Bookshops & Bonedust: A Heart-warming Cosy Fantasy (Legends & Lattes, Prequel)

by Travis Baldree

'A perfectly executed prequel . . . the stakes are higher and the scones are hotter still!' - Nicholas Eames

'Glorious' - Ben Aaronovitch

First loves. Second-hand books. Epic adventures.

Viv’s career with the renowned 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 struggling bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted. Even though it may be exactly what she needs. Still, adventure isn’t far away. A suspicious traveller in grey, 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.

Sometimes, right things happen at the wrong time. Sometimes, what we need isn’t what we seek. And sometimes, we find ourselves in the stories we experience together.

Set twenty years before the events of Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust is a standalone cosy fantasy by BookTok sensation Travis Baldree about the power of good bookshops, great friends and the unexpected choices along the way.

• Publish Date: 9 November 2023 (first published 7 November 2023)
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Tor
• Edition: Waterstones Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• Special: Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel to Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. Released 7th Nov 2023 by Macmillan on their Tor imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. 

This is such an engaging and appealing fantasy series featuring themes of found family, honor, and courage, and with and a wonderfully three dimensional young female orc mercenary with a heaping helping of brains and heart. She's injured in the intro and forced to convalesce in a backwater town, which soon proves to be more central to events than is comfortable or safe.

There are elements of mystery along with the fantasy and magic. It's firmly a prequel to Legends & Lattes, and as such benefits from being read in the publishing order: Legends first then Bookshops. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 1 minute and is very well narrated by the author himself. He has a warm light baritone voice with a hint of southern central USA (but without any intrusive twang, whether by training or design). He voices his characters well and distinctly and between the print and audio versions, the audiobook format gets the edge. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four and a half stars for the book, five for the wonderfully nuanced audiobook version. Highly recommended for fans of cozy fantasy. One of the better releases for 2023.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes 

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I cannot overstate how much I love Travis's books. Bookshops and Bonedust is an utter delight to read and listen to. And it is clear that Travis understands the struggles indie booksellers go through to keep their stores open and their love of connecting with customers. Those parts of the book were definitely my favorite and got me a bit choked up.

PLEASE give us more stories about Viv and all her friends.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.