Brigands and Breadknives Book Review

Where Legends and Lattes was a love letter to found family and the joy of finding a place for oneself, Brigands and Breadknives starts with someone who is suddenly unsure of the life she has already built. Fern, whose passion for books and her shop formed such a key component of the previous novel, starts getting cold feet shortly after setting up in Thune, right next door to Viv’s Legends and Lattes cafe. It’s an intriguing emotional shift, though I do wish the novel sat with this a little more and spent longer laying the foundation for it. While a large change can cause sudden doubts, the last book firmly established her character and passions, so her doubts on opening day feel abrupt. I think it might have made more sense to draw this out longer, and weave in some longing for the adventures she reads about first.

That slight wobble aside, Baldree’s strengths are fully on show in this book. His characters are as warm and charming as ever, and the found family theme underpins everything. I particularly loved Zyll and Breadlee. Both were hilarious, chaotic and full of personality. There’s a good dose of whimsy here without tipping into frivolity, and I found the story ground itself in the heartfelt-but-zany tone that Baldree excels at.

What distinguishes Brigands and Breadknives from its predecessor is its flirtation with danger. There’s more combat and higher stakes than before, introducing a touch of steel to the cinammon-scented air. This doesn’t make the book less cosy per sae, but the atmosphere is a shift that readers may have to take a second to adapt to as the slow, cafe and bookshop serentiy is replaced by something a bit scrappier and even closer to Dungeons and Dragons. In some ways, it feels like the story of the series has come full circle: Viv gave up a life of adventure and fighting to start her cafe and Fern is debating whether she wants to give up her comfortable, quiet life as a bookseller in favour of a life on the road, with all its perils and uncertainty. I admit though, I did find myself occasionally missing the grounded, domestic charm of the first book, though Fern’s journey was still a fun read.

Ultimately, the joys of Baldree’s world are in its friendships, its humour, its slight absurdity and the insistance on hope even when the odds do not look good. Brigands and Breadknives doesn’t quite reach the same cosiness as its predecessors, but it remains a warm, inviting adventure with characters who you don’t want to close the page on. And really, any world that gives us characters like Zyll and Breadlee is one worth revisiting!