Now is the perfect time to get hooked on S.E. Grove’s The Mapmakers Trilogy, a fantasy series, starting with “The Glass Sentence.” If you’re anything like me and enjoy binge reading entire series, now is the perfect time to get started as the final book will be released this July. While “The Glass Sentence” is marketed for upper middle grade readers, this sweeping epic fantasy will also appeal to teens and adults who cherish a great immersive story. For me personally, this is my favorite fantasy book since Harry Potter (and we all know that is high praise indeed), although really it brings me back to my middle school days reading “The Golden Compass” and “The Neverending Story.”
In Boston, New Occident (formerly the U.S.), it is 1891. However, when the mysterious Great Disruption happened nearly a century ago, time shifted all over the world and now different areas are also different eras, from prehistoric to the future. Thus, cartologers (mapmakers) and explorers became immensely important. They were tasked with discovering not just where other places were, but when.
Thirteen-year-old Sophia Tims has lived with her uncle, Shadrack, since her explorer parents disappeared on a mission when she was a young child. Shadrack is the most notable cartologer in Boston. When New Occident decides to close its borders to explorers and refugees, Shadrack knows now is the time for them to leave and try to find Sophia’s parents. However, their plans are ruined when Shadrack is kidnapped and leaves behind a cryptic note and an unreadable glass map for Sophia. With the help of Theo, a refugee from The Baldlands, Sophia sets out like her explorer parents before her, to travel where she has never been in the hopes of bringing her family back together.
As I was reading this book for the second time, I was reminded of how great fantasy, while set in a world not like our own, still manages to reflect issues we face in reality. While on a base level this story is an exciting adventure fantasy, there are a lot of grander issues and themes here to unpack making this a successful read for a wide audience.
You can put “The Glass Sentence” on hold in our catalog right now. If you have to wait, be sure to check out “You Might Also Like These…” at the bottom of the book’s catalog page.
