Coming Soon - The War of The Maps by Jonathan Auxier

I hath decided that I am going to write about new books that are coming out soon that I am excited about. And...while I don't have that may to name right now, I can tell you that this here, The War of The Maps, is going to be more exciting than any other new story I have ever encountered.

Now before I get into all that boring background stuff about where I learnt this (which I have linked if you wan to read those first, just tap on the underlined words ;) ) and who the author is, I'm going to tell you why, exactly, this story is so important to me, even though I haven't read it yet.

It all began when a 30-year-old mother taught a 5-year-old daughter to read--yes, that mother is my mom, and yes, I am that child. And, like all children taught to love reading, that 5-year-old devoured books like none other. By the time she was nine, she had a wealth of a vocabulary, a head full of great imaginations, and a smile her teen self envies. That was the day said 30-year-old mother (who has, unexplainably, I know, aged along that avid reading girl) found Read-Aloud Revival, a Christian-based company run by the most amazing Sarah Mackenzie whose mission is to get parents to connect with their children through the greatness of a well-written novel. (This is a community created for mothers looking for Middle-Grade and YA novels to share with their kids, so is may not be exactly your jam)

That was the day that little 9-year-old learned of Peter Nimble.

(Link to the Read-Aloud Revival website)

You may have heard me talk about this book. I talked about it once in this post (Books In Question) and I'm sure I've written about it more, since it still is one of my favorite stories.

Peter Nimble And His Fantastic Eyes is a story of the greatest thief who ever lived who goes on an adventure with a cursed knight to answer a distress call sent via message in a bottle. It was written by Jonathan Auxier. (pronounced Awg-zee-ay not Awg-zeer. I was wrong my entire childhood. *cries*)

That story was released to the world almost 20 years ago. Since that fantastic (pun intended) story came to the press, said nine-year-old girl began devouring every single tale that author had written. (Links go to Amazon.ca) Sophie Quire And The Last Storyguard (sequel to Peter Nimble And His Fantastic Eyes), The Night Gardener, Sweep, The Fabled Stables Series, and...oh. I've just listed them all. Every single story written by Jonathan Auxier that changed me.

And I could go on to fangirl and keep harassing you with more and more information about these stories, or I could tell you about this new story that I have kept you in suspense so long for.

Nine years after Sophie Quire was released.

Nine years of suspense and.... I really need to stop listening to the climaxes of classical music when I write things like this....

Nine years of waiting have finally paid off.

The Vanished Kingdom Book Three, The War of The Maps

Jonathan Auxier says on his website that this story '...is by far the biggest, most ambitious story I have ever tackled (which is why it took me so long!). In many ways, I’ve been working on this story for my entire adult life.'

On his publisher's website, the synopsis is--

'The War of the Maps is a breathtaking fantasy in the vein of His Dark Materials and The Last Battle that dares to give new answers to age-old questions—inviting readers of all ages to sail beyond the edges of the map into a world of magic, myth, and boundless adventure.

Since time before time, two opposing forces have been locked in an endless battle: It is the war between magic and reason—between what if and what is. And the victor will not just shape the future but the very nature of reality.

Peter Nimble and Sophie Quire have spent the last four years fighting to protect a world of magic from the insidious, unstoppable forces of “progress.” But, every day, the wonders that once surrounded them are vanishing. Lurking behind this transformation is a mysterious group called The League of Maps that seems to hold the answers.

As Peter and Sophie fight to untangle this mystery, they find themselves thrown into opposing sides of a vast war that stretches from the very beginning of humanity and into our present age.'

(Read Jonathan Auxier's post on his website which I difinitly did not use to copy and paste this synopsis with this link)

WHAT!!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!

Lord only knows how long I screamed into the covers in joy.

I guess I should probably tell you who this guy is, shouldn't I? Yeah. Hold on one second.

From his website, he says, and I quote 'JONATHAN AUXIER is a NYT Bestselling author of strange stories for strange children. His spooky novel  The Night Gardener was a Junior Library Guild selection, an ABA IndieNext pick, and winner of the TD Book Prize and ILA Book Award. His historical fantasy Sweep received six starred reviews as well as the Governor General’s Award, Charlotte Huck Award, and Sydney Taylor Award. His lasted novel, The War of the Maps, is the third and final installment in the beloved Vanished Kingdom series. He lives in Pittsburgh with his family and their adorable pet umbrella.'

(You can find his website, The Scop, with this link)

Now...how exactly did I learn about this book?

I'm coming full-circle now.

The answer is Sarah Mackenzie from Read-Aloud Revival.

Sarah released a new Read-Aloud Revival podcast featuring Jonathan Auxier not seven weeks ago (and yes, it is about time I started measuring things in weeks. You get a lot more strange looks when you start saying you are 806 weeks old instead of just saying, in the most unacustic (my auto-correct is telling me this isn't a word. I don't really care) voice ever '15 years') about The War of The Maps. And I thank social media for this one because I would have stayed completely in the dark about this story had my mom (yes, that same 30-year-old mother who has mysteriously aged over the last few years) not called me over to her bedroom near the middle of the night and shown me the post on the Read-Aloud Revival page about the new podcast with my favorite author.

Now, this podcast episode was more than I could have ever imagined. Sarah and Jonathan Auxier didn't just get into what The War of The Maps is all about, but they went deep into his other stories' guiding questions (the big life questions he can't answer that he writes his books to find answers for) and craft, and, suspiciously, The Heroes Journey (which, to anyone who doesn't know is a type of story structure, like Three-Act Structure and the Seven-Act Structure...or so I though. Listen to the podcast episode and you'll know what I mean).

(Link to the podcast episode. (title: RAR #262: Every Question Is A Doorway, With Jonathan Auxier) (yes, I have memorized it))

(Link to Read-Aloud Revival's Podcast Page on their website (yes, you can listen off their website, isn't it exciting!!!!))

I have not watched this episode five times....

;)

Now, if you're a Middle-Grade/YA geek like me who watched this video then realized that she's read all Jonathan Auxier's books, but doesn't have them in paperback and so she instantly leapt off her chair and went running to her mother with her wallet so she could go buy paperback copies of all these stories, then you'll know.

Nine years...I've actually only been waiting six, but that doesn't count.

Six years.

And the series finally comes to an end.

The book finally gets closed.

Thank you for reading, my dear friends, I hope you, one day, find something that gets you as excited as I when I realized I finally get to immerse myself back into this wonderful world.

The End