The New World

June 11, 2007
Set in a sprawling realm of scheming deities and heroic mortals, the earth-shaking conclusion to bestseller Stackpole's Age of Discovery trilogy (after Cartomancy
and A Secret Atlas
) focuses on the efforts of the three grandchildren of royal cartographer Qiro Anturasi, a master mapmaker whose unparalleled magical ability allows him to reshape the landscape of reality, to save their world from destruction. Major threats include an undead, soulless prince hell-bent on usurping the crown from his empress stepmother and a vengeance-obsessed elder god determined to undo all of creation. With its huge cast, numerous byzantine subplots and nonstop action, Stackpole's ambitious epic is comparable to—if not quite at the level of—sagas by adventure fantasy heavyweights like George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan. Considering the story's intricate mix of military, political and supernatural machinations, the overall theme is surprisingly simple and profound: every act of creation, no matter how big or small, is significant, and “life itself is magic.”

July 1, 2007
This volume concludes the Age of Discovery trilogy, begun in A Secret Atlas (2005) and continued in Cartomancy (2006), which plays out in a fantastic version of the age of European exploration, in which maps were considered treasured secrets if not magical talismans. The three siblings battling evil come to the end of their perilous quest, with Keles on the run for his life while trying to master terrible powers, Jorim contending not with human pursuers but with an angry and destructive god, and sister Nirati harrowing Hell, with the spirit of a dead and not necessarily trustworthy warrior as her only companion. The whole trilogy has been distinguished by Stackpoles affinity for the Renaissance, and it isnt outrageous to suggest that when the roster of his work is complete, the Age of Discovery may be deemed his finest fantasy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)