The Cartographers

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.

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“What do you know about that?” she asked.

"Not much,” Nell lied. “Ramona told me it was destroyed a long time ago.”

Eve grimaced. “It was dangerous, that thing. Cursed. Everyone who touched it got hurt.” Her eyes drifted back to the compass rose symbol. “And it’s still not over.”

WHAT'S THE CARTOGRAPHERS ABOUT?

This is hard—I tried to describe this to some friends earlier, and I tripped over myself so many times while trying to make this sound enticing while not giving anything away. I'd call that conversation a rough draft of this section, but it was so bad that Anne Lamott's going to have to revise the section in Bird by Bird about sh***y first drafts.

Nell Young has had a life-long obsession with maps—her parents have doctorates in cartography and it might as well have been encoded in her DNA. She and her boyfriend had internships in the New York Public Library where her father works, too. Then one day, she finds a couple of maps in a forgotten corner of the Library, one of which is an old gas station map. Her father flips out over what she found, for reasons she can't really understand—a major argument ensues and she's fired. So is Felix, her boyfriend. Not just that, but her father goes on to wage a war on their reputations—they're finished in academia.

Felix leaves the field and Nell goes to work for an Internet company making faux historical maps. Years pass without Nell speaking to her father, then he dies suddenly. While looking through his office, Nell finds that gas station map and is flabbergasted. Why would he keep that thing?

Nell starts asking questions and learning things about her family, and a whole lot more.

VISUAL AIDS

As is fitting for a book about maps, the novel has some. Not many, most of the ones in the book are described, not seen. But there are just enough—the important ones—to ensure the reader can visualize what's going on—we see what Nell and the rest see.

It's a great touch—I love that Shepherd included those—I'm one of those fantasy readers who rarely glances at the maps in those books—but I spent time on these.

I COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT...

Last week, I quipped that this book was "very Mr. Penumbra-esque." This was too blithe and flippant. And yet...I couldn't get it out of my mind.

Shepherd doesn't write anything like Sloan, the worlds are completely different, and the way they approach character and narrative don't really overlap. Really I think the only thing I can point to that is a demonstrable similarity is the way that they approach Big Tech companies—but this novel's Haberson Global is more like the company in Sourdough, anyway, so I'm not sure it counts.

Again, I couldn't stop thinking about Mr. Penumbra’s 24‑Hour Bookstore. It's about some dedicated and brilliant people whose passion for and pursuit of something that everyone else in the world pretty much takes for granted. There's a little more to it, but I'd have to spoil stuff about both books, so I'm not going to get into it.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE CARTOGRAPHERS?

I never, not for one minute, thought that a book about maps and mapmakers would be this riveting. And I was wrong. Not that I've spent that much time thinking about books about mapmakers, but you get the idea.

I've read some pretty strong thrillers that weren't as gripping as this. Shepherd paced this perfectly and kept building the tension in just the right manner. Even when I got to the point where I'd figured everything out—even the mind-bendy bits—and was just waiting for Nell and the rest to catch up, I was on the edge of my seat. That tension extends to things that happened before the novel's present time—we'd get chapters of first-person narration from some of Nell's father's friends from when she was a toddler. I knew where certain characters would end up because you'd met them already—but that didn't make the uncertainty about what was going to happen to them in the memory much easier to take.

But this isn't just a thriller—it's a story about a family. One of the sweetest, strangest, and saddest found families you're going to run into. A mantra that runs throughout this book the way Uncle Ben's "With great power..." runs through certain movies* is that the purpose of a map is to connect people. The way that these people are connected would be difficult to map out—the routes certainly are intricate and varied—but the connections are strong and lasting.

* Yes, I know it's from the comics first—but the comics rarely, if ever, beat that drum the way some of the movies do.

I was less than satisfied with the ending—because I thought it was headed somewhere else, and then it seemed to aim in a different direction, and it ended up in a third. I think the expectation problems are all mine, they're not from the text. I'm also sure that the ending we get is stronger than what I expected. Still, it's hard to for me accept what we got since I'd spent 100 or so pages sure we were getting something else.

None of that changes the bottom line of this post—you're going to want to read this book. I strongly recommend it. There are few books like it in the world, and that's a shame. But it means that there's every reason to read this.

How could I just like and not love a book about historians, BIPOC found family, and adventure? Read on.

Anyone who gets excited over anything historic, vintage, and "the smell of old pages" would probably enjoy this book too if they can overlook the plot holes, underdeveloped characters, awkward pacing. The most glaring plot hole was the flimsy reasoning behind Tam choosing to leave her husband and daughter and stay in Agloe--choosing a map and an empty town over easing her daughter? That's rich.

For the first third of the book, I was so invested in Nell, a shunned map conservator/researcher/copier (she didn't create official maps from scratch so she's not a cartographer), so when the book split into 5+ first-person perspectives I almost didn't want to finish.

Narrative focus wavered many more times with too many characters launching into random flashbacks, which made me want two different books or at least a longer, more linear story to properly develop all The Cartographers.

Then, this book's first half turned into a game of Clue, which turned already underdeveloped characters into caricatures. There were too many moments (grocery store-cooking flashback anyone?) when the pacing was *just* getting good only to be pulled back into a slow, drawn-out flashback.

The magical realism was definitely a high point, but the rules were too vague. There were just more than a few things that pulled me out of the story, especially the map mechanics.

The tertiary characters like Snow and Humphrey were some of my favorites too, but some of the love triangles seemed too contrived--some characters didn't show romantic interest until it was convenient for the story.

The interplay between Nell and The Cartographers when all the cards were on the table was also entertaining, but it took until 66% of the book to get there. I also loved the reveals of some of the Cartographers' true identities.

I loved a lot of things about this book, and I really wanted to love it overall, but I had to settle for just liking this book instead.

Posted at: https://fanfiaddict.com/review-the-cartographers-by-peng-shepherd-audiobook/

Peng Shepherd, once again, perfectly blends reality and the fantastical into an engrossing page-turner that is guaranteed to satisfy.

The best fiction stories I???ve read are those that are steeped in truth. This is where Peng Shepherd shines. Her previous novel ???The Book of M??? was loosely based on a real event called ???Zero Shadow Day??? which happens when the sun reaches it???s zenith position twice a year for locations between +23.5 and -23.5 degrees of latitude and people ???lose??? their shadows. Her short story published on tor.com ???The Future Library??? is based on a real project where writers submit story to a trust that plants trees in Norway which they will use to publish those stories 100 years from now. The Cartographers is also is rooted in truth, but you???ll have to figure out how after you read the book.

Once i had caught wind of The Cartographers, the title alone peaked my interest. From my hobby of geocaching to perusing Google Maps with no particular destination, I???ve been fascinated with maps and the secrets they may hold. To this day I???m always curious to explore and often think of those remote places and who inhabits them. The Cartographers plays a sweet tune to the curiosity that there???s more out there that we just don???t see.

The story opens up with our main character Nell Young imagining her life as a map conservationist at the New York Public Library, touching up the ???T??? in ANTARTICVS in the lower right legend of the famous Frau Mauro (left image ??? I immediately hit the web and found this beautiful interactive version to tease your taste buds) but rather she just prints another duplication ??? opposite of what she was trained to do in a previous life. Nell had a former life working with her renowned cartographer father at the map division in the NYPL until an ???incident??? which caused them to break contact with each other for the past 7 years.

As the story progresses, Nell learns of her estranged fathers death and stumbles upon some secrets that he has been withholding from her from that fateful ???incident???. We follow Nell as she collect the pieces and clues only known to her fathers former colleagues (who had known Nell when she was a baby) about a ???project??? he was consumed in and potentially more about her mother who she also lost when she was young. The deeper she digs the more mysterious, and dangerous, things become.

Within each ???section??? of the book, as new key characters are introduced, we get a bit of a flashback as told from their perspective, telling Nell about their time in college with her parents. The audio narration here plays upon the multiple narrators, giving each character their own voice, though only during these flashback scenes. We learn more and more about what happened to Nell???s mother, her father???s secret ???project??? and the power of the maps surrounding the group.

There were a couple excellent character reveals here, edge-of-your-seat moments, and questions of trust and loyalty which all lead to a fantastic read.

BONUS: After reading, do a quick search about some of the things mentioned and you???ll never look at a map the same way.

What is the purpose of a map?

This dragged sooooo much. Didn't need to be as long as it was. So many characters and adding so little to the story. You don't need every character to have a past voice chapter. It started off well but bogged down in the middle so much that I lost interest by the end.
Did see the ending twist coming from a mile off. That wasn't the problem, I like when books do that. The problem was the constant build up to suspense that fell short. I didn't really like any character much.

I have always had a fascination with maps. My career (geologist) and several of my hobbies (sailing and hiking) revolve around both map making and interpretation so the theming here was always going to capture me.

Here we are given a Dan Brown style mystery wrapped in some magical realism based around a very real artifact present in some maps - phantom settlements. These are fake places put onto maps to try and catch copyright thieves. The cross genre nature of this story does lead to some messiness in the structure, and the inherent plot holes found in any Dan Brown style mystery are most definitely present here too, but I had fun reading it. Definitely a book that forces you to suspend your disbelief so ymmv depending on how you approach it. For me an adventure featuring cartographical nerdiness works well. The fantastical elements are maybe a bit overwrought but in the end it is fun, and to be honest, that is the main reason to read things, isn't it?

I am so conflicted by this book. The idea and concept of it were great, but something in the execution just doesn't sit right. The way the story is told makes no sense and constantly brings you out of immersion. The people keep telling Nell a part of the story but others are also in the car, which is totally gloshed over. Or more pretends that its not true. But that makes the way everyone tell their bit really unrealistic and weird within the context. 

The way the world works with the maps and the fact her mother was stuck there also just makes no sense. So many things happened, and many characters died unnecessarily which makes the things that happen have no emotional pay off. 

I am happy this didn't end badly because I really thought it was going to. The story pretended that Nell was lost forever, as if the whole reason her mom stayed there for so long was still active. But of course it wasn't. And luckily it didn't end that way. It did leave me so utterly unsatisfied and disappointed though. 

The premise of this story, that mapmakers could create these “phantom settlements,” had fascinating implications for humanity and our relationship to the nature of reality. This becomes more of a plot device than a story in The Cartographers.

Shepherd decided to take the focus another way and make the story about interpersonal conflicts, romantic, family, friendships etc. That might have been entertaining if the characters had been better defined. As it was, each character had the same voice when telling their part of the narration and none of them stood out as especially interesting or likable. Or even fun enough to hate. Characteristics were told rather than shown. (For instance, the college-age version of Daniel Young is described as fun and energetic; when did we ever see those traits?)

Additionally, I would have liked more focus on the Haberson map and how the antagonist planned to use it for his plot. It wasn't clear and was simply brushed aside once some of the family drama was resolved.

A book with potential that feels underdeveloped.

I threw the penalty flag with emphasis, several times during the second half of the book. How can you whip out something magical in the plot and not give any infrastructure to its existence?

How the heck do these places come into being? According to the plot, they just are and the characters, I have to assume, are ok with that.The author mentions individuals can recognize these places when looking at a map and yet give no details as they do it. Is it something about these individuals? Their mindsets? Comparing 1 map meticulously to another edition of the same map? What?

To the positive, I'll say I've not run into a plot involving map mysteries so this was interesting, and the audio narrator does a good job of making her character voices distinct enough for me to catch when there's a shift in speaker.

A niche subject with a secret that could change ‘everything'? Yes, please!
So this should have been a book I loved. I could overlook that the characters were one note because it was a big cast of characters and we had to keep up with several people. There were a couple plot holes that I filled in with my own suppositions. And that didn't bother me too much.

POSSIBLE SPOILER:
One of the things that did bother me and I really couldn't get past was that the bad guy was “hunting down and destroying every last [map] - along with anyone who gets in his way.” The bad guy was hunting and destroying people, but all the characters only cared about the maps! I don't think any of them cared about the murder victims until the last few pages. However by the time they cared about Murder victims the character motivations were so wild that I stopped caring. I think I could have overlooked the heartless characters if there was a little more recognition that they were heartless in pursuit of their maps.

I liked it, the idea was original enough but there were just some plot drivers that seemed very forced, in particular the Father daughter bust up, and the forced “love interest” subplot that seemed totally dictated by the publisher and had no reason whatsoever to be there. Apart from that pretty light and enjoyable

”I thought we were going to be friends forever. I thought nothing could tear us apart.”

More like books-about-maps and not books-about-books, but similar?

Kind of a mediocre story with a super fun premise. A weird intersection of thriller, maps, and the New York Public Library is where you'll find this book hanging out, and honestly it's a very tough book to rate because of it. I don't have a lot to compare it to.

Nell Young is an ex-cartographer, who once had her dream job working with maps in the NYPL, but was fired by her dad after a disagreement involving an old box of Junk and a gas station map. Now she produces fake replicas to hang on hotel walls, but dreams often about returning to her old job. That old gas station map comes back to haunt her after her father is found dead at his desk at the NYPL, and she soon discovers that it's more dangerous than she ever knew.

Larger story/ending thoughts and spoilers:

So, like, how cool is it to be able to go literally anywhere as long as you have a map that says you can go there? I loved that idea, and wanted the author to play around with it a little more than just setting the story in Agloe, NY (which is a real (fake) place, actually) and creating convenient bolt holes for the characters to hide in for plot reasons.I felt a little let down by the mystery as well. Once I could see where the story was going with Nell meeting the old friend group one-by-one, it became glaringly obvious that Wally was William, just by name alone. A mystery that is no longer a mystery becomes a bit boring to me.

It also read like a love letter to the NYPL. Which, don't get me wrong, deserves all the love letters ever, but got a bit repetitive in story format. Nell waxes on for paragraphs about all the details she misses from the NYPL, details that no doubt exist but the average reader probably has a hard time connecting with.

So, in non-spoilery general terms, I felt let down by the mystery, but did love the overall idea of the book. It was an entertaining enough read, but maybe not entertaining enough to rate it higher.