The Cozy Dragon's Hoard of Dice

No question but I enjoyed Legends and Lattes.

A recent release in the cozy fantasy genre, it was originally put out by Cryptid press in February of 2022, and then re-released by TOR in November of that same year. The protagonist, Val, is looking to end her sellsword days and sell the gnomish beverage “coffee” in a large city-based fantasy setting. With a host of enjoyable characters, the stakes for the world are low – but the personal stakes for Val are high.

The setting for Legends and Lattes is clearly one that holds mysteries and magic, but the reader experiences this through recollection or discussion between the characters. Where there is magic or wondrous happenings that occur within the context of the novel, it is subtle or shown to be adapted to an urban environment. This is great – by showing that the magic that we so often see in these environments is in use by people in the course of day-to-day life, it makes it feel like a world in which that magic is something that is truly sunken in, not merely of interest to a few scholars of obscure lore.

This said, magic is clearly still something of a skill-held-at-premium – which in turn is a great answer for why we still have characters innovating and inventing, cooking pastries on fire stoves and using gnomish devices to cool a kitchen. It’s a world that finds problems and constructs solutions.

Legends and Lattes is an LGBTQ+ friendly setting, which is pleasant. On a personal note, I tend to prefer worlds where we can leave behind some of the prejudices and problems of the real world. The narrative, where there is conflict, experiences no less conflict for not exploring that particular one, and it is a welcome exclusion.

Overall, the theme explored most deeply within this work is the fragility of hope – and the possibility that by dint of effort and trust in those around you, you can become the person that you wish to be. Not, I think, merely the provenance of fantasy – but the hallmark of a world well worth living in.

Check out Legends and Lattes wherever books are sold, and leave a review on Goodreads if you can – this will really help the author, and I hope ensure that further works in this vein see publication.