Another delightful romp with Emily and Wendell!

The footnotes still annoy me, but I ignored them for the most part. I think it would have been better to write a companion book of short stories, similar to Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs, instead of forcing them unnecessarily into the book. ( )

Funny ( )

Absolutely delightful except for the parts where the faerie folk were torturing Emily Wilde and her love interest Wendell Brambleby. Much of the story falls into the realm of what a scholarly, not to mention grumpy, woman won’t do for her annoying indolent monarch boyfriend to repatriate him to his Kingdom. Set in the Alps the scenic descriptions include snow, more snow many faerie doors, and nasty things that go bump after dark. The dialogue and inner thoughts are so cleverly delicious and sometimes outrageous, you can’t help but smirk. Hoping that Ms. Fawcett would be able to keep the sequel fresh and entertaining, she has bested her first effort. There is a lot more to this story and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Whoever says you can’t make fantasy, love and sarcasm work has not read the first two Emily Wilde books. Imbued with near normal and realistic people and creatures there is just the right amount of magic, left turns and disbelief to make this a great series. Many thanks to Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for a copy. ( )

In Emily Wilde's Map Of The Otherlands Heather Fawcett has written another excellent adventure of dryadologist Emily Wilde. Accompanied by her niece Ariadne, department head Farrell Rose, fellow dryadologist (and lover?) Wendell Bambleby, and her faithful, large hound Shadow, Emily ventures to the Bavarian Alps to research another book. And to pursue larger motives beyond that endeavor.

I very much enjoyed the vividly drawn characters in the novel. Wilde is a focused, perhaps too focused, scholar, as adept as any human probably can be in the ways of the Folk. Her niece Ariadne is a vibrant, enthusiastic young scholar who annoys Emily to a degree, but whom she grudgingly admires. Bambleby is languid, self-indulgent, persistent, and filled with magic. We learn a lot more about the dog Shadow and his abilities.

A character or two from the first book makes an appearance in this new book and it is fantastic to see them again. A new type of Fae are introduced and they are fearsome and delightful.

Map Of The Otherlands is a wonderful adventure, filled with magical artefacts, incidents of wonder and peril, scholarly footnotes, great character development. The Emily Wilde books are captivating and engaging. I look forward to the next book in the series. ( )

Emily and Bambleby are off to the Alps in search of a faerie door, accompanied by an overeager assistant and a cantankerous old scholar.

I found this book as delightful as the first. If you like scientific-minded Edwardian ladies doing science on the fantastical, despite being somewhat hampered by the social mores of the time, this series is for you. ( )