Tales From the Territory by Travis Baldree

Legends & Lattes - A Collection Of Short Stories

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🖉Rating: 4.75/5

🖉Spice: 0/5

🖉Plot: 4/5

🖉Primary Genre: Cozy Fantasy

🖉Publication Date: September 30, 2026

🖉224 pages

🖉Blurb:

Award-winning storyteller Travis Baldree takes us back to the Territory in a heart-warming set of five stories, three making their first appearances in Tales from the Territory, that give readers a brand new look at beloved characters. Tales printed in two colors throughout, with a full-page illustration for each story.

The delightful “Goblins & Greatcoats” is a tale of murder and intrigue that introduces Zyll, a goblin with too many pockets and a disturbing affinity for cutlery on a rain-soaked night that features four adventurers, a pair of corpses, a junk-drawer knife, some unfortunate taxidermy, and a beleaguered Gatewarden.

We all know what happened in Legends & Lattes, where retired-soldier Viv dreamed of opening a cafe and ended up with a found family and perhaps the love of her life. “Just a Thimbleful” tells us how one of the most beloved of those family members, Thimble, found his way from a frustrating and unhappy house to creating sweet treats that brought Legends & Lattes to life.

Tandri is a succubus and being a succubus comes with...well...certain expectations and pressures. In “Mirograph” we meet Tandri as an art student at Ackers University trying to find a way to be seen as something else, something more.

And in the longest story here, “Cavaliers & Coffees,” we get a glimpse of trouble for our cafe crew when a new and unscrupulous business comes into town, stealing all of Viv and Tandri's ideas, undercutting them for price and putting everything they've worked for in peril.

Tales from the Territory is another triumph of low stakes and high fantasy, of friends trying to make their way in a challenging world.

🖉My Thoughts:

These are all new to me as I haven't read any of the previously released short stories.

Goblins & Greatcoats: the story of how "Breadlee" got his nickname from Zyll. This was pretty amusing and cute. A great way to start a short story book.

Just A Thimbleful: Thimble's origin story. We learn about how Thimble got his first baking job, how he is inspired with baked goods ideas and keeps track of them, and how he cannot tolerate his creativity being stifled.

Mirograph: A kind of confusing story about Tandri in college. This felt a little out of place to be honest, I'm assuming it's a sort of social commentary on AI, which I get. Screw AI and screw data centers.

Cavalier & Coffees: Legends & Lattes gets some unhealthy competition, the crew rallies together to keep the doors open. This one was my favorite, it takes us back to the coffee shop with Viv, Tandri, Thimble and the gang. It's nice to check in and see what everyone is up to. I see that Baldree's new book is a LitRPG in a completely different world so I'm not sure about the fate of the Legends and Lattes world. If this is the end of it all, I think that Cavaliers & Coffees is an ok way to say goodbye for me.

Overall: Is this book VITAL to the series/world? No. But if you love the world, or if you love the characters I'd buy it and read it.

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