I confess I was reluctant to pick up Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree’s breakout 2022 novel, thinking it was over-hyped only to find it just as cozy and delightful as people said it was. Its prequel, Bookshops and Bonedust, expanded the fictional world by introducing readers to Fern, a bookseller who first convinced our hero, Viv, that a quiet life could still be meaningful. Now, Brigands and Breadknives gives Fern a starring role as she searches for her own meaning.
Fern has just packed up shop and moved into the space next to her long-ago friend Viv’s thriving coffee shop. Coffee, pastries, and books—what could be better? There’s even the beginnings of a found family for her and her pet gryphet, Potroast, as she finds an uncle and even a potential love interest in some of the people in Viv’s circle. Fixing up the retail space is done in a relatively short montage and, unlike when we met Fern in another town and another life, the people here need no convincing to buy or enjoy books. Her opening goes without a hitch! She’s an instant hit! Which is why she can’t understand why she feels the need to get so drunk that it’s all she can do to stumble into a wagon before passing out.
When Fern comes to, she’s not waking up in the same seaside town she left. She’s not even waking up in the same wagon she passed out in—at least, not the wagon she thought she was passing out in. Instead, it seems she has inadvertently stowed herself away in the wagon of a legendary warrior and the goblin she’s is taking in for a bounty in a distant city. Fern’s ability to translate goblin language earns her a ride at least as far as a big enough city to catch a ride back to her new bookshop. But as the miles grow long and the adventures she has mount, Fern feels the first spark of joy she’s had in a long, long time—even as she feels an increasingly crushing sense of guilt for fleeing her supposed dream and all those who helped make it come true for her.
In his acknowledgements, Baldree admits one of his fears with Brigands was whether fans would follow Fern through as many scrapes as they have Viv. There’s some merit to this worry. Viv’s objectives are clear in both books in which she has a starring role. Though she learns nuance and gains a little personal growth on the way to both goals, she nonetheless has a clear objection that’s easy for a reader to grasp and believe. Fern, meanwhile, is a little more nebulous, both to the reader and to herself. For much of the book, all she knows is that she’s unhappy but doesn’t feel she has a right to be. That dissatisfaction is actually pretty relatable, though it is also a little frustrating to be steeped in someone else’s ennui. As tempted as I am to say that it’s just that quality that makes Fern a tougher character to follow, rather than the character herself, sometimes those are the same thing.
It’s true, too, that the first two books in this series explored how to find meaning and value in a quiet life, a cozy life, the kind of life that doesn’t get songs or stories written about it, whereas Fern’s journey takes her in the opposite direction. While I feel that a message about finding a life that fits for you rather than following an expected path, and that you can change your life at any age, isn’t incompatible with this kind of quest for a meaningful life, it isn’t the same sort of character journey we’ve come to expect from the past two books. There’s bound to be some adjustment.
This all makes it sound like Brigands is a disappointment, which isn’t the case at all. There are real delights to be found in Brigands. The supporting cast is strong, and it’s easy to see why Fern would want to stick around even with a pet, shop, and friends elsewhere. Both warrior and goblin make terrific traveling companions. My personal favorite was the titular bread knife, an enchanted blade nicknamed Breadlee whose indignant on both the name and his size was a welcome running gag through the latter half of the book. As Fern rediscovers herself, we, too, remember why she was a fun character when last we met. And until then, there’s adventure after adventure, the kind of series of scrapes and heroics that could fill a long roll of parchment, or keep any bard singing for months. It’s refreshing, too, to see the adventures continue—or start!—for a character who has seen some life and is still finding new things to love about it. Fern is just as worthy a main character as Viv, even if it takes both us and her some time to find out just who she is.
Ring Reads 