The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

I am training my fantasy muscle lately, as cultivating a creative mind needs a lot of inspiration. The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd included a bit of fantasy, a bit of time travel and a lot of discussions about maps and their (sometimes deadly) power.

The theoretical premise of the book is the existence of phantom settlements, which are fictional places introduced on purposed by maps creators as a way to mark their copyright. This will allow to someone illegally copying a map to be caught, because only the original authors do know where the error was placed. Like Agloe, for instance, a classical phantom settlement placed by map makers, that inspired at least another book. 

The cartographers, a group of maps lovers academics experienced the out of time experience of the place, but its discovery and frequentation will destroy their friendship, and the search for getting back all the possible maps marking the place, as a way to return, will lead to terrible crimes. 

Nell Young, the daugher of the legendary Dr. Daniel Young, and of Tamara Young - who apparently died in a fire involving those maps - will recreate the chain of events leading to a return to the place. When someone unexpected is waiting for them, but especially for her. 

I loved the writing and the moderately paced plot, which seems to not spare any details of the ambiance and historical cartographic information. The fanastic part is tempered, allowing other universally human topics, such as friendship, the risks some may take for the sake of scientific curiosity. However though, I´ve found that the action advanced a bit too cautiously for my taste, with the plot not daring more than expected. More than half into the story, I guessed - right - what will happen next, but stayed for the sake of the story. 

The Cartographers has a catchy yet predictable plot, but it is well written keeping even the fantasy opaque readers like me. It just opened up the readig appetite for more fantasy in the next weeks. Just keep an eye on my blog for my upcoming reviews.

Rating: 3.5 stars