Legends & Lattes

In which Daniella and Evelyne discuss World of Warcraft, what is a cozy exactly, and just how much we love it when authors break conventions.  Who said Elves always had to be the good guys anyway?!

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Announcer:

This is Intoxicated Literature.

Daniella Drake:

Welcome to Intoxicated Literature. I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyne Crowe:

And I'm Evelyne Crowe.

Daniella Drake:

And here we are. We are talking about the cozy fantasy novel called Legends & Lattes, which is my favorite book of the year.

Evelyne Crowe:

Did we make a note of the author? Travis?

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's Travis. I do know it's Travis.

Daniella Drake:

Actually, I really like his name. It's Baldree.

Evelyne Crowe:

Travis... That fits so well in the genre!

Daniella Drake:

Such a great name, right? I know, I know. I wrote it down and I was like, "Oh, that's such a great name."

Apparently when Tor... So Tor took the rights to the book. They bought the rights to the book and they have also been publishing it, and they have a little prequel thing in there.

Evelyne Crowe:

They do.

Daniella Drake:

Which is their last big mercenary thing. Oh, spoilers. As always, my darlings, there will be spoilers.

Evelyne Crowe:

And profanity.

Daniella Drake:

And profanity.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because we are drunk.

Daniella Drake:

We are drinking. What are we drinking tonight?

Evelyne Crowe:

I'm drinking Côtes de Provence Rosé from 2021.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, goodness. I don't know what I'm drinking, but it's also a rosé. It was a gift and it's actually quite good, and I should probably figure out what it is.

Evelyne Crowe:

I got mine from Trader Joe's, so it was probably like $5 bucks.

Daniella Drake:

Mine was a gift, so it was free, but I quite like it.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes, we are being quite the white basic bitches today.

Daniella Drake:

We are. You know what? Nothing wrong with rosé. I love a good rosé.

Evelyne Crowe:

No! It is delicious and it's doing the job it's supposed to do.

Daniella Drake:

100%.

Evelyne Crowe:

So, cheers.

Daniella Drake:

We should be drunk and talk about literature, which is why we're here.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's true. We really need to start doing theme drinks.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, we absolutely should.

Evelyne Crowe:

We should have done a fucking coffee liqueur for this.

Daniella Drake:

We need to get our shit together before we do these.

Evelyne Crowe:

We do! We are the worst! Oh my god!

Daniella Drake:

Okay, but how long has it been since we've recorded one of these?

Evelyne Crowe:

Months.

Daniella Drake:

Months! We cannot get our schedules to align.

Evelyne Crowe:

Guys, we are really, really not good at this, just letting you know.

Daniella Drake:

Theme drinks!

Evelyne Crowe:

I'm opening the drawer. I am making a note!

Daniella Drake:

My boyfriend would be thrilled. He loves a themed drink.

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh, God. And he'll give me the recipe. He's really good at it, you guys. Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

He should have been a bartender. Let's be real.

Evelyne Crowe:

He should have been. Oh, oh my God! You'd be living the dream. You'd be dating a bartender.

Daniella Drake:

I don't know-

Evelyne Crowe:

I'd be writing a romance novel about you.

Daniella Drake:

I don't know if my liver could take it. Although, I am a cheap drink? I'm a cheap date.

Evelyne Crowe:

You are a cheap drink. You said it.

Daniella Drake:

I did.

Evelyne Crowe:

And now it will go down forever.

Daniella Drake:

I said it, I meant it. I'm a cheap drink and no one can say differently.

So yes, okay. Legends & Lattes. Cozy fantasy or a slice-of-life? Okay. What do we think about the genre title? Because cozy fantasy and slice-of-life kind of are interchangeable in a lot of ways, but for me, I feel like this truly is a slice-of-life versus a cozy, but what do you think?

Evelyne Crowe:

I would say slice-of-life because it really is living in a city.

Daniella Drake:

It really is. It's like the time is the same. You're living her day-by-day life, whereas cozy fantasy, I think of something like time passes, but you're not necessarily, each day is happening as you're reading it.

Evelyne Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

Okay. I agree, I agree. We're on same page.

Evelyne Crowe:

And I would also say, if I had to describe this book to somebody who had never read it-

Daniella Drake:

Oh, I want to hear your description and I'll tell you mine.

Evelyne Crowe:

Okay. Honestly, I would hope they played World of Warcraft because my description of this book is if you're running around Gold Shire as an alliance character in World of Warcraft, just doing quests as a level five World of Warcraft character in the inn.

Daniella Drake:

I love it, I love it. Mine was an Animal Crossing thing, so we're both on the same page.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah! It's just like nothing can kill you, you're not in danger, but you're running, there's music, harp music, lute music playing, you're in the inn.

Daniella Drake:

The stakes are so low, so low.

Evelyne Crowe:

So low.

Daniella Drake:

So low.

Evelyne Crowe:

And you're happy.

Daniella Drake:

But it's tense enough that you want to keep reading. You're never bored. And if someone has come to... I feel like when it first came out, they were like, "Oh, it's about this orc that wants to open a coffee shop." And I'm like, "That sounds not exciting." And boy was I wrong because I fucking loved this book.

Evelyne Crowe:

No, it was amazing.

Daniella Drake:

It was so cute. It was so sweet, so heartwarming. I really-

Evelyne Crowe:

If there were... See, I'm a hardcore romance person, so if there were any complaint, it would be that the romance was a little more prevalent.

Daniella Drake:

It was very subtle.

Evelyne Crowe:

It was slow build.

Daniella Drake:

But I kind of liked the way that it worked out because it did feel kind of real life where-

Evelyne Crowe:

It did.

Daniella Drake:

You're just together and you spend all this time together and then over time, you just realize that there's feelings. Right?

Evelyne Crowe:

Again, that being said, I feel like, okay, I don't think it could be changed.

Daniella Drake:

Right, yeah. It works the way it is.

Evelyne Crowe:

It wouldn't be realistic.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, it works the way that it is. But I loved it. I loved every... Honestly, I don't think there was any part of it that I was like, "Oh, I don't like that."

Evelyne Crowe:

It's just mostly my complaint as a romance person because I don't really like slow-build stuff. The whole book, I'm going, "You guys are obviously meant to be together. Just be together already!"

Daniella Drake:

See, I don't mind a slow build. I kind of like a slow build because then when they finally do get together, you're like, "God, finally!"

Evelyne Crowe:

I hate slow builds! They drive me crazy. I'm just like, "Fucking kiss already. Goddammit!"

Daniella Drake:

You're like, "Enough of this. Get to the spice."

Evelyne Crowe:

You don't have to go all the way, but at some point, it's just like, hold her hand or do something. Oh my God!

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. But it was so sweet and cute when they finally got together.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know. It was. And I think especially because Viv is who she is. She's a mercenary, she's an orc, she's hardcore, and she is slow to open.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely. She's completely closed off. She is very reserved. She will not let anyone in.

Evelyne Crowe:

And in the same vein, you have, is it Tandrick? Is that how you say her name?

Daniella Drake:

Oh, I have her as Tandri.

Evelyne Crowe:

Tandri?

Daniella Drake:

Tandri, yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

Tandri is a succubus, and so you expect someone who's just like, "Woo-hoo sex!" But not, she's not in this book.

Daniella Drake:

No. And this was kind of great too because he uses it as an opportunity to be like, "You can't make assumptions about people." Just because she's a succubus doesn't mean that she's all about laying everything out there.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know. So it was great. I really, really enjoyed it.

Daniella Drake:

All of the characters, I loved all of the characters. I thought that he did such a good job of making them all different and interesting and complex and just fun. I just really, I think probably my favorite was Thimble, the rattkin baker.

Evelyne Crowe:

Let's set up the premise here.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, I feel like we should.

Evelyne Crowe:

We're just jumping into it.

Daniella Drake:

Well, I just assumed that everybody's read it because that was your homework.

Evelyne Crowe:

Okay, so there is Viv, the orc, and she's a mercenary. She's in a gang, right? She's in a group. She's in a quest group essentially.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, basically. Yep.

Evelyne Crowe:

Okay? And she is out killing things. And her last quest-

Daniella Drake:

She's an orc, so that makes sense. That is what orcs do. Yes.

Evelyne Crowe:

And her last quest essentially is killing this creature, and when she is done killing it, she takes the...

Daniella Drake:

Scalvert Stone.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. Out of its brain?

Daniella Drake:

Because the thing that they kill is the Scalvert Queen, so they grow the stone in their head, I guess.

Evelyne Crowe:

And it's really rare to kill one. It's extremely rare.

Daniella Drake:

It's supposed to bring you good fortune. That's the legend is that it brings you good fortune or good luck. So she's like, "I'm not going to take any other loot from this raid. I am just going to take this one thing." And her group is like, "Great. No problem. See you later." And she's like, "I'm retired. I don't want to fight anymore. I'm a pacifist."

Evelyne Crowe:

"Bye. See you!" And she goes to a city and... Thane? Thune?

Daniella Drake:

Thune, yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

Thune. And she builds a coffee shop.

Daniella Drake:

She buys this broken down stable that is falling apart.

Evelyne Crowe:

A stable. I love it.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyne Crowe:

It was falling apart. She walks in and I can totally see it in my head because I would do the same thing. You walk in and you look around and the average Joe would be like, "It is a fucking stable. It smells like horses. There is a pile of horse shit in the corner. This cannot be a coffee shop." And she walks in there and goes, "That's where the tables will go, this is where the espresso machine will be, and I will make this a thing."

Daniella Drake:

Yep. She goes, "This is perfect. I will take it."

Evelyne Crowe:

And no one in this city has ever even fucking heard of coffee.

Daniella Drake:

No! That was one of the things I actually really liked about the world-building because coffee is this new idea that's like this-

Evelyne Crowe:

This gnomish creation, which is why it made me think of fucking World of Warcraft because the gnomes were all building shit with gears or whatever. And I'm just like, "Oh my God!"

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. So she buys this stable, she buries the Scalvert Stone in the floors because that's supposed to be the hub of where she wants her luck to come, her fortune, and she starts working. She starts cleaning.

Evelyne Crowe:

Well, she finds a hob, Calamity.

Daniella Drake:

A carpenter.

Evelyne Crowe:

Calamity is his name.

Daniella Drake:

I know. Cal.

Evelyne Crowe:

I love him!

Daniella Drake:

He is so great. He's one of my favorites.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know!

Daniella Drake:

Honestly, I don't think I have a favorite character. It's whichever character is happening.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know! For real. And every time he comes in, you're just like, "Hi, Cal! I love you! Nice to see you! I missed you when you weren't here. "

Daniella Drake:

And he's like this kind of gruff, reserved person who's like, "Oh, this is a lot of work. I don't know." And then he just comes in, he's like, just does it. And he goes, "Well, there you go."

Evelyne Crowe:

Well, she's like, "Okay, this is what I want done." He's like, "Are you sure? This is a stable."

Daniella Drake:

"That's crazy."

Evelyne Crowe:

And she's like, "Yep, that's what I want." And he is like, "All right, that's what I'm going to do." And she's like, "Okay." And he's like, "Okay."

Daniella Drake:

I love it so much. I love it so much.

This whole book is about just outsourcing, delegating, and finding people that are good at what they do and bringing them into your circle. Right?

Evelyne Crowe:

I love it so much. But it's also about anti-stereotypes.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, absolutely.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because the bad guy is an elf.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, attractive, smart, agile.

Evelyne Crowe:

Okay, so I'm going to talk about this because it is very, very common as a racial stereotype for orcs to be the bad guys. And it's like a racist stereotype. And in this case, it is an elf. And I remember reading this going, "Fuck yes!"

Daniella Drake:

It was so great.

Evelyne Crowe:

"Make the elf the bad guy! This is amazing!"

Daniella Drake:

I loved it. I loved everything about it too because a lot of the times, people would see her and talk to her in a way that was not... Because she's an orc, right? She's intimidating, she's big, she's scary, they think she's stupid, and she's just brainless, and she's going to just go around beating people up. And that's not at all what she does. Not at all.

But I loved it too because when she brings in Tandri, who's the succubus, who she's looking for a business partner, she needs someone to help her run the business, she needs someone to help make the drinks, whatever, and she meets Tandri, who's a succubus, and she's like, "Oh, I tried to do the university thing and it didn't work out because I'm a succubus." You know?

But Tandri had no problem being like, "You know what? You are who you are, and you did work as a mercenary, and you can use this sword that you want to hide, but you should put it up in pride of place because that sword got you to this place that you wanted to be. This was your dream and it's making it come true for you." And she was celebrating this part of Viv, who she really didn't want it to be a thing. She wanted so much to downplay her orcness and Tandri's like, "No, own it. You should just be. You are who you are. You are what you are. And that's okay." And I just loved the self-affirmation, the empowerment of it all. It was so great.

Evelyne Crowe:

Absolutely. It really was. It really was. And I love the delegation, like you said. It was amazing because Viv comes in and she has the know-how and the knowledge, she can use the machine, she knows how to set up the interior, and she knows how to set it up so that people can come in. And then there's Tandri who's like, "Okay, but we need menus, and we need marketing, and we need a business plan." Because that's all-

Daniella Drake:

She's like, "What about all these things that"-

Evelyne Crowe:

The coffee's great, but nobody knows about it. Let's look at that a little bit.

Daniella Drake:

Okay. So she finds Cal, the hob carpenter who makes the inside look amazing, like five-star restaurant status. And she's like, "Great, okay, now I just need to find someone to help me run the shop. Hey, here's Tandri. She's a succubus. She's super interested. No problem."

Evelyne Crowe:

And artistic.

Daniella Drake:

And artistic.

Evelyne Crowe:

She can draw. She's got those artistic menus going on and everything. And Viv is like, "I will give you a fucking black wall. Draw to your heart's content."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. "Please make it look pretty."

Evelyne Crowe:

And then in sheer brilliance, she brings in Thimble.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, Thimble, rattkin baker.

Evelyne Crowe:

A rattkin, who can bake cinnamon rolls made from the gods.

Daniella Drake:

And apparently, no one knows what cinnamon rolls are or croissants or any of these flaky-

Evelyne Crowe:

Delicacies.

Daniella Drake:

Buttery, delicious pastries. And he's like, "I made this thing. Try it. You might like it."

Evelyne Crowe:

I know!

Daniella Drake:

And they're all just like, "What the fuck is this?"

Evelyne Crowe:

I'm reading this book and I'm going, "I want fucking Cinnabon now."

Daniella Drake:

Seriously, seriously. I was sitting there going, "Why am I not in a coffee shop right now?"

Evelyne Crowe:

And here's the thing, I have made cinnamon rolls from fucking scratch. They take hours.

Daniella Drake:

Hours! So much work.

Evelyne Crowe:

They take hours of rising and then rolling and then rising and then baking. They take hours.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. That's dedication, my friend.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's so much. And croissants?

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyne Crowe:

Croissants!

Daniella Drake:

They take literal days!

Evelyne Crowe:

Forget about it! Because I've made those too! I am a fucking baker. Those take forever.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, they do. They take forever. And everybody is just amazed.

Evelyne Crowe:

The thing is, if you make a croissant well, they go lickety-split.

Daniella Drake:

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Evelyne Crowe:

They're gone in 30 seconds. And here's the thing, as a baker, you are both proud and sad.

Daniella Drake:

Yep. Because you worked so hard on those.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because you have worked for hours.

Daniella Drake:

12 hours sometimes, yep.

Evelyne Crowe:

To make 12 croissants, and then they're gone in 30 seconds and you're like, "Well, yay. Huzzah."

Daniella Drake:

But the smell of these delicious pastries brings people in off the street and she becomes very popular.

Evelyne Crowe:

And they come.

Daniella Drake:

Her cafe, people are not really sure what to make about lattes and coffee, but they're like, "Okay, I'll try it. Fine, whatever." There's that student, Heming-something that I can't remember, who comes in. And he's like... Hemington, that's who it is.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah, Hemington.

Daniella Drake:

And he's like, "Oh, I don't really like hot drinks. I'm not going to drink anything hot." And she's like, "Okay, well, you can't just sit here for hours and not order something." And he's like, "Fine."

Evelyne Crowe:

But then they create the iced coffee.

Daniella Drake:

And then they get iced coffee! And she's like, "Okay, I made this thing for you. What do you think?" And he's like, "This is amazing!"

Evelyne Crowe:

"Amazing!"

Daniella Drake:

But I loved it because it's so natural and it's just this natural progression of events where you're like, "Of course this is the way it plays out."

Evelyne Crowe:

It really is.

Daniella Drake:

And nobody's surprised, but it doesn't even matter because it's so wholesome and so sweet and so fun.

Evelyne Crowe:

It really... Okay, okay. But how much did you love Pendry, the bard?

Daniella Drake:

Ugh, Pendry. He's so cute.

Evelyne Crowe:

Pendry is the bard, and he comes in one day because he wants to play his music for people, but he's shy and he has written some music of his own creation, but it's like heavy?

Daniella Drake:

It's a little ahead of his time, I think.

Evelyne Crowe:

And when he plays it, everyone's a little...

Daniella Drake:

Overwhelmed?

Evelyne Crowe:

Startled. And Viv actually has to go up to the stage and be like, "Yo, this is a little too much, man. You need to pull it back a little bit." But he comes back. He is not scared away.

Daniella Drake:

No.

Evelyne Crowe:

He comes back.

Daniella Drake:

He's determined.

Evelyne Crowe:

He comes back and he plays and he becomes an actual bard for this coffee shop.

Daniella Drake:

And people love him.

Evelyne Crowe:

And they love him. He has fan girls who follow him around, little girls who are 16, 17, who follow him around, who are like, "Oh, is Pendry getting to be here today?"

Daniella Drake:

Ugh, love it. I love it so much. And he was adorable too because he's so shy and she has to really like, "No, it'll be fine. Just give it a try. You don't know until you try," and then he tries and it's like, "Listen..."

Evelyne Crowe:

It was not good.

Daniella Drake:

"Maybe not this."

Evelyne Crowe:

Not this.

Daniella Drake:

"Maybe try something a little bit different." And so he comes back and he's like, "Okay, let's try this, which is a little bit more traditional, but a little bit edgy. Let's see how this plays out."

Evelyne Crowe:

And then it works.

Daniella Drake:

And it works. And people are like, "Yeah, I can get behind this. This is great."

Evelyne Crowe:

And he has groupies!

Daniella Drake:

He has groupies, and everybody loves him, and he's got his little stage area that's for him. She designs it for him. It's so sweet.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know and Cal builds it for him. It's great. It's so great. I love it so much.

Okay, now the central conflict comes from-

Daniella Drake:

Okay, but before we get into the central conflict, I have to talk about one more character who I also very much loved.

Evelyne Crowe:

Was it the dire cat?

Daniella Drake:

It's Amity, the dire cat.

Evelyne Crowe:

You guys, we're sisters if you don't know. We can read each other's minds.

Daniella Drake:

Because I love, first of all, there is a dire cat. I think that is hilarious and I love everything about it.

Evelyne Crowe:

And it just flipping appears-

Daniella Drake:

It just shows up.

Evelyne Crowe:

Whenever it wants.

Daniella Drake:

It just shows up and decides that this is its home and nobody is going to mess with it and it just shows up when there's trouble or not. Just sleeps in the corner when it feels like it. There's no [inaudible].

Evelyne Crowe:

Did ever learn who the old guy was who was sitting at the table? The old-

Daniella Drake:

Darius or whatever the gnomish guy?

Evelyne Crowe:

Darius?

Daniella Drake:

Is that what his name is? Yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah. So there's this guy who's sitting at the table drinking his coffee and Viv's like, "Hey, how's it going?" He's like, "Great. You know you have a dire cat living here?" She's like, "I have a fucking what?"

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. "Excuse me? What is it?"

Evelyne Crowe:

And he's like, "Yeah, a dire cat." She's like, "Say it again. What is a dire cat?" He's like, "It's a cat who's a dire, who lives wherever the fuck it wants."

Daniella Drake:

That's right.

Evelyne Crowe:

"And you can't kick it out. You can't welcome it in. It just decides to live wherever it wants and you have one."

Daniella Drake:

And it kind of takes on the role of a protector in a way. It thinks that this is its territory. And so people that come in that maybe aren't on the level, it's like, "You know what? No, sir. Not today."

Evelyne Crowe:

"You aren't welcome here. Goodbye."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. And so as we go into the main antagonist, who is one of Viv's old group, her mercenary group-

Evelyne Crowe:

Her quest group, the elf.

Daniella Drake:

His name's Fennus, the elf.

Evelyne Crowe:

Fennus the elf.

Daniella Drake:

And I mean, let's be honest, he's jealous.

Evelyne Crowe:

He wants the Scalvert Stone for himself because he has figured it out. He has cracked the code.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, exactly.

Evelyne Crowe:

I mean, we can assume, based on elves everywhere and every fantasy thing ever, they're long-lived, they have lots of lore, they aren't stupid. So we can assume that he has lots of stuff rattling around in his brain.

Daniella Drake:

And he's like, "Why on earth would she take just this Scalvert Stone? What is up with that?" And so now he's like, "I want that for myself."

Evelyne Crowe:

And he can see that she's having all of the success, and he's imagining buckets of money that are just pouring into her coffers. And he's like, "I want."

Daniella Drake:

Yep. So he tries to steal the stone once and is thwarted. He is thwarted. And part of it is the dire cat.

Evelyne Crowe:

Dire cat!

Daniella Drake:

My good friend, Amity, who I love.

Evelyne Crowe:

Amity!

Daniella Drake:

Who's just like, "Not today, sir!"

Evelyne Crowe:

The names in this are just amazing.

Daniella Drake:

I know. I love everything about it. So, yes.

Evelyne Crowe:

Now, there is another aspect to the conflict too because in the city, there is a mob-type system going on.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, so there is a trope kind of in the fantasy genre where it's like the thieves guild or the King of Thieves or whatever. And this does kind of come into play in this book. The head of this thieves group, guild, whatever you want to call it, is Madrigal.

Evelyne Crowe:

The Madrigal.

Daniella Drake:

Yep. And they start coming around and they're like, "You need to pay us protection money," and Viv's like, "I'm an orc. What the fuck are you talking about?"

Evelyne Crowe:

"I am my own protection. Fuck off."

Daniella Drake:

"People see me and they go, 'Oh, shit.'"

Evelyne Crowe:

"Do you see? Do you see that sword that I have above the counter there? I know how to use that. Why are you talking to me?" And she sends them off four or five times.

Daniella Drake:

Multiple times, so many times.

Evelyne Crowe:

So many, so many.

Daniella Drake:

But finally, he comes back and he's like, "The Madrigal needs to see you. They're saying to you that you have to come in for a meeting."

Evelyne Crowe:

And then here again, we have flipped the stereotype over on itself. And the Madrigal is this old lady. She's knitting.

Daniella Drake:

It's an old lady! Not just a lady, an old lady!

Evelyne Crowe:

She's knitting. I know! She's like a grandma.

Daniella Drake:

She's in this cozy room with a fireplace. And I loved everything about that whole thing.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's fabulous. I love it so much. It's like you expect her to make spaghetti for you or something when you walk in. I love it so much. Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

It's so great. But basically, the Madrigal is just like, "No, we're good. I admire what you're doing. I love your coffee shop. You have to bring me treats because that rattkin makes amazing bakery stuff."

Evelyne Crowe:

"I get coffee and cinnamon rolls. That's all I ask for."

Daniella Drake:

"And that's all I need." Yeah, that's fine.

Evelyne Crowe:

"And we're good."

Daniella Drake:

And Viv's like, "Oh, okay."

Evelyne Crowe:

"Oh, okay. That works for me."

Daniella Drake:

"Great." So the conflict is resolved so quickly and so easily. It's not even a thing. You think it's going to be this big, drawn-out problem, and it just is not at all.

Evelyne Crowe:

No, because this old lady just wants her cinnamon rolls.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. And her men too are like, "Yeah, we're going to go in there and eat cinnamon rolls and croissants and have coffee. Great."

Evelyne Crowe:

I love it so much. Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

But now, so she does have a visit from her old crew, which I appreciated because it was nice to kind of see them and get to know them a little bit.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. And they come in, they're like, "You're doing so well." And they actually help market. They go out with flyers.

Daniella Drake:

They tell everyone to go there.

Evelyne Crowe:

They're like, "Hey, come get coffee and this is great, Viv's place."

Daniella Drake:

And they travel so much that they're exposed to so many people and they're like, "Oh, if you go to Thune, stop at this coffee shop." I love that so much.

But the one person in the group that isn't great, Fennus, comes back again and he makes another attempt to steal the stone. And this time, he does.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah, he does succeed.

Daniella Drake:

And in the attempt, in the burglary, the place burns down.

Evelyne Crowe:

Fire. Blazing, blazing fire.

Daniella Drake:

And it's devastating. And I will be honest, I was devastated.

Evelyne Crowe:

It was very sad and upsetting.

Daniella Drake:

It was very sad.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because again, it's just like a slice-of-life. You are watching her build this from the ground up, and you are in it. You are in the trenches with her from the beginning.

Daniella Drake:

It felt like your own heart, your own blood, sweat and tears.

Evelyne Crowe:

And as a person who has worked in food service, as a person who has worked in small business, as a person who is an independent author who is working in the trenches, I'm going, "Holy shit!"

Daniella Drake:

"Oh my God," yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because there is no parachute. There is no-

Daniella Drake:

No. There's no safety net, there's nothing.

Evelyne Crowe:

There's nothing. There is nothing. That's it.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, it's devastating. And she is devastated, but so many people around her come to her and they're like, "You know what? This is okay. You built this the first time. We can build it again. It's all right. You already have people that want to come here. If you build it, they will come."

Evelyne Crowe:

It was so heartwarming.

Daniella Drake:

It was, and honestly, I cried. I cried when all these people came. I won't cry when it's sad, but I will cry when people show humanity and support and are just good.

Evelyne Crowe:

The kindness and the empathy.

Daniella Drake:

So I sobbed, but it was so great and it was a little bit cathartic because you're just like, "Oh my gosh, good people do exist." It's so great.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes, I know! And it was at that point too at the end when she and Tandri finally get together, it's like when you hit rock bottom and you have no one else to turn to, that you're finally like, "Okay."

Daniella Drake:

"I can't pretend anymore. This is something more than what we've been."

Evelyne Crowe:

"Everything's been worn away. I have no shields anymore. I will admit to myself and to you that I do have more than just friendship feelings for you."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyne Crowe:

And so in addition to this being a cozy or slice-of-life fantasy, it's sapphic as well. And I was just like, "Ah!"

Daniella Drake:

I know. That also made me cry because it was so sweet and heartwarming and I just was like, "Oh, my heart is growing three sizes right now. I love it."

Evelyne Crowe:

I know! It was so great. It was wonderful.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, it was so sweet. So then we kind of check in with Fennus because she rebuilds her cafe and it's bigger and better than ever, and she doesn't need no fucking stone to get there. She's already got it. But we find out that the legend of this Scalvert Stone is not quite accurate because it's not necessarily about bringing you good luck or fortune; it's about bringing like-energy to yourself.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. It's like karma.

Daniella Drake:

So she is putting out energy of, I need friends, I need people, I am a good person, I want more of that in my life. And so she's getting people like Cal and Thimble, the rattkin baker, and Pendry and all of these other people, Tandri, all these other people.

Fennus is jealous and selfish, and so he is putting that energy out into the universe and he's getting that back, so he is not having a great time, and I fucking love it.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's amazing. He's getting his just desserts and it's fucking wonderful.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. And I was like, "Oh, couldn't have been any better." I loved that the Scalvert Stone isn't a straightforward thing. It becomes something different at the end. Every step of this book was so well-thought-out and so well-done. Everything worked, everything landed. All of the emotional beats were where they were supposed to be. It all worked so well. And I mean, honestly, I probably read it in a few hours. It was a very quick read.

Evelyne Crowe:

So here's the thing is not everyone can read epic fantasy because not everyone can read long books, and this book is a fantasy for everyone.

Daniella Drake:

100%. Absolutely agree. Absolutely agree. I would recommend this to any person I know, whether they read fantasy or not because it doesn't matter that there are orcs and elves and whatever.

Evelyne Crowe:

It is a humanist story.

Daniella Drake:

It's such a secondary part of what the story is. It's really just about human connection. It's just about relationships.

Evelyne Crowe:

It is a humanist... I just got goosebumps.

Daniella Drake:

I know!

Evelyne Crowe:

It's a humanist story.

Daniella Drake:

I know. It's about a community coming together through devastation and helping rebuild.

Evelyne Crowe:

And not only that, it's a story about people from different backgrounds, from different species, from different races-

Daniella Drake:

Living together, working together, loving each other.

Evelyne Crowe:

And coming together and being together and loving each other.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. I just love it so much. It was such a great book. It made me so happy, especially right now. I mean, okay COVID, it's still there, but we're pretending like it's not. And it's just been a hard few years for a lot of people, and so this book came out in exactly the right time. I definitely read it in a time where I really needed something that was an escape, that was going to give me these amazing like "Oh, there are good people out there" vibes.

Evelyne Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

So it really gave me what I needed when I needed it, and I will always be grateful for that. So definitely recommend it. If you haven't read it already, please, please do because it is so, so good.

Evelyne Crowe:

I think I rated it five stars.

Daniella Drake:

100%. There's nothing that I would say. I have no criticisms, which is weird because I tend to be hypercritical.

Evelyne Crowe:

I don't give a lot of five stars. I know that the last couple of podcasts we've done, but I only give five stars if it is above and beyond my expectations.

Daniella Drake:

100%.

Evelyne Crowe:

The books we talk about mostly are books that are worth talking about, whether it is because of societal reasons, like the last one we did, or this one, this was worth talking about.

Daniella Drake:

I absolutely agree. It's kind of a cultural phenomenon too. So many people didn't know about the cozy fantasy genre or the slice-of-life genre, whichever way you want to cut it-

Evelyne Crowe:

Until this book.

Daniella Drake:

Until this book came out. And honestly, this is one of my favorite genres because I read to escape. That's what I did growing up. That's what I do now. I'm super stressed out. I'm going to find a book to read because I don't want to deal. And this gave me exactly what I needed.

Evelyne Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

Definitely recommend it. If you didn't read it before, please, please read it, even though we've spoiled everything for you. You'll still love it, I promise.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know!

Daniella Drake:

So next time, we are going to read That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming, which is super fun and I can't wait to talk about it.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's super fun.

Daniella Drake:

It's not a cozy, it's a little bit spicy, but I loved it. I loved it. I thought it was great.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's kind of a slow build too, but it's short, and it's actually short enough, we might be able to talk about the second book too.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, that's a good point. Oh, maybe it's a twofer. Okay.

I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyne Crowe:

And I'm Evelyne Crowe.

Daniella Drake:

And thank you so much for being with us tonight. Bye!

Evelyne Crowe:

Bye!

Announcer:

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.