The Cartographers
Nell Young's whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell's personal hero. but she hasn't seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map. but when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New Your Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can't resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. in fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence..... because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one-along with any who gets in the way. But why? To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps.... Perfect for fans of Joe Hill and V. E. Schwab, The Cartographers is an ode to art and science, history and magic-a spectacularly imaginative, modern story about an ancient craft and places still undiscovered.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
4mentions
4people
2023–2026years
75% recommend25% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I recently read 'The Cartographers' by Peng Shepherd. If you like this article and want to read a fun murder mystery about things hidden in maps then that is definitely the book for you. (No relation to the author here, I just liked the book!)
- The #BookTok category in my library is my go-to for fresh reads. This year alone, I've already devoured:
* They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera
* Books #1-5 of Loise Penny's Gamache series (detective serial set in rural Montreal)
* Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
* When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Bar Hill
* Books #1-3 in Naomi Novik's Scholomance series
* Babel, R.F. Kiang
* The Cartographers, Peng Shepherd
* Books #1-2 in Olivie Blake's Atlas series
* Books #1-3 in Sylvain Neuval's Themis Files series
* The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa
* Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno Garcia
and the list keeps going. I haven't read this avidly since high school (20 years ago). The recommendations coming out of BookTok are unabashedly entertaining, fun, and quick reads. Perfect for unwinding in the evening, instead of vegging out in front of the tube.
Edit: fixed typos.
- Read a great book over summer based on a mystery of various maps - especially an old 1930s gas station map from a time of adventure that I guess doesn’t exist any more. The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/03/24/cartographer...
- Also a major plot point in Peng Shepherd's novel The Cartographers. Not a marvelous novel (though it's far better than anything I could write), but entertaining enough and an easy read.
