After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she can’t go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.
But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined . . .

I passed over this book when it was being hyped as the best thing since sliced bread back in 2022. It just looked too wholesome, too cosy, too self-consciously uplifting for me. I’m too dour for that kind of thing. I’m a good fit for that old joke “I was an optimist once, but I knew it wouldn’t last.* Then, last year, in my contrarian way, I read the second book ‘Bookshops & Bonedust‘, (which was actually a prequel) and was delighted with it. I liked Viv which was surprising given that she was an Orc mercenary (I was raised on Tolkien. Orcs are not supposed to be likeable.) and I lost myself in how joyful the book was. 

So, this week, I finally read the original. It’s not a complex tale. An Orc mercenary retires and sets up a coffee shop in a city where no one has ever heard of coffee. That’s it really. And yet it was wonderful.

When I reviewed, ‘Bookshops & Bonedust‘, I wrote, “I couldn’t say how the effect was achieved, but the book felt welcoming, the feeling you get when you step into a restaurant you’ve not visited before but where the aromas, the ambience and the attitude of the staff make it feel like home.” This time, I want to see if I could figure out what Travis Baldree does that makes his books special. (I know, I should just enjoy the book, not vivisect it but it’s a habit I can’t kick). 

As I read chapters about Viv turning a decrepit livery stable into a thriving coffee shop, I saw that Travis Baldree has a talent for making the mundane into something magical by adding, hope, kindness and tolerance.

There were tense, and even sad moments in the book but mostly it kept making me smile. It was sweet without being twee. It felt like a hope turned into a promise. 

I think the power of the book comes from the different relationship Travis Baldree offers his readers. Instead of being asked to suspend my disbelief, I was being encouraged to extend my belief. I accepted that invitation, breathed in the scent of freshly brewed coffee and just-out-of-the-oven baking and let myself live in a little pocket of happiness.