I received Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries in our family Winter Solstice book exchange but didn’t start it until the end of January. It was so engaging I blitzed through it in two days. Having enjoyed it so much it was immediately re-read. The re-read took only two days as well. This same pattern was repeated when reading Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. Fortunately, I discovered this series at the perfect time. Books one and two were already published and book three came out shortly after I finished book two.
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands begins not long after the events of the first book. Emily’s Encyclopedia of Faeries has been published and is highly regarded in the field of dryadology. Her new book is already in the works as she attempts to map all the regions of the Otherlands and where they can be accessed. This research has a dual purpose, information for the book and to find a nexus. A door that, theoretically, connects to multiple faerie realms. A mission that quickly becomes time critical.
Following in the footsteps of an infamous dryadologist who disappeared researching nexuses, Emily, Wendell, Dr. Farris Rose (Head of the Department of Dryadology at Cambridge), and Ariadne (Emily’s niece and student of dryadology) are off to the remote Austrian Alps. Along with searching for the nexus, Emily attempts to solve a 50 year old mystery and ends up making a daring rescue.
Emily continues to be stubborn and chafes at having Farris and Ariadne along. Being too self-assured due to past experience with the Fair Folk has made her cavalier instead of cautious, which costs her. Sadly due to circumstances there is less time with Wendell and therefore less fun banter between him and Emily. Regardless, I love watching as their relationship deepens.
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales starts with Emily and Wendell flush with success from their time in Austria which enables them to get things settled at Cambridge to set off on a much longer grand adventure of exploring Silva Lupi. A fae kingdom so fraught with danger, no dryadologist who entered has ever returned. Emily and Wendell set off with a mission that takes a dark turn. This sends Emily scurrying back to the human world to do intense research into different variations of a fairy story.
This was a perfect third book in a trilogy. Things that happened in the first book came back around, relationships across the first two books become instrumental in the third, the couple finally get a happily ever after at the end. Overall this was a tremendously enjoyable trilogy, with every book being being just as excellent as the one before it. If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend getting them all lined up so you can just mainline Emily’s adventures.
Needing the escape of cozy fantasy, this series has been the perfect companion. As each book is subtitled Book X of the Emily Wilde Series, I am hopeful that Heather Fawcett will continue to visit Emily’s world and take us on more fantastical adventures.
