Travis Baldree continues his series of cozy fantasies with Brigands & Breadknives. Unlike the first two books, our protagonist is not retired mercenary Viv. Instead, we follow the accidental adventures of bookseller Fern, who Viv met in Bookshops & Bonedust. Fern’s plan is to finally travel to Thune and set up a bookshop next to Viv’s coffee shop. Once she arrives in Thune, however, Fern finds herself in emotional crisis. She doesn’t really want to be a bookseller anymore, but how can she disappoint her friend by taking off?
In a sense, this decision is taken out of Fern’s hands when she gets very drunk and passes out in a wagon on her way to talk to Viv. She wakes up miles away, in the company of legendary bounty hunter Astryx and Astryx’s current prisoner: the hilariously chaotic goblin, Zyll. Astryx needs to get Zyll to the capitol to collect her bounty and, to be frank, is a little annoyed to find a stowaway with no combat experience in the wagon. Fern’s only skill that is remotely useful (maybe) is a little knowledge of Goblin (but only the swear words).
Although she makes plans to try and hitch a ride back to Thune and that very uncomfortable conversation with Viv, things just keep happening. There are other bounty hunters who want to collect on Zyll’s price; one of them is a particularly murderous orc. There’s the very charming rattkin who makes Fern’s heart beat faster. And there’s also the way that Zyll has a knack—not just for violent and destructive chaos—but for never being where you expect her. Zyll is my favorite part of this book.
Slightly less successful is Fern’s struggle with her dissatisfaction with her ordinary life and her oversized sense of obligation to Viv. Perhaps Fern struggles because she’s used to living alone and not having to explain herself to others. Fern seems terrified of talking to Viv, even though they had their own adventures years ago and have been sharing letters for years. Over time, Fern finds her courage (to my great relief), but there is a lot of agonizing before she manages this.
I enjoyed this adventure in Baldree’s world, especially since we got to take a look at the wider world. I’m very curious to see what Baldree comes up with next!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.