Here, there be dragons

The unusual murder of an Oxford professor brings together three strangers in World War I London: John, a soldier and the professor's correspondence student; Jack, a young Oxford student; and Charles, an editor at the Oxford University Press. One rainy night they meet a curious man called Bert who tells them that they are the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of imaginary lands. Forced to flee in Bert's ship, the group sails to the Archipelago of Dreams, where a battle over Arthur Pendragon's throne threatens to place the evil Winter King in charge. Owen brings together elements from well-known works of fantasy and legend: the lands and characters lean heavily toward Greek and Arthurian myth, while clues from the caretakers' works point to the legendary writers they will become. Although the episodic plot is overlong, and the period narration's formality occasionally slows things down, there's still plenty of action, and Owen's amazingly detailed pen-and-ink illustrations, dark and atmospheric, lend a real storybook flavor. This is the first volume in the Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica series. --Krista Hutley Copyright 2006 Booklist

Owen's (the Mythworld series) clever story construction which essentially starts with a twist ending and works backwards allows for a lively hodgepodge of myth, legend and adventure story. On March 15 (? la Julius Caesar), 1917, a London professor is killed with a Roman spear, "of a make and composition that hasn't been forged in over a thousand years." His dying effort is to dispatch an arcane book to John, his student. The book turns out to be the Imaginarium Geographica, containing "all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale." John and two companions, Jack and Charles, must flee from a group of cannibal beasts who will stop at nothing to obtain it, and end up aboard the 16th-century ship of the diminutive and mysterious Bert, who knew the professor and knows even more about the book. Their travels lead them through Arthurian legend, pre-Biblical flood tales, dragon lore and the works of Jules Verne to name just a few with hints of Narnia along the way. Their mission to defeat the Winter King is linked to the real-world events of the Great War. The conclusion which may not come as much of a surprise to attentive readers reveals the true identity of the three main characters, whose future books are populated with the things they've seen on their journey. Like some of M. Night Shyamalan's films, this book might be seen more as a parlor trick than as literature, but it certainly has its pleasures. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 8 Up-Three Oxford men, brought in for questioning in a London professor's death in 1917, become companions on a voyage through the Archipelago of Dreams where they vanquish a usurper and restore the rightful king, proving themselves worthy to be Caretakers of the Imagination of the World. The three men are Jack (C. S. Lewis), John (J. R. R. Tolkien), and Charles (Williams-a lesser known writer of fantasy thrillers who belonged to the same Oxford literary discussion group, the Inklings). Their identities aren't revealed until the end, along with the premise that their journey became the wellspring for their subsequent fiction. This twist accounts for the extensive use of material from their various imaginations. Readers who have not begun with the publisher's blurb might find the bulk of the story tediously derivative, but those with extensive reading background in both fantasies and mythology may be keen to identify the allusions. The pen-and-ink illustrations, also allusive, include the playing-card royalty of Lewis Carroll and knights that might have been drawn by Howard Pyle. The story itself is unconvincing. The three strangers are quickly identified as "friends," although they have shared nothing more than an after-interrogation drink and apparent abduction. Although John is Caretaker Principia and the apparent focus, only Jack's character is developed enough to change, and youth seems to be the only reason for his flirtation with the forces of evil. It is a series of lucky encounters that sets them on their "quest" and solves the problems that arise. Only for fans of fan fiction.-Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Three young Englishmen are transported to a fantasy land where they must help defeat the wicked Winter King. The punch line--that our heroes are really Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien--helps explain the preceding plethora of literary allusions. For those who don't buy into the premise, this climax will seem overly precious; others will delight in going along for the ride. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

This ambitious fantasy falls short of the mark. Three young men meet in 1917 London, and find themselves embroiled in a dangerous quest to protect a magical book. The men are fantasy authors C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams, and the fantasy world they've entered will be familiar to many. They encounter gods and monsters from Greek, Welsh and Egyptian myth, fauns, satyrs and talking beasts alongside rings of power and talking packs of cards. Unfortunately, the muddled mishmash leads to something rather less than the sum of its parts; there's no rhyme or reason to the interconnectivity of the stories. Moreover, in a world magically created by those writers who comprise "much of the cultural and scientific history of the entire human race"--a list composed nearly entirely of northern European men--is there any reason that an evil overlord straight out of British mythology has Asian features? Clumsy racial stereotyping was forgivable in 1917, but much less so nearly a century later. (Fantasy. 11-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The unusual murder of an Oxford professor brings together three strangers in World War I London: John, a soldier and the professor's correspondence student; Jack, a young Oxford student; and Charles, an editor at the Oxford University Press. One rainy night they meet a curious man called Bert who tells them that they are the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of imaginary lands. Forced to flee in Bert's ship, the group sails to the Archipelago of Dreams, where a battle over Arthur Pendragon's throne threatens to place the evil Winter King in charge. Owen brings together elements from well-known works of fantasy and legend: the lands and characters lean heavily toward Greek and Arthurian myth, while clues from the caretakers' works point to the legendary writers they will become. Although the episodic plot is overlong, and the period narration's formality occasionally slows things down, there's still plenty of action, and Owen's amazingly detailed pen-and-ink illustrations, dark and atmospheric, lend a real storybook flavor. This is the first volume in the Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica series. ((Reviewed December 15, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Owen's (the Mythworld series) clever story construction—which essentially starts with a twist ending and works backwards—allows for a lively hodgepodge of myth, legend and adventure story. On March 15 ( la Julius Caesar), 1917, a London professor is killed with a Roman spear, "of a make and composition that hasn't been forged in over a thousand years." His dying effort is to dispatch an arcane book to John, his student. The book turns out to be the Imaginarium Geographica , containing "all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale." John and two companions, Jack and Charles, must flee from a group of cannibal beasts who will stop at nothing to obtain it, and end up aboard the 16th-century ship of the diminutive and mysterious Bert, who knew the professor and knows even more about the book. Their travels lead them through Arthurian legend, pre-Biblical flood tales, dragon lore and the works of Jules Verne—to name just a few—with hints of Narnia along the way. Their mission to defeat the Winter King is linked to the real-world events of the Great War. The conclusion—which may not come as much of a surprise to attentive readers—reveals the true identity of the three main characters, whose future books are populated with the things they've seen on their journey. Like some of M. Night Shyamalan's films, this book might be seen more as a parlor trick than as literature, but it certainly has its pleasures. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

What PW called a "lively hodgepodge of myth, legend and adventure story" imagines a young C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams on a myth-filled journey to the Archipelago of Dreams. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Gr 8 Up Three Oxford men, brought in for questioning in a London professor's death in 1917, become companions on a voyage through the Archipelago of Dreams where they vanquish a usurper and restore the rightful king, proving themselves worthy to be Caretakers of the Imagination of the World. The three men are Jack (C. S. Lewis), John (J. R. R. Tolkien), and Charles (Williams a lesser known writer of fantasy thrillers who belonged to the same Oxford literary discussion group, the Inklings). Their identities aren't revealed until the end, along with the premise that their journey became the wellspring for their subsequent fiction. This twist accounts for the extensive use of material from their various imaginations. Readers who have not begun with the publisher's blurb might find the bulk of the story tediously derivative, but those with extensive reading background in both fantasies and mythology may be keen to identify the allusions. The pen-and-ink illustrations, also allusive, include the playing-card royalty of Lewis Carroll and knights that might have been drawn by Howard Pyle. The story itself is unconvincing. The three strangers are quickly identified as friends, although they have shared nothing more than an after-interrogation drink and apparent abduction. Although John is Caretaker Principia and the apparent focus, only Jack's character is developed enough to change, and youth seems to be the only reason for his flirtation with the forces of evil. It is a series of lucky encounters that sets them on their quest and solves the problems that arise. Only for fans of fan fiction. Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD