Progression fantasy books like Will Wight’s Cradle series or Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl usually draw on role-playing game tropes to focus on characters gaining new powers they use to face more dangerous foes. Travis Baldree takes a different approach in his New York Times bestselling novel Legends & Lattes, which focuses on Viv, a mighty orc warrior who decides to give up fighting and open a coffee shop. Instead of training to become stronger, Viv has to slowly build up her business.
It’s easy to want to step into the fantasy world of Thune, where Viv finds new friends like the shy ratkin baker Thimble and taciturn carpenter Cal as she turns an old stable into a cozy café. You can get closer with Legends & Lattes: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Samuel Sattin and illustrated by Shanti Rittgers and Sarah Webb.
“This is the first time I’ve had something like this done on this scale for my own book,” Baldree tells Polygon via email. “I was really happy with how true to the original book the adaptation turned out and astonished at the sheer amount of work to produce a graphic novel of this length.”
The graphic novel will be released in hardcover, e-book, and a signed deluxe edition with colored page edges on Oct. 6. Ahead of its release, publisher Ten Speed Graphic gave Polygon an exclusive excerpt that shows Viv sharing coffee with Cal and recruiting an assistant, the succubus Tandri.
“I think Viv’s introduction of coffee to Cal really comes across as an ASMR-like experience – it’s lovely!” Baldree says.
Baldree returned to Thune for a prequel, Bookshops & Bonedust, which shows how a brash young Viv became a voracious reader, and Brigands & Breadknives, where one of Viv’s friends gives up a quiet life to have her own adventure. Hopefully, the rest of the series will also get the graphic novel treatment so we can see more cute creatures relaxing and enjoying even more hot drinks and baked goods.