The Last Mapmaker
Christina Soontornvat
Down with the snobs!
I make a habit of reading the Newbery Medalist and the Newbery Honor books every year. The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat is a 2023 Newbery Honor book, and I quite enjoyed it. In her Biography, Soontornvat tells us that she "grew up behind the counter of her parents’ Thai restaurant in a small Texas town", and that "She is very proud of both her Thai and her Texan roots, and makes regular trips to both Weatherford and Bangkok to see her beloved family members". It is therefore no surprise that the publisher's blurb describes The Last Mapmaker as "a high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world".
I was a little disappointed that the Thai inspiration is nowhere explained in the book. I had hoped for an Author's Note on this subject, but there is none. Indeed, if you search the kindle book for "Thai" and "Thailand" you find nothing. The announcement video on Soontornvat's web site says not a word about Thai inspiration. The Last Mapmaker is indeed a fantasy. It takes place in a fantasy world that is not anywhere on Earth, although the map visibly resembles the Gulf of Thailand. There is no magic in The Last Mapmaker, but, as the publishers tell us, there are dragons. As usual for Asian dragons, these are not flying, fire-breathing dragons -- they are giant water creatures.
Our hero, Sai, lives in the city of An Lung in the island nation Mangkon. Mangkon is, as Britain once was, the center of an empire of conquered lands across the seas. But the Queen, according to legend, is descended from a dragon's egg. (This, I'm pretty sure, is a claim no English monarch has ever made.) So, this is a nation where who you are is who your ancestors were. The important adults in An Lung carry a necklace called a lineal which has a link for every noble ancestor.
So, yeah, they're a bunch of insufferable snobs. Twelve-year-old Sai is the daughter of a petty criminal (this is all in the publisher's blurb, so no spoilers yet). Passing as a well-bred young lady, she has wangled a position as an assistant to Mangkon's chief mapmaker Paiyoon Wongyai. She managed this through merit -- she is, in fact, an able mapmaker.
The real story starts when Paiyoon is tapped for a voyage of discovery. Paiyoon, fearing that he won't be able to handle his duties alone, invites Sai to come along as his assistant. And thus the adventure begins!
If you enjoy seafaring adventures (like Treasure Island, or The Sea Wolf, the the Horatio Hornblower series), then you are likely to enjoy The Last Mapmaker. I did!