Cameron Chittock

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

At the conclusion of MAPMAKERS AND THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN, besties Alidade and Lewis had just split up: Alidade surrendered herself to the Night Coats, in the hopes that she might learn more about them; and Lewis, with the help of Cado and his new Memri, Peak, set off in search of more Mapmakers.

When Alidade and Constable Frances Atwater arrive at Nox City, chaos is looming. Night Ward Wolfhart is missing and his underlings are trying to find him before word gets out. Naturally, Alidade sneaks off to do some investigating of her own. With the Constable in tow, Alidade finds hidden doors that lead to dark, threatening, thorn-filled worlds. The secrets they discover threaten to undo everything - including Atwater's faith in the system. (Insert "Are we the baddies?" gif here.)

Meanwhile, in the Plains, Lewis and Cado find a scattered farming community on the brink of disaster. Ominous black weeds - reminiscent of Flickers - are choking all the crops. When Peak accidentally falls on one, he's knocked out cold. Luckily, an aspiring Mapmaker named Ripley Range knows just how to revive the Memri. She invites the gang back to her home - which is also the Mapmaker's Plains lodge. The entire Range family are Mapmakers - or more like translators, as they'd call it - and they've slowly been mapping the expansive Plains as a team. A scribbled out section called the Barrenlands catches Lewis's eye; ever the optimist, he runs off in the middle of the night to prove that it's an area worth mapping (and saving). What he finds there is wondrous.

MAPMAKERS AND THE FLICKERING FORTRESS is a fitting conclusion to the Mapmakers trilogy. Chittock and Castillo continue to broaden Alidade and Lewis's world beyond the Valley, and the ending even introduces Mapmakers from all over the globe (crossing my fingers for a spin-off). The big reveal about the Night Coats is pretty great and hints at political corruption and hypocrisy happening IRL. And of course, I absolutely adore the environmentally friendly themes found in the Mapmakers series; the plot line with the thought-to-be-extinct pheasants is just lovely. Ditto: Alidade's conversation with the thorny trees. Plus we get to see Blue smile!… (más)

Adventurous Alidade Rose and her best friend, kind, sensible Lewis, are caught by the Night Coats - an ominously tall, slim, dark-clothes-wearing, rules-enforcing body in their town of Alden. But when Alidade returns to the forest she was exploring, she finds a door in a tree, and the door leads to a lodge, which is the home of the Mapmakers - only, something has gone wrong. Alidade discovers a hidden map that has Alden on it, but also a river - and she has never seen this river. A Memri in the form of a bird called Blue emerges from the map and serves as a guide so that Alidade, too, can become a Mapmaker, and restore Alden to the way it used to be, before the Night Coats came and the river was forced underground. Likeable Lewis helps by rallying the townspeople to their cause, rising up against the Night Coats. With the river restored, Alidade has her mother's blessing to go off mapmaking with Lewis and Blue. Sequel to come....

Quotes

"But...how could the Night Coats have done this?"
"The way people have always divided one another: lies and power." (Alidade and Blue, 71)

"We are not merely drawing a picture. We are casting a spell. A lot of things must go right for a spell to work. For mapmaking, there are three tenets...[ingredients, artistry, accuracy]." (Blue, 81-83)

"Don't [Mapmakers always know where they're going?"
...
"Mapmakers thrive because they are comfortable not knowing where they are going. Everyone is lost, in a way. Embracing the challenge - that is the key to being a Mapmaker." (Blue and Alidade, 111)

"[That spark of energy inside you is] the reward for facing the world with humility. For knowing there is still so much you do not know. That feeling...is the joy of understanding something new. Hold on to it so you can pursue that spark in all you do." (Blue, 118)

"The world will always be full of dangers....All we can do is face them bravely...alongside those we care for." (Blue, 207)… (más)

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

When we parted ways with our protagonist and fledgling Mapmaker Alidade (in MAPMAKERS AND THE LOST MAGIC), she and her posse - bestie Lewis and Memri Blue - were saying goodbye to their beloved Valley. Embarking on a grand adventure to find more Mapmakers, so that they could free their Memri, the trio hoped to defeat the dreaded Night Coats - and restore harmony between humans and the natural world.

In MAPMAKERS AND THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN, Alidade and her friends journey to the Mountain, only to find a rock seemingly barren of human life. That is, until they stumble upon a boy named Cado. An artist and aspiring Mapmaker, Cado left the safety of his hidden Mountain home in search of help. A strange sickness is sweeping through his village, one against which they have no defenses. Cado is convinced that only a fabled Memri can help.

Trouble is, the Mountain dwellers - including his father, Director Stride - are highly suspicious of outsiders, and rightfully so. Like they did in the Valley, the Night Coats invaded the Mountain, promising its residents protection - but bringing only suffering and misery. Most of the Mountain folk were driven from their home; those who remained built a sprawling, hidden city within the mountain itself. Secrecy is their key to survival. But what happens when they need outside help?

MAPMAKERS AND THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN is a marvelous sequel to MAPMAKERS AND THE LOST MAGIC, every bit as magical and imaginative as its predecessor. As always, the Memri steal the show; Blue is as cranky and cantankerous as ever, though he does seem to be warming up to his human companions (and perhaps even humanity it general). Lewis is an engaging and all-too-relatable supporting character, giving off strong Dawn Summers vibes (see, e.g. "Potential"), especially when his insights help save the day. Cado is a lovely addition to the cast (was that a crush on Vann I detected? PLEASE say yes!), and the Mountain setting truly is spectacular (just wait until you see the Mapmakers' lounge!).

Chittock continues to sow the animal- and environmentally-friendly themes planted in the first book; here, Alidade is shocked to find that she can communicate with nonhuman animals, leading to a genuinely heart-rending denouement. (Chills, you guys, CHILLS.)

Sophomore efforts are notoriously HARD, but you wouldn't know it from reading MAPMAKERS AND THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in the series - even if it sees our heroes going off on their own separate journeys.… (más)