also had more depth with the feelings of aimless waiting and Viv dealing with her impatience. Overall I think that this book is written better and has more depth than Legends & Lattes but I still enjoyed the first book more.
I had a much harder time writing this review than usual. The first reason that contributed to this is the break that I had to take in the middle of the book to read the Carl book. It made it harder to remember everything that happened and the things that I wanted to write. Thankfully, I do write a couple of notes about things that I want to mention or think are interesting as I read, so I had some ideas to work from. The other thing that made it difficult was that I had a lot more to say. I didn’t realize this was an issue until I finished the first draft of the review. This review is longer than the Carl review and I had to do a small outline in order to organize my thoughts into a cohesive write-up. I think it came out good and I’m glad I was able to get the review written.
JohnB_Live 
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