Book Review: The Mapmaker Chronicles: Breath of the Dragon by A.L. Tait

“But after that, it all came down to the map.

Which meant it all came down to Quinn.”

The crew of the Libertas has been out at sea for months. They’ve faced thieves, pirates, strange creatures, and near-death multiple times. Now it’s hunger and the looming deadline to get back to Verdania and win the race to map the world that threatens them. A.L. Tait gives readers a fast-paced, exciting conclusion to her series The Mapmaker Chronicles with the third book Breath of the Dragon.

AL Tait Mapmaker 3

The race to map the world is almost at an end as the third book in this series opens. Our young hero Quinn has faced many challenges and life-threatening dangers. Unfortunately, Quinn’s unique ability to remember, well everything, has been muddled due the head injury he suffered while trying to escape from the Black Hawk. Without his infallible memory, he’s struggling with mapmaking and worries about his friend and crew members learning of his loss.

The crew of the Libertas doesn’t have an easy time finishing this race. At every turn it seems as if they’re being thwarted — from pirates to erupting volcanoes and old enemies, each day brings a new challenge.

Like any good adventure story, author A.L. Tait gives readers exciting action sequences, exotic lands, priceless treasure, and heart-stopping heroics by the characters we’ve grown to love since first introduced in book one: Race to the End of the World.

Breath of the Dragon concludes with a pleasant twist and a satisfying wrap-up for each character. As a reader, I was very happy to meet Zain’s family and I’m quite intrigued — I’d love to read more about them. As for Quinn, I loved how he evolved over the course of all three books and cheered for him all the way. It’d be fun to see the character a few years down the road as an older teen or early twenty-something.

Overall, I heartily recommended Breath of the Dragon and the entire Mapmaker Chronicles by A.L. Tait.

I’ve collected a few links for you. You can watch A.L. Tait via YouTube talk about the Mapmaker Chronicles series and visit her website here. In addition, I encourage you to head over to Kane Miller Publishing and check out the whole series.

Book Review: The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk, by A.L. Tait

“I guess that’s the secret then,” he said.

“As long as someone has hope for you, there’s a chance things will turn out okay.”

(Quinn Freeman, The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk by A.L. Tait)

 

Quinn, Ash, Zain, and the crew of the Libertas are back in The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk by A.L. Tait. The Mapmaker Chronicles gives readers the exciting adventures of 14-year old Quinn Freeman as he sales far away from home on a quest to map the world, a race against time and two other ships and their mapmakers.

ALTait Mapmaker 2

Book two, Prisoner of the Black Hawk, picks up with Quinn and the Libertas crew regrouped after a near-deadly encounter with the Gelynions. Captain Zain has taken young Kurt on board, a former prisoner of the Gelynions and someone that Quinn doesn’t fully trust. As the crew continues to keep a wary eye out for the violent Gelynions, land is sighted. A visit to port is the beginning for Quinn’s newest adventure, although he may have preferred something a bit less exciting than running into a giant serpent and being kidnapped and taken prisoner aboard the Black Hawk, a Gelynion ship.

Author A.L. Tait gives readers another fast-paced story set on the high-seas in a fantastical world filled with terrifying creatures, pirates, and loyal friends. If you’re looking for a story that you can lose yourself in, grab this book. Since I was a kid, I’ve loved adventure stories — from Pippi Longstocking books to the Indiana Jones movies. I have no problem throwing myself right into the adventure along with the main characters, and I really like both Quinn and Ash because I can see myself reacting the same way in some of the situations these two face.

The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk is a delightful combination of action, whimsy, and moments that made me thoughtful. My favorite quote from the book is the one I placed at the top of this review. I believe these words are exceptionally true. My other favorite quote comes from Zain,

“But remember this: the only man who is truly trapped is the man who does nothing. If you do something — anything — then you force change.”

I highly recommend The Mapmaker Chronicles series from A.L. Tait. Start with book one because you don’t want to miss out on early Quinn — his growth has been fun to read.

Exactly one month ago today, I posted my review for the first book in The Mapmaker Chronicles series by A.L. Tait. You can read it here. And be sure to hop on over to A.L. Tait’s website and check out all her books and more.

Book Review: The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World by A.L. Tait

“You cannot change what other people will do.

You can only change how you will react to those things.”

(Zain, The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World by A.L. Tait)

 

The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World by A.L. Tait entertained me on many levels. I love a good quest-style story and one that takes place on the high seas in a fictional world that hasn’t discovered its borders yet, is a great premise. This book totally goes into my pile of books-I-will-read-again.

Mapmaker 1

This middle grade story (could also fall into younger YA) features 14-year old Quinn who has been chosen to attend mapmaker school. The youngest in his family and the “runt” Quinn Freeman is used to being picked on by his older brothers. You would think he’d be excited to strike out on his own, but he’s less than thrilled to leave the security and familiarity of the family farm. While he does okay at the mapmaker school, he’s certain he won’t be chosen as one of the three students to take park in the seafaring race to map the end of their world. Certainly the king will choose the boys who had formal schooling and who come from a more prosperous home. But Quinn is chosen and he finds himself aboard a ship about to sail into the unknown with Zain, the king’s slave, friend, and newly named captain of the Libertas.

Author A.L. Tait weaves a wonderful tale of adventure with Race to the End of the World. She gives the reader heroes to cheer, bad guys to dislike, and just the right balance of fantasy and reality. I really liked Quinn, in particular his growth throughout the book. This character is never flat and I loved that there were times he surprised me. It was great that Quinn was a reluctant protagonist, while his good friend Ash (a stowaway girl in disguise as a boy) was the opposite, more of the adventurer. In addition, I love the idea of the young mapmakers, these young teens with special skills and ability to face the unknown and do something that has the potential to change their world.

I have the next two books in this series to read and am looking forward to continuing on Quinn’s journey. I’m hoping to learn more about the mysterious sea creature they’ve encountered and I’m hoping certain not-so-nice characters from the other two racing ships get their comeuppance as the story moves along.

If these books had come out when my son was younger, I know he would have devoured them. While the main character is a boy, The Mapmaker Chronicles is definitely for all genders and in my opinion, all ages. I thoroughly enjoyed escaping with this book and can’t wait to get back on the seas for book two!

The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World originally was released in Australia in 2014. It’s now available for the first time in the United States and I really recommend you grab your copy today. It was named Readings Top 10 Middle Fiction Books 2014 and a Notable Book for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Of The Year 2015.

Please visit A.L. Tait online at her site here. Check out all her books and her blog. For links to purchase your own copy of The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World, use this link.

Note: I did receive review copies of the trilogy via Kane Miller, a Division of EDC Publishing. You can visit them at kanemiller.com to learn more about their books.