Book Review: The Emerald Atlas

I was first introduced to this book by a boy that I was tutoring in writing. He wanted to read The Emerald Atlas for his weekly reading assignment and he showed me the copy he was using so that I could get a better understanding of what it was about. I read the summary and I was immediately intrigued, probably because I love fantasy books and because the summary of the book had several things that appealed to me as well: magic, adventure, children finding out that there is more to the world than they imagined, monsters that pose great challenges, and several other things.
 

The Emerald Atlas is the first book in the “Books of Beginning” series by John Stephens. The book features three children whose parents left them behind for some unknown reason: Kate the responsible oldest sibling, Michael the dwarf-obsessed middle child, and Emma the rambunctious youngest sibling. The three of them were recently adopted by a man known as Abraham who seems to possess the power of magic. The three children eventually discover photographs that transport them into the past, where a malevolent Countess has kidnapped the children of a village in order to subjugate the men and women. She seems to be after what she calls the “Books of Beginning” and she believes that the three children are somehow key to finding them. 
 

As far as first books go, The Emerald Atlas does a good job hooking in readers. It is able to tell a compelling story while also hinting at a much bigger picture. Stephens does a very good job creating a vivid world and the details he provides about the world does a good job immersing readers into it. The characters seem a little defined by quirks at the beginning, such as Michael with his dwarf obsession and Emma with her headstrong attitude, but the author uses those characteristics as a way to set the foundation for character development. Emma especially goes through quite a bit of development, starting off somewhat selfish and bratty but soon showing readers that she has a strong sense of loyalty and bravery as well. The bonds between siblings were also shown very well. 
 

If there is anything that could be improved, it would be the transitions between worlds through the photographs. Time travel can be a messy thing to write about and some of the transitions between the children’s present day to the past can be a little hard to follow. Thankfully, this doesn’t really hurt the narrative at all, it just provides a bit of a small obstacle for readers who aren’t used to time travel stories. It also becomes a little hard to keep track of what one certain character is supposed to remember due to the main characters meeting him multiple times during multiple time periods. Once again, this isn’t much of a problem and the confusion a reader might have initially can be dispelled through a second reading.
 

The Emerald Atlas is a strong start for the “Books of Beginning” series. It does an excellent job setting up the key players, making the stakes clear, and also crafts a vivid world along with interesting lore. Fans of fantasy books will have little to lose in picking this book up. This book has made me interested in the rest of the series and I find myself interested in what the author has to offer in series’ later books.