Book Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

This was a fun read. At times, it reminded me of one of my favorite books – The Starless Sea. There’s a similarity to the magical realism that takes place and, well, both are related to books and libraries. I was quickly hooked by the narrative and characters.

We meet Nell Young first. She’s Dr. Young, with a PhD in Cartography. To complicate matters, her father, also Dr. Young, is also a Cartographer. And a jerk. He fired his daughter seven years prior to the events at the beginning of the book.

We learn about the firing and its basis throughout the book in a series of flashbacks. We also meet Nell’s parents (and friends) when they are university students – full of themselves and the joys of cartography. They have grand plans to change the world.

I never thought much about cartography – map making – before reading this book. Shepherd will make you think about it. The art, the science, the exacting measurements, the transitory nature of maps, and how often the work was stolen by others. It turns out that early cartographers would create phantom settlements, places that didn’t really exist, as copyright traps for people who decided that actual cartography was too hard, so why not just copy someone else’s work and sell it as your own. Then the original mapmaker would take the copier to court and prove their case by revealing the trap. Cool idea.

The story begins with Nell learning of her father’s death. Apparently, he died in his office at the New York Public Library where he works in the Map Division. Nell finds a 1930 gas station map hidden in her father’s office. 

Nell eventually learns that the map is worth millions and that people will kill to get their hands on it. The overarching question is, “Why?” What makes a crappy map worth so much? Another question that comes up is, “What is the purpose of a map?” Shepherd’s characters answer this for us in different ways and with unique perspectives. I would have said “to allow a traveler to get from Point A to Point B.” That’s accurate enough, but only a surface-level understanding. The Cartographers will make you ponder the question.

Finding out is a fun romp with great characters and plenty of suspense. It’s an 8 on the Feral Scale for story and a N/A on the science scale. The Cartographers is categorized as “magical realism.” Go with it.

Fun facts and a few nits.

Spoilers below.

Fun facts first: Agloe is real. That is, Agloe actually was put on a 1930s map by General Drafting as a copyright trap. Later, a general store was built on the location, but eventually closed. The origin of the name “Agloe” is an anagram as depicted in the book.

Agloe has appeared in at least one other book (Paper Towns) and its film adaptation.

Nits.

The Cartographers has the early makings of a locked-room mystery, but it’s hard to swallow it when you know from the back cover that there are “magical maps that lead to your heart’s desire.” I would have preferred to not have this spoiler until Shepherd led me there.

It strained my suspension of disbelief to think that loving parents would do what Nell’s parents did – even if they justified their actions by claiming they were protecting her. 

Other news: My interview with Jean the Book Nerd just went live. You can check it out here. It was a fun interview – lots of questions that I don’t normally get asked. If you go there, please read the comments below the interview. They completely baffle me and seem unrelated to SPARK or anything I said in the interview. If you happen to understand them, please report back here so that we can all be enlightened.