The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Title: Book of M

Author: Peng Shepherd

Publisher: William Morrow 2018

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 489

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Book Club - Told in Non-chronological Order

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

After reading Shepherd’s later book, The Cartographers, I wasn’t sure that I would like this one. But a ton of people thought I might, and they were right. This is a very thought provoking and moody tale. It reminds me of The Road and The Walking Dead but without the absolute bleakness of those stories. The story starts out pretty straight forward, but becomes weirder and weirder as we go along. At some point, the reader just has to accept the weirdness and keep moving forward. Many aspects of the shadowless are not explained, but that’s not really the point here. The point is an examination of how memories make us, how memories create our identities and allow us to live in the world. I found myself wondering about all the things that make up me. A much more thought provoking book than her later works.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Title: The Cartographers

Author: Peng Shepherd

Publisher: William Morrow 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 392

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Unread Shelf Reading Challenge - Most recently acquired

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence . . . because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps . . .

On to our book retreat club discussion. Because the votes were split, we are technically going to discuss one romance book (Neon Gods) and one fantasy book (this one) at retreat. I had been so excited to get this one from Book of the Month, but then let it just sit on my shelf. It took about 50 pages for me to really get into the story. I never really loved Nell, but was very intrigued by the mystery once it was set in motion. I connected more with the other Cartographers and their backstories than Nell’s current life. I was not a fan of her and Felix’s pseudo-relationship, but did enjoy seeing her interact with Swann. Once the mystery kicked into gear, I was flipping the pages waiting to see where it went next. Putting the pieces together was my favorite part of this book. Unfortunately, the ending became a bit rushed and muddled and I did not love Nell’s choices. In the end, I didn’t adore this book, but it was a solid fantasy mystery. I’ll have to wait until next week to hear what everyone else thought about the book.

Next up on the TBR pile: