Fantasy Novel Pub Crawl!

by a cat

You ever read a book and you’re just like wow, I wish I was there. I wish I was sitting with my favorite characters in the cool fantasy pub telling stories around the hearth and heartily sloshing funtime refreshments? Well, lean into this list of fantasy titles, because we’re going on a fantasy pub crawl to all the hottest watering holes in Epic Fantasy Town! 

Viv’s Coffeeshop from Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Pub, coffeeshop—very similar in concept, honestly, and hey! It’s seven in the morning somewhere! And where better to start our long day of fantasy pub crawling than by stopping at Viv’s Coffeeshop. It’s the first such establishment in the city of Thune, and it’s got a lot to love: Tasty treats prepared by a talented ratfolk baker named Thimble, a large direcat that’s the shop’s pet / guardian, and the finest coffee drinks Gnomish engineering can serve up! Viv—entrepreneur and ex-adventurer—grew tired of her life on the combat-intensive road, and hung up her sword to open the shop, and has put oodles and oodles of love into it. You’ll love it too. 

Rapture Bar & Lounge from Book of Night by Holly Black

An important quality to our fantasy pub crawl is going to eclecticness! Now that we’ve finished soaking in the cozy atmosphere of Viv’s Coffeeshop, our logical next destination is the Rapture Bar & Lounge. It’s a shady establishment, and we mean that literally, because extralegal shadow magicians headquarter in the basements beneath it, but that’s all part of the charm. Break out your gothiest attire because eerie is in at this locale, and you’ll love Charlie, the bartender. She’s trying to pivot away from her days as a thief of dangerous magical secrets. Unfortunately, sometimes the shadow hive downstairs wants more of her business than just her time bartending. It’s good that we’re moving on to the next bar, actually. A man and his shadow just walked in separately. He’s dressed clandestine and his shadow has claws. Time for bar number next. 

Three Tales Tavern from The First Binding by R.R. Virdi

Whew! Sorry we left the last place in such a rush, but we can settle here for a little bit. In fact, let’s all get comfortable, because as the observant may have predicted from this pub’s name, we’re here for drinks and for stories. Travelers often find rest here, and when two travelers meet, there are always tales to tell. Stay a while and get to know Ari. He has many stories to share. He’ll tell you legends of dead gods, stolen magic, and dreadful curses. He’ll tell tall tales and short, and if you stay long enough, he might tell you the story of how he loosed the first evil on the world. 

But don’t stay too, too long, because our crawl isn’t done yet!

Alexandrian Society Lounge from The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Okay. Everyone act cool, this is a private establishment. Very private. As in ‘warded magically multiple times over.’ It’s not even really a bar, but you won’t believe that once you see all the good stuff it keeps stocked. This library—a modern ancestor to the one that vanished from ancient Alexandria—houses all the world’s most dangerous secrets and magics. It’s part library, part vault really, since part of its function is strategically withholding certain infohazards from a cadre of ambitious graduate magicians working on their theses. One of their number is actually our host. Meet Callum Nova! He’s the scion of a magical cosmetics empire and kind of a prickly jerk, but there’s no way we would have made it through the wards without his help. Luckily he’s a lonely jerk, who would just hate to admit how much he craves company to share a bottle of scotch. 

Saphrona, City of Merchant Princes from The Silverblood Promise by James Logan

And we finish our crawl in the ultimate pub: a whole Fantasy City where opulence, grime, truth, and wine mix freely, or expensively rather. Saphrona is the city of the merchant princes, and whatever you want is available for the commensurate quantity of coin. Rare vintage? Yes. Barrels of cheapest ale. Yep. The truth behind who orchestrated the demise of your estranged noble father? … Well, that one’s not really for everyone, but it is for Lukan Gardova, our guide into the underbelly of the princely city. He’s a disgraced scion and accomplished cardshark, hoping to solve his dad’s murder and gain some kind of atonement and posthumous approval. But more important for the context of this list, he knows all the good pubs to pick up a pint.