The Teller of Small Fortunes

October 1, 2024
Tao travels from town to town, casting small fortunes based on palms, stones, and tea leaves. She may have greater powers but has no interest in using them and attracting the interest of the mages she ran away from. When two ex-thieves turn up looking for information on a lost daughter, she ends up accompanying them down the road, and before long they've attracted an adventurous baker (whose pastries look awful but taste delicious) and a mangy but friendly cat as well. The newly formed gang travels Eshtera searching for a young girl and finding adventure around every corner. Leong's debut novel is a cozy fantasy that is heartwarming, fun, and at times even silly but has a real emotional center in its characters and their development over the course of the story. Fans of the Monk & Robot series, by Becky Chambers, and of Legends & Lattes (2022), by Travis Baldree, will enjoy the easygoing vibes, fantasy twists and creatures, and companionable encounters that the ragtag group finds as their cart rumbles on its way.

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October 1, 2024

Leong debuts with a cozy fantasy featuring a fortune teller and her found family. Tao travels from village to village, telling small fortunes. One of those fortunes sets her on a new adventure when a former thief and an ex-mercenary ask her to help find a lost child; they're soon joined by a baker and a slightly magical cat. Prepub Alert.

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September 9, 2024
Geopolitical unrest between the kingdoms of Shinara and Eshtera complicates a nomadic foursome’s journey in Leong’s quirky debut. Tao, the eponymous Shinn fortune teller, travels Eshtera offering clients brief, inconsequential glimpses of their future. After ex-mercenary Mash helps Tao evade a fallen tree, she repays him with one such prophecy, foreseeing that he will give his daughter a kitten. She doesn’t realize that his daughter, Leah, has been missing for six months and that he’s desperately searching for her. Mash is skeptical of Tao’s talents, but he and his best friend, Silt, an ex-thief, demand to accompany her to her next town in case she offers any more clues to Leah’s whereabouts. Kina, a baker craving adventure, also joins them after Tao sees a vision of Kina traveling with her. Along the way, the quartet faces down threats including anti-Shinn prejudice, a cursed sentient rock troll with existential ennui, and a magefinder eager to conscript Tao. Leong does a good job of balancing adventure, friendship among endearing outsiders, and humor with a thoughtful exploration of immigrant struggle. This whimsical and heartfelt tale is sure to win admirers. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.