The Mapmakers Trilogy

Last summer, I stumbled across in the first book in the Mapmakers Trilogy at my local bookstore. It was the cover that caught my eye, but as soon as I started reading I knew this would be one of those series that would become a lifelong favorite.

I read the first book (The Glass Sentence) last summer and loved it. The world building was fantastic, the characters unique and dynamic, and the premise so captivating. I waited eagerly for, The Golden Specific, the second in the series, and read it in the fall. Then of course, I pre-ordered the final installment, The Crimson Skew, and had to wait for what felt like forever for it to come out in July of this year. When it arrived on my doorstep, I realized that I really didn't remember a lot of the details from the first two in the series, so I put it aside and decided to re-read them before I dove into the final chapter.

I'm not usually the type to re-read a series just to continue reading the next book, but this turned out to be such a good idea. Because the world building is so complex, it really helped me to remember those details that I needed to know when reading the third book. 

I don't want to reveal anything specific from the third book because so much of it only exists because of events in the first and second book, but I do highly recommend this series. It's young adult, but I did recommend it to one of my fourth graders this year and he loved the series as well, so it could definitely appeal to more mature readers in the middle grade age range. I also think that it appeals to readers my age and older who love Harry Potter and similar types of series. I would definitely put it up there with some of my other favorite fantasy series, such as The All Souls Trilogy (a great October read) and The Paper Magician Trilogy.

Favorite Fantasy Series

Now is the time to start stocking your to-read pile with heavy tomes of magic, mystery, and far off places! September, October, and November are by far my favorite months of the year. Fall can feel so fleeting compared to the long winters, so I absolutely relish the chance to match my reading picks to the mood outside. I love reading books with darker settings, gruff and moody protagonists, and bits of magic sprinkled throughout. You'll probably be hearing a lot about my fall picks this year, but I thought I'd get started with a list of my favorite fantasy series.

The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling // I mean, I can't start this list without my favorite of favorites. Harry Potter is suitable reading for any time of year, but I especially love snuggling up with any one of the books in this series during our cozier months.

The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness // Fun fact: the author of this series is an alumna of the very place that I am now attending for my Master's program. I raved about this trilogy last year and am hoping to re-read it sometime soon. It has witches, vampires, time travel, romance, suspense -- basically anything you could hope for in an Autumn read.

The Paper Magician Trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg // This is another one that I'd be happy to re-read. I own the series on my Kindle but the covers are some of my favorites. The premise is super inventive and I find the story to be comforting. Ceony Twill is one of my all-time favorite female characters, too. You can read my review of the first in the series here.

The Mapmakers Trilogy by S.E. Grove // I just finished the second installment in this trilogy over the weekend and absolutely loved it. I sound like a broken record when it comes to this one but I'll say it again: this is some of the best world building I've come across in my many years of reading fantasy. You can read my review of the first one here. This is one of those series that I just happened to stumble upon and then fall totally in love with (don't you love when that happens?) I cannot wait for the final installment!

The City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte // This is another (unfinished) series that I've really enjoyed so far. It's not terribly complicated but the cast of characters is really quirky and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R. R. Martin // Also a no-brainer for this list. This is an epic series that I watched on TV before I started the books, and although I'm not usually a proponent of TV-before-book, in this case it helped me to visualize the enormous cast of characters that span these books.

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Series by Ransom Riggs // I've only read the first in this series (the third just came out recently) but it's one that's stuck with me since. I recently bought the second and have been saving it for those cooler, darker days.

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I made this list with older audiences in mind, though I believe a few of these are classified as young adult series. I've stumbled upon a few more series that I want to dive into before the year is over, so keep an eye out for those as my favorite reading season commences!

If you're a lover of children's lit, you might also want to check back here on Thursday for a little surprise!

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Happy Reading!

-Madeleine-

Review: The Glass Sentence

{on Goodreads}

If you're a fan of fantasy novels, drop everything and go find this book. I picked up S.E. Grove's The Glass Sentence on a whim in my local bookstore over the holiday weekend and it's turned out to be one of my favorite reads this year. Our main character, Sophia, lives in a world that's very different from the one that we know today. Almost a century before Sophia's present day, the Great Disruption shattered time and cast different parts of the world into different ages. The United States was torn apart by two ages: the western half of the country becoming The Badlands, while the eastern half was cast into the 19th century and renamed New Occident. Sophia was born and has lived in Boston her whole life, and when the story opens, it's the year 1891. Sophia, whose parents went missing while out of a rescue mission in another age, has been raised by her beloved uncle, Shadrack Elli, who just happens to be the world's most renowned cartographer. Mapmaking is perhaps the single most important academic pursuit in Sophia's world, as maps help people to navigate the many different ages while traveling. Maps come in all different forms, and just as Sophia is being introducing to cartography, Shadrack is kidnapped. Sophia soon finds herself relying on a band of very unlikely friends as she pursues her uncle and the truth behind the world's greatest secret. While reading, I fell quickly into Sophia's world and, in particular, loved every one of the characters. They were fantastically imagined, with such distinguished features that it was easy to see them in my mind, and with just enough mystery left to them that I want to know more about their histories. I also have to commend Grove on the world building in this book. It was the best (in a children's/young adult series) that I've encountered since Harry Potter (yes, that good!) and it was astonishing to me how many little details were so naturally introduced to the reader. The Great Disruption is really one of the more creative ideas that I've seen in the fantasy genre and it so uniquely brings together elements of fantasy, mythology, time travel, and adventure. I loved reading this story so much that I immediately went online and wasted no time pre-ordering the second in the trilogy, which came out this week and which I am so looking forward to reading this weekend! The book is YA, but in the same way that Harry Potter appeals to all ages, I think that readers both younger and older than the target YA audience will enjoy this trilogy.

Bottom-Line Rating: 5/5

Title: The Glass Sentence (The Mapmakers Trilogy #1)

Author: S.E. Grove

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2014

Price: $12.17 for a hardcover on Amazon

Format: Paperback 

Source: Spirit of '76 Bookstore

ISBN: 9780142423660