#Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes

[jbk405]

You know how sometimes you pick up a book and are instantly sucked in? I purchased Legends & Lattes earlier today and I have already finished it. I was intrigued instantly by the descriptive blurb on the cover by Seanan McGuire: "It's sweet, beautiful, and, most of all, kind."

I needed to read a kind story.

It delivered on what it promised. This was a charming and heartfelt story that lives up to its tagline of "A novel of high fantasy and low stakes". Viv, an orc adventurer, decides to retire from her life of violence and death to open a coffee shop. That's her only goal, there is no secret treasure she wants to win or a plan to use this as a cover. Defying the preconceptions of both her species and her personal history, she resolves to start anew. She makes new friends, some of whom are likewise trying to escape the expectations of others, and others who are also just looking for small-time success and contentment.

Look, I don't drink coffee. At all. I never have. When I was a kid, even the smell made me ill (I would wait outside whenever my parents went into Starbucks). But what coffee represents for Viv, that internal peace and freedom and that ever-illusive "clean slate", makes me want to drink a cup of coffee.

The romance between Viv and Tandri, the succubus whom Viv hires as general help for her coffee shop, is adorable and manages to somehow be refreshing and new even though it's also predictable. It's refreshing and new because there is no false drama or conflict, no frustratingly cliche Third Act Misunderstanding. And it's predictable because you know from their first interaction that they're going to fall in love. You know. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Kellin, the stuck-up half-a-thug hanger-on for the local crimelord who has been stalking and harassing Tandri, is so punchable and it is beautiful to see how everybody despises him. Even the other criminal muscle -- the real muscle who will kill you if you don't pay your protection fees -- despises him. And Viv eventually gets it over on him not by beating him up (Which she could do, because she's an orc adventurer), but by pointing out that his violent, bloodthirsty crime boss would side with Viv over him because he's such a little shit. I cheered so hard at that, and he never showed back up in the story again.

It's appropriate that I discovered this at the start of November, because it is apparently a product of NaNoWriMo 2021. That alone makes me want to start writing for the current NaNoWriMo.

This was a fun, easy read that I am so glad I stumbled on. I purchased Bookshops & Bonedust, its prequel, at the same time on a leap of faith that this would be good enough to continue. Now I am debating whether I should start it tonight, or wait until tomorrow so I can read it straight through in one sitting.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

A Surprising, Cozy Comfort Read

Ok, so something that is very important to know for this post is that I do not play DnD. I have never played DnD, and I have no real desire to play DnD. So how the hell did I end up not only reading but also loving Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes? I run in a ton of circles with extremely enthusiastic TTRPG players (including but not limited to DnD, CoC, and Delta Green), so I'm at least conversant in DnD. On top of that, my theatre circles run nerdy, so very dear friends of mine have been involved in productions of Of Dice and Men by Cameron McNary and She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. To top it all off, I edit the Supplementary Case Files available to patrons and fans of The Redacted Reports: A Delta Green Podcast.

Given all that background and a desperate need for somethig genuinely cozy to read, it's not that much of a stretch that I picked up Baldree's debut. Let's talk Legends and Lattes.

This book was impressive in that it beautifully balanced the DnD conversant audience with worldbuilding and lore in such a way that even with things I didn't know, I never felt excluded from the world or the characters. I could go look things up if I wanted to (and there were a few I did, because goddamn, DnD lore is expansive, y'all), but I never felt like I had to in order to understand the story. That was an automatic plus in my book.

What was surprising to me was how much I loved Viv and Tandri and the supporting cast of characters. Viv and Tandri are complex, nuanced characters who effortlesslessly pulled me into their lives--and for a novel of supposedly low stakes, I was as invested, if not more, than I have been for life-or-death stakes. I probably shouldn't have been surprised by this, given how character-focused DnD and TTRPGS are in general, but one of my personal character arcs has been unlearning ivory tower snobbery around different types of storytelling, TTRPGS included. So I was happily surprised by how much I loved literally everyone in this book, as well as the casual but crucial representation for female characters and LGBTQ+ characters. I would extremely love to be adopted by a dire-cat.

The sense of place in this novel is also stunning, and the comfortable ambiance of everyone's favorite local coffee shop is made magical through Baldree's descriptions, word choice. And overall tone. Reading this book scratched my itch for College Coffee House (sadly defunct now) and the Roast in Alaska, my college coffee haunts, and I didn't think anything short of a trip home would do that. It's no wonder that Legends & Lattes the coffee shop was famous in Thune and the hearts and minds of readers.

As far as cozy comfort reads go, I literally do not have a better recommendation than this book.

[fancyhandsbakery]

I have a bunch of books saved in my google play books wishlist and I just finished Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. Absolutely fantastic but I need a new one. I just did nonfiction so it’s time for fiction.

Legends and Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by Travis Baldree

“Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.

However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve.”

My thoughts: I’m not that into romance and full fantasy but I wanted to give it a try.

The Long Walk by Stephen King

Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as the Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping...with the winner being awarded “The Prize”—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you’re out of the game—permanently...

My thoughts: I don’t normally read Stephen King bc he books are so slow but this looked really interesting.

About The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

I’m not even going to type this out. You probably know the book.

My thoughts: I thought this book was about her murdering her husbands and after reading the description, I’m disappointed but am still holding out hope that it is a murder thriller. I’m probably going to be disappointed.

[kunoichi96]

Page Turner: Legends & Lattes

A good book is like a good cup of coffee as it warms you up and makes everything feel better for a little while. Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes by Travis Baldree is a fantasy novel about Viv, leaving behind her adventurous life to start a coffee shop. As you know, start-up culture can be ruthless enough, but try adding magic and foes who lurk in the shadows. Thankfully,…

[highabovethecloudssomewhere]

Bi-Yearly Book Catalogue (2024)

Every book I’ve read the past six months and what I thought, told as briefly as I can manage.

One Star Books:

Loveless by Alice Oseman

I understand that this book was helpful for a lot of people. It was the opposite of helpful for me.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My gripes with this can be whittled down into: this writer does not understand depression but really, really wants to cure it. Also, if you do decide to give this book a try, please mind the subject material. It really, really isn’t for everyone.

Two Star Books:

N/A

Three Star Books:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

A simple book about an old man learning to want to live again. Where ‘The Midnight Library’ failed for me, this one succeeded. If you plan to read this one, be mindful of the content warnings. It also isn’t for everyone.

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowely

It’s about a dog who has cancer. I think that says it all. There were parts of this book I really liked and parts I really didn’t like. It lost me halfway through and I stopped caring about the stakes, which is really upsetting when the stakes are a dog. But the good parts are really, really good. Just be mindful of the premise going into it.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

I liked the character work, loved the world building and on a technical level the writing was well-done. My gripes have to do with the story’s internal contradictions and how the only character traits I can think of for the main character are “asexual” and “inventor,” neither of which are explored properly (emphasis on asexual here). I didn’t like that despite being 21, the main character was narratively treated like a child, often involving his sexuality. I had to google how old he was multiple times because I couldn’t believe he wasn’t in his mid-teens given how he reacted to the story and how the story treated him. Loved the writing on a technical level, though, and I do plan to read more from this author.

Four Star Books:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

A COFFEE shop AU? In MY high fantasy? If you like DnD, low-stakes high-fantasy and fun character work, give this one a read. It’s very cozy.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

It’s a book about a nonbinary tea monk and a robot who lives in the mountains. Slow-paced with good vibes and great world building. I read it in an evening and came away from it feeling warm.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship breaks my heart again. This was incredibly well-written and appropriately devastating. I just wanted them to be happy.

Countdown to Countdown by Kong Xiao Tong (graphic novel)

I bought a physical copy of this because I’ve always loved the artist’s work and wanted to support, and I enjoyed it a LOT. Beautiful art, fantastic characters. I know not everyone can avoid a physical copy, but the webcomic is available to read for free online and I highly recommend giving it a try.

Our Dining Table by Ori Mita (manga)

Learning to enjoy mealtime with loved ones again after childhood trauma? Y’all. It’s a single-volume manga and it’s well worth your time.

Five Star Books:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

This was the most devastating book I’ve ever read. If you are interested in reading it: find a list of content warnings first. I went in blind. It is hauntingly real and the author handled the material so, so well. I can’t recommend this book without that caveat. But it’s one of the best-written books I’ve read.

The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson

This book is about a man looking back on his life as a boy - the friends he made and the misadventurous ghost-hunts his uncle dragged them into. It’s just the right amount of campy with fun characters and a brilliant use of prose. If you’re a less experienced reader and want a book that is easily digestible while also being extraordinarily well-written, I’d recommend this book in a heartbeat, and it’s every bit as entertaining for more advanced readers.

What you are looking for is in the library by Aoyama Michiko

Five stories about five people, all in different stages of life, and their unique experiences with the same librarian and the same library. Individually, each character in each story has their unsatisfying lives changed in an unexpectedly simple way, thanks to the library. There’s nothing wild about this book, but it is wildly impactful. The library is for everyone!

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Heroine travels the treacherous seas to save the man she loves. It’s a book about perspectives and joy and making unlikely friends, breaking curses through clever means and never, ever giving up. It has all the whimsy of a classic fairytale, yet not once could I predict how it was going to end. It’s fast-paced and hard to put down. The world is intriguing and the characters are wonderful.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This book is utterly mind-bending and I loved it. Two time-travelers chase each other through reality on opposing sides of the Time War and gradually fall in love. It’s great. The biggest complaint I see leveled at this book comes from less experienced readers who struggle to follow the narrative - and I do agree, if you’re just getting into reading for fun this might be a book to save for later. But don’t let me stop you. I loved this book.

Conclusion:

Reading is great. Libraries are your friend. I always love book recommendations and I’m on GoodReads as BeyondTheClouds777, predictably. If any of y’all take a stab at these books (or have taken stabs in the past), I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’m back in my bookworm era and thriving.

[freshlybrewedbookreviews]

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

I adored this book. It felt like a warm hug; a cozy blanket wrapped around me on a chilly day; the first sip of hot cocoa/tea/cocoa after a cold walk; fuzzy socks…basically, all of the things that make me feel calm, held, and cozied up.

The premise is an orc opening up a coffee shop. Other things happen, but that's the delight of it: the tagline of "high fantasy, low stakes" completely delivers on its promise. As someone who reads entirely too many high stakes novels, this was a refreshing departure, and it was extremely enjoyable. I'm looking forward to Baldree's next novel.

[torpublishinggroup]

Travis Baldree on Legends & Lattes and Writing

Legends & Lattes is a novel of high fantasy and low stakes, the perfect comfort read to grab a warm mug of coffee and curl up on your couch with. Today, we’re giving you the opportunity to learn more about the mind behind the masterpiece, Travis Baldree! Check out our sit down here.

[carriagelamp]

Man I got lucky this month, I got to read a bunch of excellent books, including some really neat queer novels. Nothing like a break to really get to kick back and enjoy reading for the sheer pleasure of reading rather than a desperate escape

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation manhua v1

Unsurprising to absolutely anyone who’s been reading these, I picked up the first book of the manhua adaptation of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. It covers the first part of the first book, which basically amounts of Wei Wuxian’s revival and his flight from Mo Manor to the mountain and the Night Hunt. Besides for WWX, we get to meet Lan Wanji, the juniors, and Jiang Cheng, all of which have great designs. Like the rest of this series, it was a pleasure to read, the adaptation was done really well, and I’m excited for the next volume.

The Ice Monster

This book was very… meh. I was pretty disappointed, because I’ve really enjoyed the other two books I’ve read by David Walliams so far, and this was probably the one I was most excited about, but it was… incredibly middling compared to the others.

The Ice Monster is about a Victorian orphan, Elsie, who escapes from the brutal orphanage she had been raised in and was making her way on the streets. During this time, a great mammoth that had been found in the Arctic was being transported to the museum for display. Elsie feels a kinship for this “monster” and begins a series of events that lead to it being freed from the ice and set loose in London.

There were good moments in this book and I’m sure a kid would enjoy it, but ultimately it felt like way too many fart jokes and not enough substance compared to Walliams’ other books.

I Think Our Son Is Gay v2

A very sweet manga series I’ve been reading from the library. It follows the POV of a mother who suspects that her son is gay but who isn’t quite ready to come out yet. It’s a nice balance of humour — the art is cute and the characters have fun reactions to various silly things that happen in their lives — and love while still asking what it must be like to be gay in a homophobic society. A good read.

Legends & Lattes

SUCH a fun novel, it was exactly what I needed this month.

The story is about an orc mercenary called Viv who, after 20 years of fighting and killing, has had enough and is ready to settle down. Using the mysterious reward from her last adventure, Viv leaves her old company to find what she hopes will be the perfect city to open a coffee shop. Which is a daunting task in a part of the world that has never ever heard of coffee before and is suitably leery of this “bean water”.

If you want an action-packed, edge of your seat adventure book… don’t read this. This is the epitome of “cosy” fiction — its tag line is “high fantasy and low stakes”. If you want a dnd coffee au in novel form that’s about friendship and food… then this is THE perfect novel. It made me feel so warm and happy (and hungry).

Lucky Luke: The Oklahoma Land Rush // The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke is a BD series I’ve heard a lot about, and after seeing a couple episodes of it on Prime I decided I needed to actually pick up a volume or two. I’m delighted I did and I think I’ll need to read more now! 

The general premise is that of a western. The titular character, Lucky Luke, is a clever and nearly unflappable gun-slinger who can “shoot faster than his shadow”. Luke gets into a range of silly, comedic Wild West adventures and inevitably comes out on top for the sake of justice. Naturally, the genre being what it is, the whole First Nations thing is… rough, but the books were enjoyable if you can look past that.

The first book I read was The Oklahoma Land Rush which is fairly indicative of the series I believe and is about Luke being hired to help police the desperate rush of settlers to claim land in Oklahoma. The second was The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke which was written by Matthieu Bonhomme instead of Morris and is a slightly grittier, more serious take on Luke. I enjoyed this one just as much — it still managed to be funny, but the stakes felt much higher. And the art was just stunning.

The Night Gardener

A fun, creepy middle grade horror. A story about two young Irish immigrants trying their best to survive in the absence of their parents. In a last desperate attempt to get work they find themselves way out at a desolate, crumbling English manor that has been almost completely consumed by a strange tree. The family there is as desolate and strange as the grounds, pale and sickly and carrying a mysterious secret. The siblings realise just how strange and dangerous this estate might be as they’re drawn deeper into the secrets and begin to suspect that there’s something else living and working on the grounds…

I really like Jonathan Auxier's writing and I’ve been meaning to try this novel for years. I was glad to have finally done it.

Doctor Who: The Runaway Tardis

Just a cute little picture book. Pop Classics does some fun work and the art style really worked for Doctor Who. It’s about a little girl who has moved and is struggling with needing to make whole new friends in a place she doesn’t know. The themes of loneliness and goodbyes and needing to move on and make new friends was actually perfect to pair with Doctor Who; despite being quite simple and silly looking, it actually made me feel things for both the Doctor and the little girl.

Sandman v1/2

Everyone has been so hyped about The Sandman! I’ve been wanting to get in on it but I’m not very good at sitting down and watching shows so I thought I might try the original comics. Honestly I should have known better. I don’t really like this harsh style of American comics and if we’re being totally honest I don’t generally like Gaiman’s longer prose. This, unsurprisingly, combined two things I don’t like and ended up with a comic I didn’t like. Things only went down hill when fucking Batman appeared. It didn’t even really feel like it had the humour I would at least expect from Gaiman besides for a few brief glimmers. I appreciate that other people really like this series but oof. Not for me. 

The Secret Garden

I love The Secret Garden, it’s one of those comfort books that I need to reread every few years. I was listening to it as an audiobook this time and it was so lovely to see the first signs of spring appearing while listening to this story. If you want something feel good I highly recommend starting it because we are in the season for it.

If you’ve never read The Secret Garden, the premise is of a young, spoiled, but horrifically neglected child who was raised in British-occupied India. She is a bad-tempered, sour, and demanding child known to others as “Mistress Mary quite contrary”. When her parents die of a cholera outbreak she is sent back to England to live at her uncle’s manor on the Yorkshire moors. This relative is also distant and bitter, apparently hunchbacked and widowed. Once more alone, Mary is suddenly expected to do things for herself and isn’t given her every demand — instead she begins to befriend the cheerful, plain-spoken maid and starts spending time outside, exploring and playing for what feels like the first time in her life…   

Wallace & Gromit: Crackers in Space

I stumbled across this as an audiobook. After the fact I realised it’s also a comic. Oddly enough, the comic seemed profoundly bad — I’ve never really liked any of the Wallace and Gromit comics — but the audiobook version was a delight. It has the actual voice actor for Wallace, so it sounded completely like I had just put an episode on in the background that I had never watched before. They were also very clever about giving Gromit a “voice” despite him being a non-verbal character! It was actually a lot of fun!

Wallace decides to attempt making his own cheese out in the garden shed… only things go badly, as they’re wont to. Instead of making a lovely cheese, the whole thing ends up getting launched into the atmosphere because of a helium mishap… which might not be so bad if the zero gravity wasn’t making the Home Brew Cheese Kit kick into overdrive. They’re going to have to figure out how to deal with the massive, mutated cheese comet that’s now threatening all of West Wallaby Street. 

Wave Me Goodbye

An absolutely charming book, I didn’t want to put it down. This book takes place at the beginning of the Second World War, when children were being evacuated from London (which was at risk of bombing) and being sent out to live with volunteers in the country. Shirley is one of the children being sent out, but right from the beginning she finds herself struggling with feeling like the odd one out. She doesn’t feel like she fits in with her rough-and-tumble classmates, and when she does make a new friend on the train it’s clear that she doesn’t properly fit in with the posh covenant girls either. Things only get worse when she is one of the only children not picked to go with a family, and suddenly she and two other unwanted boys find themselves foisted on the unwilling inhabitants of the Red House. But in wartime, one has to make due, so she, Kevin, and Archie begin to explore this strange, half-empty house and get used to a very different way of life way out in the country.

Shirley is a huge reader in the book, and it actually made me pause reading to go and read some of the books she references! It was a lot of fun! Some of the books I read last month that Shirley reads are Ballet Shoes and The Squirrel, The Hare, and the Little Grey Rabbit. It’s also what made me decide to reread The Secret Garden, since they feel like similar genres.

When the Angels Left the Old Country

I read some great books this month and it would be hard to say for certain which was my favourite since they were in quite different genres, but this would be a strong contender. Holy shit was it good. The tl;dr is that it’s a bit like a Jewish Good Omens but also nothing like that at all.

The Angel (as angels don’t have permanent names, but rather names that describe what they are currently doing) and the demon Little Ash have been study partners for centuries, happily existing in their little Shtetl without feeling much need to change things. But things are changing and with the press of poverty and rise of violent anti-Semitic feelings many residents of the Shtetl are now leaving for America in the search of work and safety. Little Ash is determined that they should join these immigrants, and when a member of their Shtetl goes missing on her own voyage it seems inevitable that they go and track her down to ensure she is safe and well.

At its heart this is an immigrant story about people and prejudice and love, and it’s really written beautifully, the way you see all the hardship that goes into such a voyage even for supernatural beings.

[flavia8]

Legends and Lattes is completely fine. By no means is it a bad book. It's just very "shallow". Everything is conveniently solved within 2 chapters, and the only character who maybe has kinda an arc is the main character, Viv. Every other character is one dimensional imo and only serves to prop up the main character. Which. Tbf is somewhat the purpose of Side characters, as well as MC's. But! Not in the way they're written here. All characters are components in the story, but they should still feel like they have their own motivations. Here the side characters don't have any motivations of their own really?

Also the blurb says - High Fantasy, Low stakes. And boy where the stakes low. I genuinely don't mind low stakes stories! But. There has to be something. If everything is resolved in 2 chapters max it's. Not compelling. In the absence of external conflict, there's internal conflict but this story didn't do either super well.

Viv doesn't know how to run a business? Oh dw Tandri a business genius just decides to work for her.

Viv wants to start serving desserts with coffee? Surprise surprise a chef comes to work for her and "invents" cinnamon rolls.

Viv occasionally has an internal conflict but it's not really relevant. She also has the same internal conflict repeatedly in the same way, not really any development in how she handles the issue. Also the particular internal conflict just sort of shows up in the middle of the book? Which can happen sometimes irl things like this can seem super sudden but there are small signs and buildup. I don't think there was enough, in this case.

This is all "explained" by the fact Viv buried an enchanted luck rock under her cafe while building it (she was immediately able to purchase a building for cheap, and hire a builder who conveniently had no other work and was the best and gave her a discount just bc he liked her" which I know does happen irl but like. They just met.)

Also. High Fantasy? That's a stretch I think. The only "High Fantasy" thing about this is that there are orcs, elves, gnomes, Succubi ect. And I suppose the magic deus ex machina rock and other magic. But it's not utilized effectively. All the deserts are stuff we have irl, nothing magic or fantastic about them. Coffee is just coffee. The town they live in is just a town. It could literally be set in the City I live in, and nothing would change, no joke.

The premise was quite lovely, and fun. I also think that the dynamics between the characters were quite sweet (though they could be deeper) also. The food descriptions were great, though I could just be a perpetually hungry bitch. Though I think it relied on generic DND stereotypes slightly too much (Orcs and Elves hate each other for reasons). The writing is very lovely. Flows well and fits the desired tone of the story very well! Baldree is a great writer, I just think he needs a bit more practice with story structure and character development in a novel. I am interested in his other work and his journey as an author, it will be nice to see the growth. In conclusion, Legends and Lattes is a sweet, if a bit of a generic read.

3/5*

[mruschdraws]

Coffee & Book Recommendations

It's not June, but it's always time for pride, and cozy books. Thought I'd share some favorites over the years.

"Legends and Lattes" -- A cozy cup of literary coffee. A retired adventurer Orc decides to open up her very own coffee shop! Slice of life, high fantasy with low stakes. Fantasy prose.

"The Prince and the Dressmaker" -- Historical fiction following a Prince and his dressmaker. Explores themes of identity, fashion, self-expression and relationships. Standalone graphic novel.

"Our Dreams at Dusk" -- A young man grapples with his feelings, and finds other members of the LGBT community in his town. Lesbian and Ace rep. Four volume manga series by the creator of Nabari No Ou.

"The Priory of the Orange Tree" -- High fantasy, Epic. Wyrms and Dragons oh my! If you'd like a longer fantasy read with tons of dragons along the vibes of Game of Thrones narratives across the continents, this could be a fit.

"The Tethered Mage" (trilogy) -- Alchemy meets elemental-wielding Warlocks. Female frendships. Bi rep. All set in a fantastical Venice-like setting with political intrigue.

"The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin" -- TTRPG Fantasy, collection comic. A female warrior from the harsh badlands of Xhorhas finds love among harsher trials. Gorgeous artwork, short read.

[romilly-jay]

COSY CATASTROPHE: What and why?

Cosy catastrophe is a description I found late last year in a history of science fiction (Roberts, 2016, p.482).

I felt an immediate tug of recognition. It sounded like what I was trying to achieve with my WIP: a narrative with a broadly dystopian framework but which, in the detail of the storytelling, remains tonally upbeat and optimistic, even though every main character experiences at least one loss, tragedy, or painful reversal.

From a Guardian feature by author Jane Rogers (2012), I discovered she had also experienced an initially positive response – that ‘click’ – only to find that the phrase was absolutely not a compliment.

Rather, it was coined by Brian Aldiss in his 1973 history of science fiction as a critique of John Wyndham’s heroes who, Aldiss felt, had too good a time as unlikely survivors of systemic level devastation.

As per science fiction author and critic Jo Walton: Cosy catastrophes are science fiction novels in which some bizarre calamity occurs that wipes out a large percentage of the population, but the protagonists survive and even thrive in the new world that follows. They are related to but distinct from the disaster novel where some relatively realistic disaster wipes out a large percentage of the population and the protagonists also have a horrible time (2009, n.p.n.).

Thing is, I think there's something important - relevant - zeitgeist - about that uff of recognition. There are many sad and terrible things happening in the world, there's suffering, stress, and existential threat in most of our pasts and - we fear - many of our futures...

I believe this leads to a number of responses but one is a longing for cosiness - hence the massive popularity of Danish hygge and the trend towards the 'cosification' of many genres. Cosy crime - of course. Cosy fantasy (just read Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes and really love his pitching this as 'high fantasy and low stakes'*). Cosy - um - horror? Apparently, yes, it's being considered.

Yet also, for some, not all of us, perhaps what we want is not *just* cosiness - because the multiple sources of disquiet are too close and too loud. You know what, cosy horror is starting to make sense to me.

Presumably this whiplash reaction, the huh, what? is why some people have the ICK reaction to cosy catastrophe - and some of us identify with it, own it, want to embrace it.

This sense of identifying with cosy catastrophe and wanting to 'own' it is the golden thread that goes through the presentation I'll be making at City, University of London's postgraduate conference and which I'll be sharing, a bit at a time, here.

[*BTW, Travis Baldree discusses the creative and administrative choices he made in taking Legends and Lattes to self-publication in 2022 in the below Medium article - he also notes that he hasn't updated the article for everything that happened subsequently i.e. with the book being picked up and traditionally published at Tor.]

References:

§Aldiss, B. (1973) Billion year spree: the history of science fiction. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

§Baldree, T. (2022a) 'Self published book launch A-Z', Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@travisbaldree/self-published-book-launch-a-z-39ec6f9257e1 (Accessed: 30 May 2024).

Baldree, T. (2022b) Legends and lattes. London: Tor.

§Macfarlane, R. (2019) Underland: a deep time journey. London: Hamish Hamilton.

§Roberts, A. (2016) The history of science fiction. 2nd edn. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

§Rogers, J. (2012) ‘Jane Rogers’ top ten cosy catastrophes: the author of The Testament of Jessie Lamb lists her favourite great books where the safe, happy world as we know it comes to grief’, in The Guardian, 05 July. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jul/05/jane-rogers-top-10-cosy-catastrophes

§Walton, J. (2009) ‘Who reads cosy catastrophes?’, Tor.Com, 14 October. Available at: https://www.tor.com/2009/10/14/who-read-cosy-catastrophes/ (Accessed: 5 December 2023).

[mirthandcruelty]

So I finished reading Legends and Lattes over the weekend. I’ve got like three lukewarm takes, and one mild one.

First off, I had a good time with it. The writing is functional to good, the pacing is nice and steady. It never feels like its getting bogged down or speeding up too quick. It does what it says on the tin: “High Fantasy and Low stakes.”

The book follows Viv, a burly Orc with back problems who’s retiring from adventuring after falling in love with the Gnomish concoction known as coffee. Over time she enlists Cal, a totally-not-a-goblin carpenter, Tandri, a totally-not-a-tiefling barista and Thimble a ratkin baker. There are some run-ins with organized crime that are opened and shut pretty easily and in the end Viv learns that community is the most important part of any endeavor.

There is a romance, but it’s sadly pretty obligatory. There’s an eye turned towards foreshadowing and setup, so it can’t be said that the Sapphic payoff at the end comes out of nowhere, but there’s not much in the way of chemistry between the characters. The book feels like it was written with Tumblr in mind, so it’s not really a matter of “will-they-won’t-they?” and more a matter of “When’s-it-gonna-happen?”

What Viv is really passionate about is coffee, and the book really shines in the portions where she’s striving to make her dream of a café a reality. The tension in the story always arises when that dream is threatened, and those sections are the most thrilling and effective by far. By the end I was decidedly invested in the fortunes of her little shop, and despaired with her when trouble came knocking

The only thing in the novel that forced me to suspend my disbelief is that everyone who tastes coffee for the first time immediately agrees that it’s pretty good. Other than that, the entire narrative is competently assembled and internally consistent. It’s a nice cozy read that you’ll almost certainly have a good time with. 

You can get it here https://bookshop.org/p/books/legends-lattes-a-novel-of-high-fantasy-and-low-stakes-travis-baldree/18632175?ean=9781250886088 and if you see it in a brick and mortar store, you should pick it up. 

[mademebuyit2023]

[hilli98215]

Anything you're looking forward to this year, like a new movie, book release or fun event?

That is a great question.

I am looking forward to the Mario Bros movie coming out this year. The Tron Light Cycle ride at Magic Kingdom just got an opening date (finally). And (also Disney Parks related) parking at the hotels is going back to being free so hopefully, there will be a Disney trip happening. Then there's the Percy Jackson series coming out and there's a new book that got announced.

Oh and there's the premier of The Last Of Us tv adaption that's coming out January 15th

Book-wise, I recently got Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (all thanks to Booktok) and I can't wait to start reading it. I actually thought it was a graphic novel but no. It's a regular book. It's described as being High Fantasy and Low Stakes type of fantasy whish is probably something I need in my life right now.