Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

Author: Heather Fawcett

Series: Emily Wilde

Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction

Format: Digital ARC via NetGalley

Publish Date: January 2024

Read: July 2023

Favorite Quote: “… many folk obey ancient laws of hospitality and cannot simply come charging into one’s home to murder guests.”

Story Synopsis: Emily Wilde is back at the Dryadology department going about life as normal. Recently returned from Scotland, Emily now has a faerie faun foot in her pack, which she believes is the key to finding the door to Wendell’s realm. However, Wendell has been acting a bit off since his birthday celebration. When Emily tells Wendell about the strange man who appeared to her on campus with his hands full of ribbons muttering inane directions, Wendell brushes it off and complains of a headache. It’s not until Wendell and Emily are attacked by assassins during a lecture that they leave University for the Austrian Alps to find the door back to Wendell’s realm.

There, they encounter new folk, make new friends, make new enemies, and Emily finds herself back in Faerie yet again.

Why does this book beguile? Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was Fawcett’s debut novel and a surprise delight for me when I read the ARC in late 2022. I was utterly thrilled to get the ARC for Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. In book two, Emily gets better. She’s just as matter-of-fact and slightly cantankerous, but she’s softening. I loved the introduction to Emily’s niece, Ariadne, and the Dryadology department head, Farris Rose. Map of the Otherlands is a building book, so there will have to be a third because these stories are definitely not finished!

Rating: 5/5

Link*: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett - Amazon

If you like this, read*: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna