REVIEW: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her infuriatingly charming fellow scholar Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than brilliant and unbearably handsome. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.
Dear Ms. Fawcett,
I finished last year’s “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries” knowing that I wanted to read the next installment. Yes, that book was complete in itself but there were plenty of threads left to pick up and use in another book. This book ended up having some of the same things I liked as well as some of the same things I didn’t like about the first one. There’s a lot of telling and some of the layout of the plot felt lifted straight from the first book.. But the liked stuff still edges out for the win. I will add that readers who didn’t like the first book probably won’t like this either.
Emily Wilde’s book “Encyclopedia of Faeries” has been published to acclaim and earned her a tenured position at Cambridge. Em has an idea of how she might help colleague Wendell Bambleby (the human name by which he is going in the mortal world) find his way home to his fairie kingdom in Ireland. Em has a gift for seeing patterns and putting together disparate things and she thinks she’s got an idea – a good idea – to discover a “backdoor” to Silva Lupi which could help Wendell regain his lost throne. A few things stand in the way though including the department Head who is riled up at the two of them for shoddy research and Emily for publishing a book on a subject which he had been working on. Then the assassins arrive which leads to another discovery about Wendell. Can Em find the means to help Wendell back to his kingdom and also counteract something that is weakening Wendell to exhaustion and death? And if so, what will Em’s answer be to the question Wendell asked her?
Em is self assured in academia but hopeless in social situations. In this she is matched by Farris Rose, the department Head who shoehorns his way into the journey that Em, Wendell, and Em’s niece Ariadne embark on to Austria. As Rose has done much research and field work about Austrian Folk, he could be a good addition but he’s also Old School about how to go about these things which can frustrate Em. Honestly, she seemed close to saying “Okay, Boomer” a time or two.
Ariadne is hopping with excitement to come along. Em will admit that the young woman is an excellent research assistant who tracked down some needed information in record time but Em worries about what they’re up against. Still Ariadne’s bubbling enthusiasm is sweet to watch though she mainly serves as a handy way for Em to explain things to the reader. Em’s (endless) journals also help answer this need.
Wendell isn’t quite as annoying this go round but he’s also a bit more bland. He’s still charming, a bit lazy, rather dismissive of those in or about whom he has little interest and his casual dismissal of the common fae still drives Em batty but he’s smitten with Em and continues to press her for an answer. I will admit that I remain a bit baffled about Wendell’s smittenness for Em.
I enjoyed learning about the Folk of Austria. I enjoyed Em’s competence almost as much as her bullheadedness and blind belief in her abilities annoyed me. Em’s statements of how infallible her instincts are only to have this disproved and often quickly followed by her charging headlong into trouble and danger could be turned into a drinking game. She also comes up with answers and ideas almost magically out of thin air. Some of these are set up with clues but others really did seem as she pulled them out of the ether. One scene in which she told off two people who should have been more grateful had me laughing though.
As in the first book, the initial pace of this one was glacial with a lot of time spent in Em educating the reader on every little itty bit of Folk knowledge she has whether or not this seemed needed. Details are also over described with way too much page space spent on every bit of Alpine scree, trees, valleys, and knotholes in the cabin boards. Okay, I exaggerate about that last one but wow, some of this could have been cut. Yes, yes I realize she’s an academic who journals obsessively but it was too much. Then just then things heat up and I’d like more details, Em’s in a place where things become hazy as events race to a finale.
I did like Austria – both characters and their Folk. I thought Ariadne was given some good page time and abilities when needed, and Rose surprised me in a good way. Wendell was sort of just “there” for a lot of this book though he helped soothe the villagers who were coming with torches if not pitchforks and, wonders never cease, he appeared to finally appreciate common fae. Yay that Em appeared to be picking up a bit more social skills and ended up handling Ariadne with love if not tact. I wanted more Silva Lupi though. Oh, and I saved the best for last. Shadow once again made me want a fae dog plus we got a fairie cat! Orga ruled! B- /C+
~Jayne
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The first book started out a little rough for me. I would not have wanted Em for one my professors lol. So dry. But then it picked up and I ended up enjoying it. I’m first in line on my library wait list for this one. Sounds like borrowing from the library is a perfect way to read this series.
@Misti: If there is a third book – and I believe there will be one – unless I read stellar reviews of it, I think I’m going to read it as a library loan, too.
@Jayne: Yes, I’ve heard it will be a trilogy. The library really is a great way to support the author by reading the book, and yet not spending money on something I’m not sure that I all out love. I got my notification that book 2 is waiting for me so I’m excited to start on it, and I’ll keep my expectations in check, thanks to your review.