Canailles & Couteaux

J'ai pris du plaisir à renouer avec l'univers de 'Légendes & Lattes'.

Avec cette troisième histoire, Travis Baldree inverse en quelque sorte le concept qu'il avait décliné dans les deux premières : alors que ces dernières offraient un quasi huis clos de cosy fantasy avec un cadre délimité qui lui donnait une identité (le café, la librairie...), 'Canailles & Couteaux' entreprend de faire emprunter une trajectoire inverse de celle de Viv l'Orc à sa personnage principale rateline. Sal abandonne en effet le cocon qu'était sa librairie pour basculer dans un quotidien autrement plus tumultueux et dangereux dans le sillage d'une célèbre guerrière elf, d'une gobeline déroutante et d'épées parlantes qui n'ont pas leur langue dans leur fourreau (du moins quand elles sont sorties !).

Pourtant, même sur les chemins, l'auteur préserve une certaine ambiance caractéristique, avec un vrai soin apporté à ses personnages, à leur développement comme à l'évolution de leurs interactions qui ont suscité chez moi tout autant d'affection et d'investissement que les précédents romans. L'ensemble sonne juste : les doutes et les tensions persistent, mais quelque chose se construit peu à peu, en dépit - mais peut-être aussi grâce, aux insatisfactions et aux décalages qui ne disparaissent pas magiquement. Et la plume reste pleine de sensibilité, souvent chaleureuse, tout en intégrant des moments d'action et de vrais passages dramatiques.

Avec cette troisième histoire, l'auteur trouve un intéressant équilibre pour se renouveler dans la continuité en quelque sorte, explorant un peu différemment son univers de fantasy.

An enjoyable continuation of the author's series, this time involving a different cast of characters. Fern, the foul-mouthed bookseller from a previous book, shifts her bookshop to be next to Viv, now running a successful café. But running a bookshop was really her father's dream, and she has a sense that it isn't really what she wants in life. After getting drunk, she acts on impulse and 'hitches a ride' with a renown elf on her way to deliver a bounty on a goblin with a predilection for kitchen utensils. Thus, begins a 'cozy' adventure for Fern that would change her outlook on her life.

What starts out as a way for Fern to 'get away from it all' for a while as she figures out her future, gradually turns her into a fellow adventurer with Asteryx, the elf who, having lived a long life, now seems to be going through the motions that made her a famous warrior. Zyll, the goblin, is also an enigma, since she has the opportunity to escape several times during the course of the journey, but never does. She also has the ability to hide all kinds of utensils in her coat of pockets.

Things begin to get serious when Fern discovers that other are also after Zyll for her bounty; and one has a personal reason to kill Zyll, and will not let even a famous elf stand in their way. From then on, the three adventurers begin to depend on one another to finish the journey. And in the process, both Fern and Asteryx discover their reasons for living the lives they want.

I really waffled between giving this 3 stars or 4. Consider it a 3.5.

There were parts of this book I really enjoyed, and there were parts that felt like misses. I will say the ending felt very solid and I was actually pretty happy with it. The world building was very good, and I wish there had been a bit more of it.

Some of the prose felt a little stilted. Other parts felt heartfelt and beautiful. It's hard to quantify any particular areas as being weaker than others, it was just a feeling that cropped up from time to time while reading.

I did quite enjoy the evolution of the relationships, and Zyll the goblin was an especially interesting character, but it was hard for me at times to like Fern. Being accused of being 'chronically dissatisfied' felt apt, and I don't entirely feel like that description was ever really fixed. The ending/epilogue tied off some of the emotional loose ends, but I feel like a bit more could have been done to show Fern slowly coming into what it is she truly wanted instead.

Not at a bad read at all; not something I'll probably re-read though.