I was charmed out of my metaphorical socks when I picked up the first Emily Wilde book last year, so naturally my excitement was high before starting this second instalment. It didn't blow me away quite as much as its predecessor, but it brings the same charmingly unlikable protagonist and a lot of folklore to the table. Paired with Wendell's... well, Wendell-ness, this was another great entry in the cozy-adjacent fantasies.
EMILY WILDE'S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS
by Heather Fawcett
Published: Orbit, 2024
Hardcover: 352 pages
Audiobook: 12 hours, 4 minutes
Narrated by: Ell Potter, Michael Dodds
Series: Emily Wilde #2
My rating: 7/10
Opening line: The foot would not fit in my briefcase, so I wrapped it in cloth and wrestled it into an old knapsack I sometimes carry with me on expeditions.
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it's too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world's first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She's learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He's an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily's feelings for Bambleby, she's not ready to accept his proposal. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.
And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby's mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley's realm, and the key to freeing him from his family's dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.
Emily is back! As their previous adventure ended in a marriage proposel (as yet unanswered), it comes as no surprise that Wendell Bambleby is equally back and by Emily's curmodgeonly side. While he is waiting for her Yes, his stepmother is getting busy sending assassins his way, which in turn keeps him and Emily busy evading said assassins and finding a way to end the attacks. Since Emily's newest project aligns beautifully with a potential way into Wendell's faerie kingdom, it's off to the Alps for the duo - plus Shadow, the trusty not-quite-dog companion. This time, they are accompanied by another professor, Farris Rose, who brings in a slightly different perspective, being older and (at leas he thinks) wiser than young Emily. Oh yes, and Emily's niece Ariadne tags along, too, her endless chatter and lively disposition in tow.
There were many things to delight me in this second Emily Wilde book, not least that it takes place in my own home country, although quite a ways away from where I grew up and currently live. But it's still recognizably Austria and made me shriek with delight when Emily described a certain type of sweet bun, filled with apricot jam, and dusted with sugar. Those are called Krapfen, my friends, they are delicious, and I had one just yesterday. I mean, look at the fluffy goodness in this picture and then imagine taking a bite. Yum!
Anyway, back to Emily and Wendell. I adored how this book furthered their relationship, not only in that Wendell will receive an answer to his proposal by the end (no spoilers!), but also in showing beautifully how much these two care for each other. Especially Emily, rather cold and clinical in her handling of people, grew beyond herself and figured out that some people are, in fact, important to her and she is willing to go to great lenghts to ensure their safety and happiness. And that doesn't only include Wendell or Shadow.
I was also quite taken with the central element of this book's plot, namely the search for faerie doors and one among them that may function as a sort of nexus, leading to not one specific place, but maybe several or even a large number of them. The search itself turned out less exciting, but as happens on all the best adventures, our scholars' plans don't go at all the way they expect and they soon find themselves looking into the disappearance of a young scholar from years ago whose maps Emily is currently using. So the plot is not only figuring out where this person went - to her death, to faerie, somewhere else entirely? - but also keeping Wendell safe from those assassins, finding a door into his kingdom and, if they have time, overthrowing his evil stepmother to take back his throne. Easy, right?
Sadly, there were also a few things that didn't work so well for me this time around. First and foremost, it felt a lot like the first book, not because of its tone or subject matter, but by plot beats. It's been a while since I read Encylcopaedia of Faeries but I kept being reminded of certain elements - helpful minor Folk, the setup in the village, the helpful/frightened village people, a trip into Faerie - that happened in the first book, in a very similar order.
Now I didn't mind this too much, having adored the first book, but it doesn't push the series as a whole along, if you know what I mean. The world building is still nice and we do get to glimpse a new area with its own types of faeries. There's mentions of Krampus here, which any Austrian will know, having run from people dressed up as them in the streets. But despite the exploration of faerie doors and a new to us realm, it didn't feel as fresh and new as in the first book.
(Small aside about the naming of places and creatures: It all worked pretty well until I read about a mountain called Grünesauge, which literally means "green eye" but German being a real bitch of a language, the way you'd name it would change depending on the case. If the mountain is really called "the green eye" - which, fair, why not - depending on how you use its name, it would have to change from "Grünes Auge" (two seperate words, btw) to "at the Grünem Auge" or "das Grüne Auge" or "behind the Grünem Auge", and so on. I don't want to turn this into a grammar lesson, just throw in a quick mention that this was the only German words that didn't feel quite right. )
Despite my tiny gripes, this was yet another utterly delightful read where a clever, if quite grumpy, woman gets to save the day with her brain, while her sunshiny companion mends her clothes (adding a little extra magic for good measure), keeps their living quarters neat, and socializing with others when she would just stand there, looking stern, wishing to get back to her books. I mean, what's not to love about Emily Wilde?
I have no idea where Heather Fawcett will take us next or even how long she plans the series to be, but I count myself as one of Emily Wilde's loyal companions and will gladly follow her to all sorts of places on her alternate Earth, meet the Folk, learn about other cultures and folklore, and save some people while we're at it. It may not have been as much of a standout as the first book, but this series has cemented itself as a cozy place to go when you still want serious stakes.
MY RATING: 7/10 - Very good
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