tales from the territory – The Obsessive Bookseller

Title: Tales From the Territory

Author: Travis Baldree

Series: Legends and Lattes #3.5

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: There are many tales yet untold . . .
‘GOBLINS & GREATCOATS’: Chaos goblin Zyll is involved in a case of mistaken identity, where she solves a murder at an inn whilst simultaneously stealing all the cutlery.
‘JUST A THIMBLEFUL’: The sweet rattkin baker Thimble finds a new home for his soon-to-be famous cinnamon rolls.
‘PAGES TO FILL’: An act of mercy leads to a life-changing discovery for warrior orc Viv.
In ‘MIROGRAPH’, young succubus Tandri assists a university professor on a mysterious project where art and science collide.
In ‘CAVALIERS & COFFEES’, Viv, now the owner of Legends & Lattes coffee shop, discovers that imitation is not the highest form of flattery. –Goodreads

Niki’s Review:

This collection was an absolute delight! I keep saying I don’t care for short stories, but I may need to re-evaluate, as I was hooked on this right from the first page. It helped that the first story (Goblins and Greatcoats) was about my single most favorite character I’ve met over the last few years: Zyll. This being is hysterical (and slightly unnerving), and her story was every bit as entertaining as the scenes we got with her from Brigands and Breadknives. It also provided a great backstory to how she came to possess a certain item…

And then the Thimble story!! Which was very reminiscent of Ratatouille, but I loved the twist Baldree put on the tale. This was the one for which I felt the largest emotional connection. It also best captured the cozy, day in the life aspect I loved so much about Legends and Lattes. Thimble spoke to my artist’s soul. He had an insatiable drive to refine his culinary confections to perfection without any external appreciation for his efforts. His story arc there was especially satisfying, and I think this is the one I’ll remember most from the collection (which is fitting because it’s the cover image feature on my Broken Binding copy).

Then we get into my least favorite of the collection, Pages to Fill. I found it oddly difficult to follow compared to the other stories and even had to go back and reread a good chunk of it at one point because I was so disengaged. It was almost as if it were missing something, but I can’t put my finger on what it was. The end half of the story was a bit more successful, and I finally found a story element I liked enough to keep my attention. While doing research after finishing the book, I discovered this particular story was written many years before the others in the collection. Interesting, then, that it’s the only one I had a struggle with. I think it signifies just how far the author has grown as a writer since his early publishing days, so I was still able to appreciate it as a good stepping stone.

And finally, a maddening but also heartwarming tale taking us to a time period after L&L with Viv and her coffee house crew. It’s fun to get a “where are they now” update, and I’m certainly hoping this isn’t the last we’ll see of them. Injustices in books, even in cozy books, stress me out, so this was probably the most evoking tale of the bunch. Even so, it ultimately left me with all the right emotions and was a good capstone for the collection.

Overall I’m not sure which story was my favorite, but I can say I think it is worth reading for fans of the series. It added a good bit of roundness to the world for me and I truly cannot wait to see what the author has in store next! I experienced the story both on audio (narrated by the author himself – a narrator by profession, so you know it’s good!) and via the Broken Binding hardback edition. The physical book I read had striking full color illustrations to go along with each story, which definitely enhanced the experience for me. Overall I’m thrilled to add this one to my library!

I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio, Travis Baldree, and Netgalley for the chance to listen to and review an early copy of Tales From the Territory!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, Carmen, Leah, and Laura! <3

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