Legendarium
Address: 349 East 900 South
Telephone: 385-222-7788
Website: legendariumbooks.com
District: Liberty Wells
“We are a bookstore, and we are a coffee shop, but at the heart of it is a space where people can come and feel like they belong.” Long before Raelle Westwind and her brother, Orion Enceladus, opened Legendarium, they were two Salt Lake kids growing up in what Raelle describes as a “very nerdy household,” spending countless hours wandering through bookstores.
The King’s English and Weller Book Works were favorites, and Raelle still remembers the enormous basement of used books at Weller’s where the siblings could disappear among the shelves, reading, exploring, and wondering what they might discover. There was, however, one thing they rarely found in abundance: the books they loved most. Science fiction and fantasy sections tended to be small and tucked away.
Years later, after Raelle graduated from the University of Utah in 2015 with degrees in economics and math, both siblings spent time in California. Their sister lived in San Diego, where visits often included Mysterious Galaxy, a bookstore devoted to science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. For Raelle, walking inside was revelatory. “Every single book on the shelf was something I wanted to buy.”
Just as important were the people behind the counter. They had read the books Raelle wanted to read. They loved them. They wanted to talk about them. The experience stayed with both siblings as they moved on to New York and began contemplating, tentatively, the possibility of opening a bookstore of their own.
New York City seemed daunting, and life eventually brought both home to Salt Lake in 2020 and 2021. Here, the idea that had followed them across the country suddenly seemed possible. They knew the city, they believed Salt Lake would embrace another independent bookstore and, in August 2022, Legendarium opened its doors. The name Legendarium is a nod to J.R.R. Tolkien and the term associated with the vast collection of mythology and interconnected stories he created - an especially fitting name for a bookstore devoted to imagined worlds.
What Raelle and Orion created was the bookstore they had once wished they could find - but it became something much larger. Located in a cozy former home, Legendarium specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with rooms and nooks that invite lingering. The front of the shop holds staff picks, new releases, and books currently being highlighted before the collection flows deeper into the house. Science fiction and fantasy are shelved together, reflecting a literary world in which the distinction between the two has become increasingly fluid, while an ever-growing horror collection fills another part of the shop.
There is a lively “spicy” section devoted to erotica and romantic science fiction and fantasy, while younger readers can retreat to an enchanting children’s and middle-grade area in the back. A tree created by a local artist gives children a place to tuck themselves away, and tiny penguins, sharks, unicorns, and cats are hidden throughout the shelves waiting to be discovered And, coloring pages made by young visitors cover the walls. “It’s kind of also your friend’s house that you can hang out at,” Raelle says.
That feeling is not accidental. From the beginning, Raelle and Orion wanted Legendarium to be a community gathering place as much as a shop - somewhere people could read other people’s stories while also discovering the confidence and companionship to tell their own. That idea led naturally to Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games, something the siblings had experienced as a powerful means of imagination, self-discovery, and connection. Three nights each week, Legendarium hosts free game nights open to the public. People gather around tables to create characters, invent worlds, and tell stories together. Friendships form along the way. “For all of us personally, we found a lot of power in playing games like that. I think it’s just a beautiful game when you play with people that you feel safe with.”
Safety and belonging are central to Legendarium. Raelle and Orion wanted to create a space particularly welcoming to people who had not always felt comfortable in traditional gaming environments or even in the larger world around them. As transgender owners, they understood the importance of entering a room and knowing at once that there was no need to explain oneself or wonder whether one belonged.
The LGBTQ+ community found Legendarium quickly through word of mouth and embraced it. Today, the bookstore hosts a variety of gatherings, including a trans community night that can draw as many as sixty or seventy people. Some come from great distances just to feel the connection. One favorite family makes the three-hour journey from Vernal and stops at Legendarium whenever they are in town.
Yet the warmth of the space extends far beyond any one community. Children, teenagers, and adults come for the books, the games, the coffee, the conversation or simply because they like being there. “That’s one of the best parts of it - there are so many people who love coming in here who are not queer, but come in because it’s a space they feel good in, they feel safe in.”
And no purchase is required. Raelle is emphatic that someone should be able to walk through Legendarium’s doors, find a comfortable spot and stay, whether or not they have enough money for a book or a cup of coffee. Legendarium offers permission simply to be.
The café helps reinforce that sense of home. Everyone on Legendarium’s small staff is both bookseller and barista, serving local products including roasted coffee and pastries. Raelle loves the café not because there was ever an ambition to compete with a large coffee shop, but because a drink and something to eat provide another reason for someone to settle in, talk with a friend, or make Legendarium part of the rhythm of everyday life.
Books remain very much at the center of it all. Legendarium’s shelves celebrate the science fiction, fantasy, and horror that Raelle and Orion have loved since childhood, while deliberately making room for writers whose voices historically received far less attention within those genres. Authors of color and queer authors are prominently represented, telling stories that can confront difficult experiences while also imagining entirely different possibilities.
Fantasy, after all, can do something extraordinary - it can create a world that does not yet exist. Raelle speaks particularly fondly about “queernorm” fiction - stories in which identities that may be marginalized in everyday life are simply accepted as part of the world being imagined. A king can be gay, and nobody thinks twice about it. Characters are allowed to live without certain prejudices having to become the point of their stories.
In its own small way, Legendarium tries to create something similar in the real world - a place where difference requires no explanation. There is plenty beyond the books to discover. Shelves and displays hold stickers that regularly change, jewelry and artwork from local makers, T-shirts, and an extensive selection of role-playing materials, including guidebooks, dice, dice trays, and other gaming supplies. Along with the tiny creatures hidden among the bookshelves and the children’s artwork on the walls, these details help give the shop its warm, lived-in feeling.
Four years after opening, Raelle still acknowledges the anxiety inherent in running an independent bookstore. There is no point at which everything suddenly feels assured. But the books sell, the rooms fill, the staff has been remarkably constant, and people continue to find their way through the door.
That is the real story of Legendarium. Raelle and Orion grew up loving bookstores because they offered worlds to disappear into. As adults, they created one that does something more - it gives people a place in the real world. “More than anything, it is a space to come and find stories that are meaningful to you, tell your stories, and meet people who become a part of your life.”
