The Indigo King (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica) – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Jul 10, 2009, 14:57 GMT

"Answer the question unanswered for more than two millennia, and perhaps you may yet restore the world."On a September evening in 1931, John and Jack, two of the Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, discover a cryptic warning on a medieval manuscript -- which is not only addressed to them but seems to have been written by their friend, Hugo Dyson! But before they can discover the origin of the strange ...more

Every so often an author comes along who crosses boundaries.  The Indigo King is the third in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Georgraphica.  Written originally as a children's book, it is much more than that.  It is a positively brilliant, thought provoking book which anyone who enjoys fantasy can thoroughly enjoy. 

Although it can be read as a story on its own, it does make more sense if you are familiar with the preceding volumes Here be Dragons and The Red Dragon.  In the Indigo King, John and Jack two of the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica discover a plea for help on an ancient medieval parchment which appears to have been written by their friend Hugo Dyson.

Hugo has been abducted by creatures called the Ur-Men who have mistaken him for the third caretaker Charles.  And as if that was not enough, barriers between the Archipelago of Dreams and our World have fallen letting in all manner of dark creatures.  For John and Jack the task is immense, they have to travel back in time to reconnect doorways to the past and find out the identity of the Cartographer.

Constantly opposed by the Indigo King, it is not an easy task.  It is a challenging read.  You can enjoy simply as a fantasy adventure story - or take it much deeper and enjoy hunting and identifying all the ideas and references that are made to literature past and present. 

Just for starters there are links with Tolkien, CS Lewis, Legends of the Grail, Peter Pan, HG Wells, Greek mythology - the list goes on and on. The Indigo King was my first introduction to this author's work - it immediately made me hunt out the previous two volumes.

I look forward with great anticipation to the fourth volume due out soon.