A review by ibrow
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
The beginning of the book (and description) seemed like a classic cliche setup of mysterious events surrounding ancient documents, in this case maps, leading to some sort of revelation about secret societies, a conspiracy, a thrilling adventure, ect. Nothing special, but fun.
I suppose I should give credit for the author not doing that, and taking the book in a direction I wasn't expecting, but unfortunately it just didn't work. The plot is full of huge holes and inconsistencies that were very frustrating. The actions of the characters aren't believable, especially that one of them turned into a sort of Bond-esque supervillain. The book ends up as a weird mishmash of not quite thriller, not quite fantasy, sort of nonsense story.
I suppose I should give credit for the author not doing that, and taking the book in a direction I wasn't expecting, but unfortunately it just didn't work. The plot is full of huge holes and inconsistencies that were very frustrating. The actions of the characters aren't believable, especially that one of them turned into a sort of Bond-esque supervillain. The book ends up as a weird mishmash of not quite thriller, not quite fantasy, sort of nonsense story.