A city threatened by an ancient plague. A love across borders.A desperate choice that could break their worlds apart forever.When a fragment of a deadly map is recovered from a medieval plague pit in London, the Mapwalker team must cross over into the Borderlands once more.In a race against time, they must find the remaining pieces of the map in a journey across long-lost cities before the Shadow … cities before the Shadow Cartographers wield it against Earthside in a devastating attack.
Can Sienna resist the call of the Shadow as she struggles to save her home?
Will Finn take a risk on love across borders or leave the Earthsiders to their fate?
Map of Plagues is book 2 of the Mapwalker fantasy series.
The Mapwalker Fantasy series:
– Map of Shadows #1
– Map of Plagues #2
more
I read this book right after I read the first one Map of Shadows. I enjoyed this one just as much, if not more, than the first one. Like Map of Shadows, I read this one in two days. I was glad I got these back to back as I was not ready to let go of this world and the characters.
The mapwalker team is back and this time it is to stop a plague coming back to earth side. The author introduces the readers to a few new characters that are just as interesting as our team. One sucks the power and life out of a person (which reminds me of the wraith on Stargate Atlantis), one who helps Mila understand her power, and one who is a solder in Finn’s father’s army.
I was happy Mila was dived into more as she is my favorite character in this trilogy. Her water magic intrigues me and was glad to learn more about it as she was. Each character got more developed. I was expecting this and was glad I was not disappointed. The toll of the drug addict affect is showing but with the plague being released at stack, they held up well. In this book Bridget get’s a bigger rule and has me intrigued on her character development.
We are back in the borderlands and this time we are going through finding clues for what they are looking for. I loved how both the earth side and the borderlands are once again blending together and I can visually see the runes and locations. I am a history buff and this book was up my alley.
I recommend this book to anyone who loved or enjoyed the first book as much as I have.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
You can find this review on my website:
https://www.charliadamswriter.com
Map of Plagues (Mapwalkers #2), my thirteenth read from author J.F. Penn. Captivating, with well-developed characters coupled with an outstanding story-line with its intricately woven twists and turns, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Penn, as always, does a good job with her character development. I’ll be reading more by this author and in this series. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
The second book in the Mapwalkers series is even better than the first. At the usual JF Penn rapid pace another end of the world scenario unfolds and our heroes cross over to search for the solution.
On the other side they whisk us from location to location, incident to incident in a breathtaking route back home with us safe again.
The third book “Map of the Impossible“ is out soon and I cannot wait to read it.
The Mapwalkers must travel to the Shadow World. to stop a horrendous plague.
It’s difficult to explain the premise of this series — a myriad of compelling parts must meld together to build thrilling suspense. Penn can do this like no other author. The Shadow World is a constant threat to our world, unbeknownst to our people. The Mapwalkers control the threat through their connection to magical maps. The fantasy world that springs from Penn’s imagination is broad and has terrors in many horrible guises, including a plague controlled by Shadow World despots. If you like fantasy worlds full of evil and the heroes who work to defeat them, this is DEFINITELY the series for you! I love it.
These well written characters are compelling, and complex. Each one has his, or her own motives for their actions that are sometimes surprising, and at others seem down right self centered, but always unpredictable. I loved the adventure, exciting action, magic, and magical creatures. I think this read was sometimes suspenseful with plenty of extraordinary twists in the plot that kept me turning the pages, and reading until the early morning. Fantastic, I can’t wait for the next book!
I am voluntarily leaving an honest and non-incentivized review of this book.
Everyone has their own agenda and things they want from their magic and the world.
This time we travel deeper into the Borderlands with a lot of magic, mystery, adventure, wonder and danger. I especially liked the Library of Alexandria, the city beneath the water and the city in the air.
The way the maps keep themselves alive with the Illuminated Cartographer… Dark Fantasy at its best!
Mila was once again the character that I understood best. Sienna stays a little standoffish IMO, though her magic and how it draws her is quite vivid. I like Jari, despite everything, and find myself wondering about her past… Perry is still my favourite character.
This grimdark tale might not be for everyone, but if you like history, magic and maps, you will enjoy this book.
Star rating:
Editing: 4 stars
Premise: 5 stars
Wonder: 4 stars
Trigger warnings: slavery, rape, forced pregnancies, genocide, blood sacrifice (including children), thoughts of self-harm/suicide, murder and other atrocities that might be a trigger for some.
Overall: 4 stars
Total = 4 stars
This is the second book in this series, and although not essential, reading book one definitely gives extra context and background to the story and characters.
The basic premise is that there is a group of magical beings who can travel via maps, to the borderlands, just beyond the boundaries of what ‘normal’ people can perceive and where shadow magic rules. The inhabitants of the borderlands want to cross back to earth and reclaim it.
This is a very dark story, and the conditions in the borderlands are very primitive and violent with death, torture, forced breeding and slavery all being prominent.
So normally this type of dark fantasy isn’t what I read, but I have been a fan of Ms. Penn’s for years now, and love her ‘Arkane’ paranormal thriller series and so know that her writing is brilliant.
She has a real way with words, bringing even the most unlikely scenarios to life with startling clarity and superb descriptions. She is also able to create thrilling, immersive plots which carry you along like a tsunami. This is why I am reading this series, not for the story, which is rather too dark and ‘high’ fantasy, but for the amazing use of language which draws me into her books, and doesn’t let me go until I’ve finished it.
I received an advance copy of this book, but have voluntarily written this honest review.
I was given an advance copy, by J.F. Penn for my honest review.
‘Map of Plagues’ falls in genre’s that I don’t typically read. I’ve always believed that good authors books always find their way into readers hands. It’s J.F. Penn writing that has made me a fan, I really like her Arkane Series a lot and figured that her Mapwalkers series would be equally good.
Just like with Stephen King, Penn has the gift, to give her readers a heart pounding hellacious read, scare the crap out of you, yet your glued to every word, you don’t want it to end and they leave you begging for more please.
She expertly researches, it has a theme, that could be ripped right out of the headlines, like all the history she mixes into it, especially present day Bath, puts you right into the pages, over loaded with action, with an extra helping of twist and turns and best of all good conquers evil.
“Map of Plaques” really isn’t a standalone novel, for best reading results you’ll want to read “Map of Shadows” first. While I don’t want to give too much away. The authors created a World where you have an Earthside, whose borders continuously shift and change, it has portals that takes you into the Borderlands and made up of what gets cast out from Earthside. You also have areas that end up being lost forever. Interestingly the Earthside is present day, you have all the tech, while the Borderlands are medieval, and one can’t take anything from one side to the other.
The stories told really through Sienna a Mapwalker who is a blood cartographer, who has the magic ability to create maps using her blood, then has the ability too jump into them and anyone who touches her also jumps into maps. Then you have two other Mapwalkers who are part of her team. Mila who has water magic, she can become transparent in water, has the ability to use it as a weapon and Perry who has fire magic, he can use it as a weapon.
With “Map of Plaques” the team is on a quest to find pieces of a map, that’s from the medieval plaque days, bring them back to Earthside, to protect them from it falling into the Shadow Cartographers who want to bring them down and create an undivided world.
They also have two Borderlanders on their team, first Finn who also is the son of the Warlord of Aleppo, he’s made a deal to obtain the maps for his father with the guarantee that he let him have his niece to save her and you also have a warrior women named Jari, whose an emissary for the Warlord. Basically to make sure that Finn keeps his word and ultimately that the map will end up in warlord’s hands.
Many of the characters in the “Map of Shadows”, return in “Map of Plaques”, several interesting things happen in this one, you learn that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and with how each time the Mapwalkers use their powers, they weaken, also a little bit of Shadow enters their blood and they fight urges not to return to Earthside.
Just like the Westerns that I started reading back in my teens. The one element I love the best of that genre is the good verse evil theme. In a nutshell Penn, has pulled it off with this one, with good conquering evil and man what a wordsmith.
I was lucky enough to have gotten a ARC copy of this book from the author. I am volunteering to leave this review. Fantastic book this is my favorite kind of book. You go on a wild adventure and learn something also.
“We are a plague on the Earth.”
David Attenborough.
It was the beginning of the end for Earthside. “It seemed impossible that this bright world existed above and yet below lay only terror and darkness.” Imagine The Library of Alexandria still alive and intact, and other wonders destroyed by humanity! The magical abilities of the characters are quite unusual, especially the water one! The story is richly told with strong overtones of fantasy. The point of view jumps between characters gives us multiple perspectives on the drama. A mighty clash between the Borderlands and present day Earthside. Colourful, imaginative and powerful. Gritty in extremis. I loved this second premise. I hope to read the next installment soon!