The Crimson Skew by S. E. Grove

The Crimson Skew (Mapmakers Trilogy, #3)

by S. E. Grove

The thrilling conclusion to S. E. Grove's New York Times–bestselling Mapmakers Trilogy—a historical, fantastical adventure perfect for fans of Philip Pullman!

It is late August 1892, and Sophia Tims is coming home from a foreign Age, having risked her life in search of her missing parents. Now she is aboard ship, with a hard-earned, cryptic map that may help her find them at long last.

But her homecoming is anything but peaceful. Threatening clouds hang over New Orleans harbor. Sinkholes have been opening in Boston, swallowing parts of the city whole. Rogue weirwinds tear up the Baldlands. Worst of all, New Occident is at war, led by a prime minister who will do anything to expand the country westward. He has blackmailed Sophia’s beloved uncle Shadrack into drawing the battle maps that will lead countless men and boys—including Sophia’s best friend, Theo—to their deaths.

As Sophia puzzles out her next move, Shadrack is peeling back layers of government intrigue, and Theo is bracing himself to fight. A red fog of war is rising, and New Occident’s future hangs in the balance . . .


* "A triumphant conclusion to a prodigious feat of storytelling."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "A sharply creative, engrossing trilogy . . . Grove's imaginative world building continues to dazzle in this third entry . . . An enormously satisfying wrap-up."--BCCB, starred review 

Reviewed by nightingalereads on

3 of 5 stars

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3.5 stars

There were certain aspects about this series that I loved and some that I didn't. In the last two books, we get a lot more expansion of the world and magic system, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The world S.E. Grove created is truly fascinating. However, the focus on the mechanics of the world sometimes crowded out other important aspects of the story, such as character development. This is where I was let down. I am a character-driven reader at heart. My favorite part of reading is delving inside the minds' of the characters and seeing how they interact with one another. I love to watch how relationships evolve over time, and the two main protagonists, Sophia and Theo, had such a great dynamic in the first book. I was excited to see how it would progress in the later installments; I was imagining them going off on adventures together, exploring the rest of the ages and growing in their friendship. So I was terribly disappointed when I realized that they spent a majority of the other books apart, almost with separate story arcs. I missed all the character interactions from the first book, which I feel got pushed aside for the sake of world development. I still enjoyed the story, but my excitement for it dimmed once I realized that my two favorite characters barely shared one meaningful conversation after the end of book one. In order for me to care about the story itself, I need to actually see the characters develop and interact with each other. Otherwise, their relationships will just sit stagnant and undeveloped. For instance, Sophia's trust in Theo was tried multiple times in The Glass Sentence, which progressed both of their character arcs. There were few, if any, examples of this in the later books. We barely get any substantial scenes with the other prominent characters from TGS either, like Mrs. Clay, Shadrack, and the pirates. Even characters that are introduced later on in the trilogy - who I liked! - get left by the wayside without any real resolution. I can't care about characters if they're never fleshed out, or if their only purpose is to serve the plot. I need character reveals as well as plot reveals.

If characters are not your primary concern, then you may not find this bothersome. I just personally wish there had been a better balance of world-building and character development.

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  • 16 May, 2016: Reviewed