The second I saw that Travis Baldree was going to be at Raincoast Books’ TBR Preview for Fall, I immediately clicked on the link to register. His first book, Legends and Lattes, has been on my TBR ever since I first heard it described as a “cozy fantasy,” and I was eager for the chance to hear the author speak about his upcoming book, Bookshops and Bonedust.

Baldree’s books were my first time to hear the term “cozy fantasy,” and already I love the concept. I enjoy fantasy fiction, but I’m not always in the mood for the serious epics in many fantasy novels. Over the past year, especially, I’ve found myself gravitating more towards more comedic fantasy fare like the Dungeons and Dragons movie and The Legend of Vox Machina with the occasional Critical Role one-shot videos.

So the notion of a “cozy fantasy” appealed to me, and the idea of a battle-scarred orc retiring to open up a coffee shop (Legends and Lattes) seemed especially appealing. In the Q&A at the event, Travis shared that he’d written these books during “the deep, dark heart of COVID.” He wrote the fantasy as cozy because the world was already so dire that he wasn’t interested in writing a story about another world also in dire straits.

Bookshops and Bonedust is a prequel, but both books can be read as stand-alones. In Bookshops and Bonedust, the orc Viv is injured in battle, and her group leaves her in a sleepy beach town to recuperate. There she meets Fern, a foul-mouthed bookshop proprietor whom Travis says is his favourite character, and a different kind of adventure begins.

I’m excited to meet both Viv and Fern, but I’m also especially excited to meet Pot Roast, a half-pug, half-snowy owl who is Fern’s shop pet. Even better, Travis says he does plan to return to this world, at least for a book or two more, because he has some discarded stories that he still likes and thinks can be worked into this world. So if I do end up liking this, I’ll have more books to look forward to.

During the Q&A, I asked if Travis would like to see this as a movie or animated series, and if so, who would he cast. For an animated series, he said there’s already lots of cozy fantasy being made by Japanese animation studios, and says he could imagine it being like a Studio Ghibli movie. For a live action, he suggested Gwendolyn Christie as Viv. And as much as I love Studio Ghibli and think an animated version of this would be charming, I absolutely want Gwendolyn Christie as a cozy fantasy lead now, and will definitely be imagining her as I read these books!

Beyond Bookshops and Bonedust, other books I’m excited for are:

• Gwen and Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher – queer, medieval rom com YA – Lord Arthur and Princess Gwendoline are engaged to be married, except Gwen has a huge crush on the kingdom’s only lady knight, Bridget, and Arthur becomes interested in Gwen’s brother.
• Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki – I love the Tamaki cousins’ work, and books they collaborate on are especially awesome. This one features a trio of college friends exploring NYC in 2009.
• 10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall – fake amnesia leads to real romance – Sam is on his way to a meeting with his boss Jonathan, when he trips and bumps his head. Thing is, Sam knows Jonathan plans to fire him at that meeting, and so feigns amnesia to hold on to his job a bit longer. And then, somehow, Jonathan turns out to have a softer side to him, and they fall in love? It’s a hilariously zany start to a romance, and I, for one, am all in!
• The God of High School, Volume 1 by Yongje Park – This story about a high school student / Taekwondo specialist who enters a fighting tournament where the winner “can have ANYTHING” they want, sounds like a lot of fun! I’m also really glad Raincoast is adding manga to its distribution catalogue!

And books I’ll be recommending to friends:

• Bloodguard by Cecy Robson – a New Adult fantasy romance pitched as Gladiator meets Dungeons and Dragons. But it mostly caught my eye because of the gorgeous book design: the limited first print edition features red spray-painted edges with stencilled ivy. I have an artsy friend who loves the colour red, and honestly, I’m giving them a heads up about this purely for aesthetic reasons.
• The Memory Thieves by Dhonielle Clayton – a middle-grade fantasy about a magic school in the sky. I have a friend who loves middle-grade fantasies and stories about magic schools, so this is totally their catnip.
• Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS – There aren’t much details out yet, but I have a friend who’s a major BTS fan, so I definitely gave them a heads up on this book, coming out in July!
• Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer – a romance between an Evil Villain and his sunshine assistant. Sending a note about this to a friend who ships Draco/Hermione!

Check out the full Raincoast Books TBR Preview Fall 2023 list HERE.

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Thank you to Raincoast Books for inviting me to this TBR Preview! I’m excited to dive into the e-galleys you’ve shared!