Published in 2025, Brigands & Breadknives is the third installment in author Travis Baldree’s bestselling Legends & Lattes fantasy series. The novel follows Fern, a middle-aged rattkin bookseller who, facing a sense of personal emptiness, sells her long-time shop to start a new one in the city of Thune. When this carefully planned fresh start fails to bring her happiness, an impulsive act of desperation lands her on the cart of a legendary elven adventurer, Astryx One-Ear, launching her on an unexpected and perilous journey. As Fern travels farther from her old life, she grapples with themes of The Illusion of the “Fresh Start,” Redefining the Self Beyond Vocation, and The Unpredictable Nature of Found Family and Friendship.

Travis Baldree’s debut novel, Legends & Lattes (2022), became a New York Times bestseller and was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. That book’s viral success helped define and popularize the cozy fantasy subgenre, which typically emphasizes low-stakes conflict and comfort. Brigands & Breadknives functions as a direct sequel to Legends & Lattes while featuring a protagonist introduced in the series prequel, Bookshops & Bonedust (2023). Unlike its lower-stakes predecessors, Brigands & Breadknives explores the idea that an authentic sense of purpose is not always found in quiet domesticity but must sometimes be forged through struggle and an embrace of life’s unpredictable detours.

This guide refers to the 2025 Tor Publishing Group edition.

Content Warning: The source text and guide feature depictions of cursing, graphic violence, and illness or death.

Plot Summary

Fern, a middle-aged bookseller and rodent-humanoid called a rattkin, travels by carriage with her elderly pet gryphet, Potroast. Her journey to the city of Thune is violently interrupted when fish-like monsters called pescadines attack the carriage. She’s saved by Astryx One-Ear, a legendary elf and warrior, who single-handedly slaughters the creatures before disappearing. Days later, as her journey continues, Fern reflects on her decision to sell her beloved bookshop, Thistlebrun. She has arranged to open a new shop in Thune next to Legends & Lattes, a successful coffee shop run by her old friend, an orc named Viv.

Upon arriving in Thune, Fern is overcome with anxiety about reuniting with Viv after decades apart. She finds Legends & Lattes thriving, and the two friends reconnect. Fern meets Viv’s wife, a succubus named Tandri, as well as Thimble, a shy rattkin baker, and Cal, a hobgoblin carpenter. Later, Fern recounts her rescue by Astryx, whom Viv admires. She and her friends spend time renovating and preparing what is to be Fern’s new shop, but she struggles with her persistent feelings of unease. The new shop, named Thistleburr Booksellers, has a highly successful grand opening.

A week later, Fern is miserable. The new life and successful business have failed to cure the emptiness she feels. She has an emotional breakdown in the alley behind the shop and confides in a friend, Cal, who gives her whiskey from his flask and advises her to be honest with Viv. Drunk, Fern heads to Legends & Latte to confess her feelings. On the way, she spots Astryx One-Ear’s cart. Overwhelmed by the prospect of her difficult conversation with Viv, Fern hides in the back of the cart and passes out.

Fern awakens the next morning to discover the cart is a day and a half’s journey from Thune. In the back with her is Astryx’s bounty, Zyll, a goblin with bound hands. Astryx recognizes Fern and, seeing she has no money for passage, prepares to leave her to walk back. Desperate, Fern implies she can speak goblin, offering to act as a translator in exchange for a ride to the next town, Bycross. Astryx reluctantly agrees. As they travel, Fern is consumed with guilt for abandoning Viv and Potroast. At their first camp, Astryx reveals a weary, pragmatic view of her centuries-long career. That night, Fern has a distressing dream in which Viv and Tandri accept her disappearance and decide to sell the bookshop.

The next morning, Zyll has escaped. They search for her while arguing about their dual perspectives on life before giving up. They return to camp to find Zyll sitting calmly with a tamed beast called a hazferou, which she seems fond of. Zyll bargains with Astryx to let the creature live in exchange for allowing her wrists to be rebound. As they near Bycross, they are challenged at a bridge by Chak the Pathless, a mage who wants custody of Zyll. Astryx’s fights him with her talking Elder Blade, a pompous sword named Nigel, and defeats him by cleverly neutralizing his magic. Zyll reveals she can escape her bonds at will. The honorable Chak invites them to dinner, after which Zyll gives her hazferou to the bewildered mage.

They arrive at Bycross, a city carved into a cliff face, where a mercenary group called the Four Fingers controls the gate. To earn money for her trip home, Fern sells her copy of her favorite book, using Astryx’s intimidating presence to get a good price. Intrigued by Fern’s past, Astryx invites her to a meal. At an opulent restaurant, Fern recounts the story of how she and Viv defeated the necromancer Varine the Pale.

Meanwhile, Zyll slips away. The ensuing chase leads to a public square, where Zyll has stolen coin purses from the Four Fingers. When a Gatewarden captain intervenes, Zyll speaks the common tongue for the first time. Fern deduces from the red mud on the mercenaries’ boots that they are secretly working for the bandit warlord Taltus, running a protection racket. A fight breaks out, and Astryx swiftly defeats them. Afterward, Astryx refers to Fern as her scribe, and Fern decides to continue the journey.

At camp that night, Zyll reveals she possesses a second talking Elder Blade, a breadknife named Breadlee. While Astryx scouts a path forward for their journey, Fern finds Zyll sitting on a bluff, and Fern experiences a moment of peace for the first time in years. A rainstorm forces them to shelter in the village of Turnbuckle, where Fern meets a charming rattkin traveler named Quillin. They connect over drinks, but he soon reveals he is a bounty hunter pursuing Zyll. Fern warns Astryx, and they flee the inn in the middle of the night. After they escape, a conversation at camp about the bounty leads to a heated argument between Fern and Astryx about principles and morality.

As they cross a high mountain bridge in a snowstorm, they are ambushed by Tullah, a fierce orc warrior Fern has glimpsed before. Tullah reveals she wants to kill Zyll, not collect a bounty. In the ensuing battle, Astryx is seriously wounded. Fern uses Breadlee to cut their horse, Bucket, free from their cart just as it plunges off the bridge. They escape, but Astryx collapses from her injuries. Fern and Zyll bring her to a nearby shelter, where they are rescued by monks from a nearby Tarimite monastery.

At the monastery, Fern learns from the abbess, Bluebriar, that the monks perform penance to appease their destructive god, Tarim, and prevent him from consuming the world. While Astryx recovers, Fern reads to her from Ten Links in the Chain, and their friendship deepens. Weeks later, they depart, reluctantly allowing a stranded dwarf bard named Staysha to travel with them. They soon discover a village being terrorized by a monster called a verdigaunt. Astryx, though still recovering, agrees to help and kills the beast in a difficult fight. The mercenaries the villagers had hired, Haber’s Five, arrive late. Their leader, Haber, privately tells Fern that Staysha is a thief who previously damaged their reputation and likely stole the villagers’ advance payment. After a major argument with Fern, Astryx is ambushed by Staysha, who knocks Fern out and kidnaps Zyll. Fern pursues, and with Astryx’s help, they defeat Staysha and leave her stranded.

Near their destination of Amberlin, Astryx formally apologizes to Fern for her harsh words. At a village festival just outside the city, Fern is ambushed by Tullah, who has captured Quillin and forced him to reveal their plans. In the final confrontation, Astryx is outmatched by Tullah, but Fern’s advice to use the knife in the cloak’s pocket allows Astryx to fatally stab Tullah with Breadlee. In the aftermath, Astryx releases Zyll from the bounty. They are detained by Gatewardens but soon released. Just as they assume Zyll has left for good, she reappears with their horses.

In Amberlin, at the bounty office, Zyll reveals she placed the massive bounty on herself to secure Astryx’s protection from Tullah. Zyll collects her reward and departs. Astryx, feeling lost, formally asks Fern to become her squire and friend. Realizing she must find her own path, Fern declines. Months later, Fern returns to Thune and has an emotional reunion with Viv. She gives Viv the bundle of letters she wrote and finally apologizes for not trusting her with the truth about her unhappiness. Viv forgives her, and Fern confirms she cannot continue with the bookshop. After joyful reunions with Potroast and Cal, she prepares for her next journey.

Years later, Fern is a successful author, having published a book about her adventures. She now travels with Quillin. She wears Astryx’s bracelet on a necklace. Astryx is now known as much for her small kindnesses as her legendary deeds, and Fern feels a quiet gratitude for her own winding path.