Book Reflection - Legend & Lattes

What a fun book! Just what I needed over a holiday break. The fact that it was given to me by my closest and dearest friend makes it all the cozier! My found family let me experience Viv’s!

Link to the author’s website: Travis Baldree

• We can choose to create the life we want, regardless of what we were born as or born into.
• We control our own luck and fortune by being brave enough to try the new thing, embrace the new people, offer the new experience.
• It is amazing what you can accomplish by just talking to someone, whether it be gaining a new pillar in your life, or converting a threat into an ally.
• Just because you worked with someone for a long time, even in a close team, does not mean that they are your friend and have your best interest in heart.
• Sometimes we make ungraceful exits. But we can choose to let go of that past cowardice and current shame so that we can move those existing friendships into our new life.
• Being attentive to the needs and tastes of others can spark wonderful new creations.
• Investing in and encouraging a timid artist can pave the way for amazing new creations.
• Treating others with kindness and respect creates a steel net between people that holds them both together, and gives endless strength in those hard times.
• Create something that people love, and those same people will happily lend a helping hand to recreate that in hard times.
• Those who love you will forgive your angry outbursts born from pain. But, they still hurt both you and them.
• The path forward from a disaster is to actively move forward.
• What you rebuild from the ashes can be stronger, better, more beautiful than what was lost.
• Coffee truly is magical. And so are cinnamon rolls.
• Good goodies can soften or sweeten even the darkest of souls.
• Don’t be afraid to call for help.
• It is a beautiful gift to save something for someone that they believe is ruined and worthless.

Themes

• Second Chances
• Found Family
• Community Building
• Overcoming Prejudice
• Pursuing Passions
• Facing the Past
• Hope and Resilience
• Slow Living and Comfort

Characters

• Viv: Orc, warrior, opens the shop, believes in others that others don’t “see” or take for granted
• Cal (Calamity): Hob, carpenter, great at finding building solutions, will do the jobs that others might think aren’t worth it.
• Tandri: Succubus, recent university student, happy to learn new skills, artistic, brave, caring, intentionally directs the path of her life, loyal
• Thimble: Rattkin, baker, cooking genius, very timid with few words but large, loud, flavorful culinary ideas
• Laney: Neighbor, older lady, Viv’s first contact in the city, supportive, a bit nosy
• Pendry: budding bard, shy and unsure of himself, has a variety of “lutes”, some with amplifiers, stone mason by family trade
• Hem (Hemington): Scholar, interested in location of cafe, hard tastes to please, ability to create wards
• Amity: Dire cat, mysterious, protector of the shop, rare in this time, but used to more common
• Durias: Gnome, mysterious, has a unique relationship with time, likes to play chess, elderly man
• The Madrigal: Shadowy figure, runs the “protection” for the city, highly feared (We learn more about the Madrigal, but not sharing to keep spoiler free)
• Lack: Works for the Madrigal, wears a hat, explains the monthly “protection fee” and collects payments
• Kellin: Human, fixated on Tandri, obsessive to the point of creepy
• Ansom: Original owner of the property (Parkin’s livery), lazy, loves his cups, likes to barter

Viv’s original adventuring party:

• Roon: Dwarf, fighter, big personality
• Gallina: Gnome, fighter that prefers knives, loves sweets, happy to solve things through violence
• Taivus: Stone Fey, quiet, lots of old connections
• Fennus: Elf, stealthy, arrogant, self-serving

Other Notables

• Thune: The city where Viv retires to build the coffee shop, diverse population, thaumic university
• Azimuth: Gnomish city, East Territory, where Viv discovered coffee
• Blackbone: Viv’s greatsword
• Scalvert: spider-like monster, huge, resides in caverns, has webs
• Scalvert’s stone: legendary stone found in the skull of Scalvert Queen’s purported to bring fortune to the holder
• Hob’s often called “pucks” by humans (who shunned them)
• Athenaeum: library, reading room, stopping place for the Territorial Post
• Thaumic: type of magic, studied at Thune’s university, Pendry has a thaumic lute, Tandri and Hem have some thaumic knowledge from university studies.

Quotes/Passages

Well-nigh to thaumic line, the Scalvert’s Stone a-fire draws the ring of fortune, aspect of hearts desire.

So. I might not deserve you. And you might forgive too much. But I’m damned glad to have you.

And you do it even when some might say it’s wiser not to.

“It’s perfect,” he whispered, and his oil-drop eye brimmed. She hunkered down before him, “I told you, the best deserve the best.”

…a destined cadre…Individuals broght together, like to like.

What flames could not consume, never shall be extinguished

Things don’t have to stay as what they started out as.

An orc’s life was strength and violence and a sudden, sharp end—but she’d be damned if she’d let hers finish that way. It was time for something new.

…you don’t have to forget who you were … because that’s what brought you here.

You’ve planted something, and now its blossoming.

Did I think so little of you? Did I think you couldn’t see who I was, really? Was I foolish enough to believe I could make you see something other than what was there?

…it’s always a good idea to let your enemies soften each other up first. Wait until the dust settles, and poke through the ashes.

People tend not to notice what’s in front of them until it nearly knocks them down.

Not a review?

Although I enjoy reading a book review now and then, I’m not a fan of rating books.

Why? Well…

• There are books that I dearly love that I just couldn’t “get into” the first time I tried to read them.
• I have found that the same book can become a variety of different stories with different messages upon subsequent rereads.
• Some books don’t feel impactful at the moment you finish that last page, but have a way of growing in your mind in the following days, weeks, months.
• Just because I don’t like a song, doesn’t mean it ain’t good music.

So I don’t feel qualified to cast any sort of judgement on a book or prophesize how it will impact others.

But I do want to capture what struck me when I read the book so that I can help recall it later. This Swiss cheese memory of mine if full of threads of stories I loved, but can’t quite connect to the ideas I had when I read it. These are also the types of things I want to talk about with someone else who read it…the sometimes hidden (or perhaps completely imagined in my mind) layers of a story that tie to real life.

I am also tinkering with a way to capture notes about the characters, world, setting, etc. for future (self) reference since those tend to be the rich tidbits that I forget all too quickly. I try to keep them spoiler free, but useful for future reference.

My whimsical, nerdy heart hopes that others might find this useful as well!

Bunches of love,
Mimi Whimsy

But have you read THIS book?

Do you have a great book recommendation that you would love to see a “reflection” of? Let me know!

Book Inspired Designs

I am not a designer by trade, nor have I ever played one on TV. (Do folks still say that? Is it now “on Netflix” or “on Hulu”?) But I do love making things! And I definitely pull inpsiration from the amazing books I read.

Designs inspired by this book are available on Redbubble and Zazzle in case you’d like to throw some whimsical support to this Mimi and get something tangible that (I hope) brings you joy!