Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett | 369 pages | 2024

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones 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. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.

She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his 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 Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

This second installment in the series adds some new characters, as well as hearkening back to some of the most charming relationships formed in the first book. I loved the references to Emily's friendship with Lilja, and the opportunities for little Poe to help save the day again. The addition of Emily's helpful and capable niece Ariadne and the curmudgeonly Professor Rose really rounded out the cast of characters. As in the first book, the author shows a wealth of creativity mixed with research as she introduces new faeries and delves even further into the faerie realms. 

Somehow this book manages to mix the "cozy fantasy" genre with a little bit of horror, since the story is warm and quirky but most of the faeries are decidedly not. I'm looking forward to diving into an advance copy of the final book soon!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett | 317 pages | 2023

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want?

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

What a fascinating book. I couldn't put it down. I'm not totally convinced about formatting the book like it's a scholarly journal, especially when we were suddenly reminded of the fact and therefore pulled out of the story a bit. Overall though, this book is so charming. Emily was adorably awkward. The villagers were delightful. Wendell was so much fun to read. Most of all, I'm a huge sucker for folklore and this is chock full of it, both stories that the author (I believe) invented and many that I've heard versions of before. It's a great fantasy series I'm excited to continue!