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Book Review: The Last Mapmaker
Nov. 18th, 2023 08:35 amLast but not least, we arrive at Christina Soontornvat’s The Last Mapmaker, the Newbery Honor book I was most excited about this year! I greatly enjoyed Soontornvat’s All Thirteen and A Wish in the Dark (especially impressive as I’d gone in with a bit of a grudge against them: “Who could possibly deserve two Newbery Honors in one year?” I griped), and she’s surpassed herself here.
The Last Mapmaker is a secondary world fantasy (a great rarity among Newbery winners) about Sai, a mapmaker’s apprentice who finds herself on a voyage of exploration… which may or may not be seeking a secret continent full of dragons! The book is a lot of fun, and I think best enjoyed without any spoilers beyond that basic premise, so if that sounds like something you might like, perhaps best not to read the spoilery musings ( behind this cut. )
Inspired by my affection for Soontornvat’s Newbery Honor-winning works, I decided to look into what else she had written, and discovered that she wrote the six-book easy reader Diary of an Ice Princess series, which is about a magical ice princess who has to learn to control her Windtamer powers. To read or not to read? That is the question.
The Last Mapmaker is a secondary world fantasy (a great rarity among Newbery winners) about Sai, a mapmaker’s apprentice who finds herself on a voyage of exploration… which may or may not be seeking a secret continent full of dragons! The book is a lot of fun, and I think best enjoyed without any spoilers beyond that basic premise, so if that sounds like something you might like, perhaps best not to read the spoilery musings ( behind this cut. )
Inspired by my affection for Soontornvat’s Newbery Honor-winning works, I decided to look into what else she had written, and discovered that she wrote the six-book easy reader Diary of an Ice Princess series, which is about a magical ice princess who has to learn to control her Windtamer powers. To read or not to read? That is the question.
