By Travis Baldree
Tor (©2023)
ASIN: B0BQGGVB4K
Kindle Version, file size 6367
What a delightful little story! Before finding this book (and its sequel, Legends and Lattes, also an excellent read), I’d never heard of the cozy fantasy genre, and now I have a new label to add to my faves. From the very first page, Travis Baldree does a great job of hooking the reader onto the main character, Viv, who just happens to be a sword-swinging orc. She’s good, but she’s young and doesn’t yet know the value of patience. When this lesson lands her in the sleepy little village of Murk, where very little ever happens but where mystery has taken a home, Viv is forced to find a way to occupy herself lest she get into trouble. Make that more trouble.
The other characters with whom she interacts are built slowly, carefully, so that they all become part of Viv’s life and entangled in the reader’s heart. They’re simple, yet deep, going through their lives and addressing their problems, working together—to everyone’s surprise—to make things better for all of them. And when the town is threatened by Viv’s enemy, all the characters come together in protection and defense.
Not only is there a wonderful display of empathy and compassion, but Baldree brings acceptance and diversity into the mix as a major ingredient in the whole. Characters come in a variety of species and orientations, and while there’s no blatant sex on the page, there is a sweet romantic thread running throughout. Viv and Maylee find and court one another, even while they know Viv will soon leave. Their romance carries the bittersweet knowledge that even wonderful things don’t last forever, but that doesn’t make them any less worthwhile.
Bookshops and Bonedust is not a heavy read at all. It’s light, fun, heartwarming, and satisfying in a way that will leave you wanting more. What a joy it would be to live in a world such as Baldree has created here! I definitely will be looking for more from this author.