Book Review: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Pros: feel good fantasy, low stakes

Cons:

After completing her last job as an adventurer, the orc Viv takes her final prize, the magical Scalvert Stone, which stories say can draw the heart's desire. She buys a used livery in Thune and fixes it up into a coffee shop. She has to find trustworthy workers, deal with the city's 'protection' gang, and show people who've never heard of coffee what they're missing.

This is a low key, feel good fantasy novel. Viv's a fun character with a shady past and her desire to start fresh is fun to watch. The book moves slowly and basically feels like settling back with a cup of coffee yourself, watching her go through the motions of setting up shop and then dealing with the challenges that come up. There's a hint of romance, but it's understated with very little tension or conflict.

It's a novel about friendship and doing your best and was a pleasure to read.

Magic Ring Hamlet DIY kit

Spent several hours this past weekend working on another DIY diorama kit. This one's themed on the Hobbit and looks really cute.

The kit I made.

Everything that came in the kit. I needed some additional things for the build.

I was impressed by how easily the parts went together. 

Pieces that needed to be glued had guide lines so it was easy to get things in the right spot.

Little cart pieces.

And built.

The build coming together nicely.

Starting to decorate.

Detail of one of the doors.

I modified the kit somewhat to add some of my own decorations, like pumpkins in the carts instead of wooden logs.

Hobbit hard at work.

The finished kit has an inner frame with a hanging ring, and an outer frame for display.

The electronics on this kit were easier to do than a lot of other ones I've done, using plugs to join the cables to a control board. It was a fun kit to put together and looks great.