Olga feels inferior to her talented sister. Olga knows she is supposed to love the refinements of society including dance but her true preference is for maps and cartography. Her favourite book is Great Names in Tsarish Cartography. Olga is living in Russia but it is a very different Russia from the one you may know. The country has just come through a long war fighting against the birds. The land is now divided with the birds living in the Republic.
"Before the War in the Skies, before the map of Tsaretsvo was sliced in two and divided into the human Tsardom and the Republic of Birds, birds and humans lived in peace."
The human world is ruled by Tsarina Yekaterina and she has ordered Olga's father to take his family, second wife actress Anastasia, and daughters Olga and Mira to a remote outer region. Her father has instructions to find the famed firebird's egg which has been hidden by a coven of yagas. Whoever has this egg - human or bird - will have power over the land and the skies. The yagas are considered extremely dangerous have been banished from Tsaretsvo. Three of them now live in this remote place. These are the yagas who have hidden the egg.
Anastasia is determined that Olga will continue her dance training. She decides to hold a ball as a dress rehearsal for the real event which will be held when the family finally return to Tsaretsvo. It is an outdoor event and as Olga struggles with her dance steps a huge number of birds swoop down and carry her sister, Mira, away.
Olga has a secret - she is a yaga - this means she will be banished but she must save her sister. Her love of maps is not just a coincidence - it is her yaga skill. Olga can feel, see and even travel to places on a map. She knows her sister is being held in the Republic of Birds. To get there she must make this journey alone, on foot, across the uncharted parts of the map called The Unmappable Blank. She carries with her a special memory bag, a feather and a map. Along the way she also has some very welcome help including a house with chicken legs!
Exciting news! This book became available today! I hope Jessica Miller is smiling a huge smile because this wonderful adventure is sure to be very popular with readers aged 10+. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop who gave me an advance copy of this splendid book. Be warned from chapter 11 on wards the action really heats up. I suggest you set aside enough time to read through to the final chapter - 25 in one sitting. I'm sure you will be holding your breath as Olga races through the icy landscape desperate to free her sister and hold on to her own magic skill.
There are some wonderful names in this book which I have mentioned and some truly delicious words especially in the scene where Olga meets two feather traders.
- infiltrator
- creepsome
- preposterousity
- discombobulated
- perspicacious
One more thing. There is an underlying political tone to this story which I really enjoyed. Olga has to find the firebird's egg but is this wise?
"Even if I could find the firebird's egg, what would happen if I bought it to Ptashka (ruler of the birds)? With a firebird on her side, would she start another war? And then, I'm aware of a creeping voice at the back of my head: with the firebird on their side, would my father and the Tsarina do any different?"
I would pair this book with The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell and Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren and if you enjoy stories involving maps, journeys and survival I also highly recommend The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter.
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