Tao is a Teller of Small Fortunes. While many people want to know their Big Fortunes and the details of the future, Tao offers only quieter, often more pragmatic and comforting fortunes drawn from tea leaves and palms. She travels alone, apart from her trusty mule Laohu, in a small caravan from towns and villages to coastal cities across Eshtera. Occasionally locals are distrustful of her because of her Shinn heritage. For the most part, though, her life is as quiet and small as the fortunes she tells.

But tensions with Tao’s home nation of Shinara seem to be escalating, and she is always aware of the family she left behind. A series of fortuitous meetings bring three people into her life that will change her own future for the better. Tao is the titular character, and the wonderful heart, of Julie Leong’s lovely debut novel, THE TELLER OF SMALL FORTUNES.

"The book is sweet but not saccharine, hopeful yet honest. It takes a look at themes of belonging, loss, power and self-autonomy but does so with gentleness and plenty of levity."

On the road from Havelin to Shellport, Tao is thwarted by a downed tree across her path. As she tries to chop through it, she is approached by two men on the road. The slender, handsome chatty one is Silt, a (mostly) former thief and current adventurer. With him is the quiet and muscular Mash, an ex-solider and, most recently, a mercenary with a love of family and a talent for poetry. The two men are in search of Mash’s four-year-old daughter, Leah, who has been missing for six months.

Though Tao has preferred to travel alone since leaving home, she finds herself accompanying these two charming men after reading Mash’s palm and seeing him reunited with Leah. Mash and Silt have been on the road together for a long time looking for Leah, but Tao gives them hope and purpose to continue the search. In return, they provide her with some protection, not to mention the company she has been without (except for Laohu) for years.

Arriving in Shellport, the trio meet Kina, a less than successful baker who dreams of exploring the wider world. Kina’s baked goods are lumpy and ugly, but they have the promise of sweetness. Her sense of adventure and curiosity lead her to get on the road with Tao, Silt and Mash. When Kina joins them, their quartet is complete. They keep looking for Leah, forming a bond as they travel. Kina’s creativity begins to shine through, inspired by Tao’s Shinn fortune stones. Tao’s fortunes bring in the coin they need to continue their quest.

But Tao’s magic, small as it is, allows a magefinder to follow her. It seems she is being called back to the capital city of Margrave, the one she ran away from three years ago, and her talents are being demanded there. The High Mage Malea, with surprising talent for diplomacy and administration, wants Tao to join the Mage’s Guild as a Seer and serve what Tao thinks is the benefit of the Crown but what Melea knows is the benefit of the people.

Melea’s request forces Tao to revisit her first traumatizing vision, the move from Shinara to Eshtera, and her estrangement from her mother.

Reviews calling THE TELLER OF SMALL FORTUNES “cozy” aren’t wrong. The book is sweet but not saccharine, hopeful yet honest. It takes a look at themes of belonging, loss, power and self-autonomy but does so with gentleness and plenty of levity. The magic here is simple and uncomplicated. The characters are types, but they are lovable and capable of change and growth. Leong’s style is immensely readable and will appeal to fantasy fans and those who tend to avoid the drama, complexity and bloodshed of high fantasy novels.