Collecting And Reading

Author: Travis Baldree

Tales from the Territory is exactly what you’d expect from a compendium of short stories from the Legends & Lattes world.

They are fun, cosy, and filled to the brim with wholesome and heart warming interactions, lovely character experiences, and overcoming difficulties.

My favourite story by far was Goblins & Greatcoats, mainly because of the sheer craziness of a murder mystery, with Poirot-esque detective work from a Goblin.

Just a Thimbleful is a really strong bit of character development work on the backstory of Thimble, and really adds a lot of nice depth to him before his foray into the world of cafe baking.

I think the weakest story is Mirograph. Mainly because it’s quite a distressing and somber turn at times, and it doesn’t really feel as though it fits in with the wider aesthetic or themes in the collection.

Both of the Viv-centred stories do exactly what we have seen already, show her in a selfless light, where she just wants to help others. One is a prior misadventure, involving a shapeshifter. One is set after the events we’ve already seen, and introduces a new bad guy in a very L&L way.

Nothing here is ground breaking. But it’s easy reading and likely exactly what you want when you pick up a cosy fantasy short story collection.

More in depth Short Story reviews below:

Goblins & Greatcoats: this is amazing, I want a full story of this, so fun and ridiculous. We follow the utter chaos goblin Zyll as she races to (extremely successfully) uncover the details of a murder mystery. This one is super unique, but so fun, and probably the funniest story of the lot.

Just A Thimbleful: a lovely warm bit of character work on the lovely, timid character of Thimble. This is perhaps the best story at fleshing out a character backstory that we know and love. It dives into the life of Thimble prior to his employment at L&L by Viv, and does a really good job at helping round out his character.

Pages to Fill: a nice little exploration of some of Viv’s backstory, even if it felt a little forced and predictable. We see Viv being Viv. This tells the escapade of one of her and her previous gang’s adventures, as they are searching for a doppelgänger. There’s not too much style or substance here, but it does a good job at reinforcing just what a nice personality and loving person that Viv can be.

Mirograph: by far the slowest, and more viscerally emotional story of the group. Takes quite a dark and sombre turn, which I don’t really think fits in with the rest of these stories to be honest. I think that this is perhaps the most daring attempt at a story in this collection, but it sadly falls short by missing the mark completely with a tonal shift that doesn’t really suit the rest of the book. It goes to some quite sad, and dark places, looking at aging, death, and what it means to lose control over the thing that makes you who you are, and gives you purpose in life. This could have been amazing but I think it just doesn’t land because it’s sandwiched in between the rest.

Cavaliers And Coffees: We see a time jump to the future here, and visit Legends And Lattes after the events of the previous books. This is a really interesting story, and looks at a copycat shop that opens in the City that is trying to impact Viv and the gang. Does a really good job at introducing a new villain, but does feel a little rushed, and I think this may have actually done better as a longer novella as opposed to a short story. It had a great concept but was almost entirely swept over.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for an unbiased review.

3.5/5.0

You can pre-order Tales from the Territory here, for when it releases on 1st October, 2026 [aff].