Legends & Lattes

 Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (2022, 296 pages)

The rare and unprecedented Scalvert Stone comes from the skull of a Scalvert queen. It's supposedly magical, bringing good fortune to its owner. It's also warrior orc Viv's newly acquired loot from her latest bounty hunting job. It was the final key she needed to start a new life, leaving blood and violence behind, to settle in the town of Thune for peace and coffee. She hopes the stone will provide her with the luck she needs to run a successful business in a place that's never even hear of coffee.

After buying an old livery, she finds a contractor. They build the coffee shop from the ground up. They turn the old stalls into booths, the loft into a bedroom. There's space for a kitchen, the coffee bar, and guests. She hires an employee and is ready for opening day! The town is skeptical at first, but eventually falls in love with Viv's lattes and cinnamon rolls. But as a newcomer to town, there are some shadows lurking that need more from her than a morning boost.

This is a very cute and cozy book! I would call it fluffy -- not too much action or character development, but fun. I did find myself invested in the shop and characters. The romance falls a little flat, but I appreciate its inclusion. I really liked the way it made me feel so connected to the shop, like it was my own project. Those who enjoy D&D might enjoy this!

★★★☆☆

Including the cool UK cover that I like more!

You can read both Kara's and Regan's reviews of the book on the blog!

Delicious in Dungeon vol 1

 Delicious in Dungeon vol 1 by Ryoko Kui (trans. Sébastien Ludmann), 192 pages.

Laios and his adventuring party are thoroughly beaten by a dragon deep in the dungeon and teleported to safety with very few resources to speak of. Laios little sister was not teleported to safety, and he is determined to go back for her, no matter the difficulty (resurrection is possible, if they can only get to her body while there's something to recover). Unfortunately, going into the dungeon with no food or coin is suicidal but, as they don't have time to gather any, they're just going to have to eat the monsters. Luckily for them, they very quickly find a dwarf who is an expert dungeon chef (and very passionate on the topic of dungeon food), who is happy to tag along for the chance to cook a dragon. 

This is a delightful manga! It's a very smart and low-stakes version of the Dungeons & Dragons-type genre with the emphasis on characters that makes that genre thrive. I really appreciate the thought that went into making a plausible ecosystem in a classic D&D style dungeon (which were not traditionally designed with plausibility in mind). I thought the emphasis on botany and fieldbook-type notes were a really interesting touch, and overall this story feels like something both very unique and entirely familiar. I definitely plan to continue this series.

(This series is also commonly referred to as Dungeon Meshi, which is a more direct Anglicization of the Japanese name. It is also currently being adapted into a show on Netflix! I haven't seen any of that, but I will say that is looks interesting)

Delicious in Dungeon

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. I, Ryoko Kui, 192 pages

Ryoko Kui's Delicious in Dungeon is a hilarious fantasy manga that follows the (mis) adventures of Laios and his companions as they try to race against the digestive clock of a dragon who has swallowed Laios's sister. Estimating they have a month until she is completely digested, the adventurers set off without supplies, foraging monsters and materials along the way. The story examines many tropes familiar to players of role-playing games, from tabletop to online. Everything from the absurdity of dungeon ecology (what do those monsters eat, after all?), industry revolving around monster parts, and bringing adventurers back from the dead get poked fun at. Ryoko Kui clearly is familiar with the subject matter that has been brought up around many a kitchen table where a game of Dungeons and Dragons was being played. The art style is also crisp and clean, creating a wonderful presentation that is easy to follow and flows nicely from panel to panel.

OOTS: Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales / Rich Burlew

The Order of the Stick: Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales by Rich Burlew. 112 p.

OOTS is a fabulous, long-running, unfortunately rather slow-moving webcomic involving a band of adventurers--the titular Order of the Stick--trying to save the world while achieving some personal goals along the way. The strips in this book are not in continuity with the online comic; they were published in Dragon magazine before it become defunct, and Burlew added a lot of extra stuff not available elsewhere to make a decently long book. I enjoy the plot-driven online comics more, but this volume is great fun, with much of it being specifically focused on mocking D&D game rules and conventions. We do get some callbacks to the in-continuity strips, too. ("He's invisible!")

The vampiric half-dragon half-troll lycanthropic fiendish snail is a thing of particular beauty. ("Lycanthropic? What do you change into, then?" "A slightly hairier snail. Not the point right now.")