When she’d crossed every other location off her list, she’d been absolutely positive. She’d read and questioned, researched and wrestled, and Thune had been the city she’d chosen. She’d never prepared as much for any one moment. Viv felt a rising sense of nervous elation, something she hadn’t felt in years, like a battle-cry she could barely hold in. She followed the road down and into the valley as the fog burned away, and a lonely farmer’s cart tottered by, stuffed with alfalfa. She could feel it like a hard, withered apple, and reflexively touched it through the cloth from time to time to reassure herself it was still there.Ī leather satchel hung over one shoulder, stuffed mostly with notes and plans, a few chunks of hardtack, a purse of platinum chits and assorted precious stones, and one small, curious device. Blackblood weighed heavy on her back, the Scalvert’s Stone tucked in one of her inner jacket pockets. She had broken camp in the predawn dark, and her long legs had eaten up the final few miles. Here and there, a copper-clad steeple flashed in the sun. The city of Thune bristled up from a bed of fog that hazed the banks of the river bisecting it. (Nov.Viv stood in the morning chill, looking down into the broad valley below.

This charming outing will please anyone who’s ever wished to spend time in a fantasy world without all the quests and battles. Viv’s success in business is buttressed by her growing affection for Tandri, adding a dash of sweet romance to this tale of finding meaning in the little things. The slight conflicts that follow are far from standard high fantasy fare: Viv must defy a local protection racket and evade the machinations of the envious Fennus. There, she buys a decrepit stable and hires Cal, a hob carpenter, and Tandri, a reformed succubus, who become her friends and helpers in opening a coffee shop that eventually takes the town by storm. After slaying a monster and wrenching from its skull a legendary stone, a talisman said to bring good fortune to its bearer, she abandons her erstwhile comrades-warrior dandy Fennus, Gallina of the sharp knives, and Taivus-and settles down in Thune. Aging and tired of bloodletting, orc swordswoman Viv leads her mercenary crew on one last adventure. Baldree debuts with a gentle little cozy set against an epic fantasy backdrop.

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