Cartomancy: Book Two of the Age of Discovery

the book was imaginative. It takes a few pages to get into but once you do its great.

Empire Strikes Back is my least favorite of the original trilogy. The Two Towers is my least favorite of the Lord of the Rings. And so on. Usually, the second book of a trilogy tends to drag. You have to further develop the characters - but you no longer have introductions, so it's more exposition. You have a plot that's not ready to climax. It - like Frodo and Samwise - just plods along. And that's what I expected from Cartomancy. While I appreciate (and understand the need for) all of those "middles", my expectations were lower for this book, especially since I liked A Secret Atlas so much. And so it was. There was a rapid change in one of the main characters - one I'm still not sure I like. The plot continues on, and even an invasion doesn't provide quite the same thrill that I got from the climaxes of A Secret Atlas. A plateau or plain that we know we need to get through. Until I was two thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly realized that the plateau was not flat. It was a gentle rise, that had been taking me higher and higher, so gently that I had not noticed. I found myself on the perch of a literary cliff, and Mr. Stackpole, with consummate skill, shoved me right off the prepice. It is fair to say that I am exhibiting great restraint in taking the time to write this instead of leaping for my bookcase to get the third book in the trilogy, A New World.

This continues the three book series, and what would traditionally be the 'soft' part of a trilogy really amps up the action, plot and interesting character development from the first book. Sometimes it feels like a lot is glossed over, with interesting ideas not fully realised or detail. However it is an entertaining book and one of Stackpole's best. The world is fascinating and quite different from your standard 'fantasy'. The use and concept of magic is also interesting. Recommended!

Cartomancy, the sequel to A Secret Atlas, does everything ASA did right-- and very little of what it did wrong. This time, readers don't have to wait half the book to get to the important parts. While actual action sequences aren't truly common, the promise of them looms over the entire book, making even political issues exciting to read-- and when action does come along, it comes in style. The books follows a number of different threads, meaning that readers with one specific favorite character may be dissapointed when their story comes along only between peeking at what everybody else was doing. It doesn't make the story slow, however-- there is a very definite sense that things are getting done while characters are "off screen." And things definitely get done. If readers of ASA thought that the world was in danger before, they'll be very, very worried by the end of Cartomancy. Still, there is some hope-- some people are not who they seemed (or thought themselves) to be. With such a large-scale clash of ideas and ideals in the works, the third book in the trilogy would have to have a momentous climax to the overall story, and certainly a satisfying resolution; judging by the writing of Cartomancy, Stackpole should be able to pull it off.

The Anturasi family of Nalenyr, ruled by the patriarch Qiro, has made the realm wealthy through trade thanks to the accuracy of their maps they create and the willingness of the younger member of the family to find and explore unknown lands. When Qiro's granddaughter Nirati is murdered, he escapes from his tower guarded by the troops of Prince Cyron of Nalenyr. He creates a new continent populated by monsters that he intends to use to bring Prince Cyron down. In a special place on this new continent, Qiro has created a beautiful, fantasy realm for Nirati to live cheating the gods of her death. Other people are envious of Prince Cyron's rule and would love to kill him and become the new ruler including the despotic Prince Pyrust of Deseirion. He foments rebellion in Cyron's realm and has plans to kill him personally. Cyron has alienated the bureaucracy who want to see someone else on the Dragon Throne. Niratri's lover Nelesquin is gathering forces to fight the Empress Cyrsa when she awakens from her eight centuries of sleep for both he and the empress want to consolidate the Nine Principalities into the Empire it once was with one of them the ruler, leaving the princess with nothing to rule. There is much political intrigue and maneuvering in this excellent work of fantasy where a family of mapmakers and explorers are a power to be reckoned with. Two of Qiro's grandsons were sent on quests with one kidnapped by Prince Pyrust and the other finding a new continent where the natives believe he is a reincarnated god. Their adventures are exciting adding more sub-plots to an already rich and deep storyline. Michael A. Stackpole is one of the Grandmasters of fine fantasy in the new millennium. Harriet Klausner