Tales from the Territory by Travis Baldree

Book Review

Melody Bowles

Legends and Lattes is beloved by cosy fantasy fans and one of the books signposted to anyone interested in the genre. This follow up contains five short stories set in the same universe with largely the same cast. There are three prequels and a sequel to Legends and Lattes, plus one prequel to Brigands and Breadknives. Anyone who’s read the previous books will be instantly at home with the central characters – Zyll, Thimble, Viv and Tandri.

I found Pages to Fill to be the weakest link, over long without a good hook at the start, plus it was already included at the end of my copy of Legends and Lattes. But the other stories were excellent. My favourite was Just A Thimbleful which commented on finding a workplace that will appreciate your talents, closely followed by Mirograph, a tragedy which examines a fantasy version of AI.

Most interesting, perhaps, was Cavaliers and Coffees. In this story, Viv finds someone who’s copied the design and menu of her shop but without any of the care, just looking to make a quick buck. I wonder if the author’s inspiration came from reality. As Legends and Lattes was such a hit, it probably had many clones by other authors and AIs.

I enjoyed the stories because I’m familiar with the characters from the other books, but I do question if a newcomer to the series would enjoy them in the same way. Will someone unfamiliar with Thimble and Legends and Lattes enjoy the ending of his story in the same way? I’m not sure.

The review copy has spaces left for illustrations, which I will be excited to see in the published version.

Read Tales From The Territory if you’re a fan of the other titles by Travis Baldree and want more of the same characters.

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Reader & writer of fantasy fiction, also kicks gremlins out of computers. Always looking for sapphic and/or cosy recs.

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