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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Auxier, Jonathan

The Vanished Kingdom: The War of the Maps

513 pp. | Abrams/Amulet | April, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781419753947 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781647002701 $17.99
(2) 4-6 Peter Nimble and Sophie Quire (Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard and Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes) are on a rescue mission: Hazelport, Peter’s home, is in trouble. But when they mistakenly crash a royal wedding, Sophie and Peter discover that the threat to Hazelport is more insidious than they’d thought: Sir Cuitous of the heinous League of Maps, with his calipers and notebooks, has been “taking the measure of things” and draining the magic from Hazelport’s protective flora and fauna. Auxier’s thoughtful departure from the good/bad, hero/villain paradigm shows Peter and Sophie aligning themselves separately with those they once considered opponents. Sophie responds to the wonders of scientific inquiry pursued by the League of Maps; Peter begins to understand the stories behind the Rooks, deadly child warriors. The tale is chock-a-block with characters and places old and new, but most of all with ideas political, psychological, literary, and fantastic. Engaging with ideas is “like picking a lock…When you crack an idea open, it’s like a door. It reveals new paths within. New questions.” There’s much to feed the mind and heart here (such as that choice is the “oldest and most powerful magic”), and, in a suitable paradox, Auxier closes his story in a move both unexpected and time-honored.
Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

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