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Mapmaker #1
Mapmaker: Book 1
Kidnapped as an infant, Aleeya has spent her life as a slave to the Temple of Nesha with her wings bound and spirit unbroken. Her mapmaking skills and the will of the gods have kept her relatively safe in this foreign city, but her luck runs out when her escape plans are revealed, prompting her master to sell her.
Just before the sale is completed, slave smugglers kidnap Aleeya from the temple for reasons they refuse to share. They free her wings but deliver her into the clutches of a religious cult whose future hinges on their fantastical belief about her mapmaking abilities.
Worse yet, the man she’s loved from afar for years has decided to throw away his entire life to rescue her, and her foolish temple brother has tagged along. Now, she has more than just herself to worry about.
All Aleeya wanted was to go home and find her parents. Can she rise to the demands of her captors and find her way, even though the land of her birth is farther away than ever? And can she save her loved ones from themselves?
Inspired by Roman mythology and culture, readers who enjoy fantasy adventure will love Aleeya’s trials and journey of self-discovery.
Just before the sale is completed, slave smugglers kidnap Aleeya from the temple for reasons they refuse to share. They free her wings but deliver her into the clutches of a religious cult whose future hinges on their fantastical belief about her mapmaking abilities.
Worse yet, the man she’s loved from afar for years has decided to throw away his entire life to rescue her, and her foolish temple brother has tagged along. Now, she has more than just herself to worry about.
All Aleeya wanted was to go home and find her parents. Can she rise to the demands of her captors and find her way, even though the land of her birth is farther away than ever? And can she save her loved ones from themselves?
Inspired by Roman mythology and culture, readers who enjoy fantasy adventure will love Aleeya’s trials and journey of self-discovery.
- GenresFantasy
393 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 25, 2024
7 people are currently reading
2595 people want to read
About the author
N.E. White
13 books51 followersN. E. White is a fantasy and science fiction author from Northern California. She's been writing since 2005, but only recently self-published her first trilogy, The Mapmaker Trilogy, and is working on a second, The Draghi Chronicles, starting with The Legend of Damndrake.
In another life, she creates geospatial models and maps to support environmental management decisions. When she is not writing, she's probably out on a hike, trying to reach the sky.
Visit www.nilaewhite.com for more.
In another life, she creates geospatial models and maps to support environmental management decisions. When she is not writing, she's probably out on a hike, trying to reach the sky.
Visit www.nilaewhite.com for more.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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May 30, 2025Features you might like:
– Heroine's journey
– Found family
– Winged main character
– Map magic!
– Roman-inspired setting
– Heroine's journey
– Found family
– Winged main character
– Map magic!
– Roman-inspired setting
December 29, 2024
Book Summary:
Aleeya is probably the best cartographer around, not that she’s allowed to relish this fact. As a slave, Aleeya is not allowed to do much beyond following orders. Unfortunately, it’s this talent that has put a target on Aleeya’s back.
It started as a simple - but horrible - transaction for Aleeya’s papers. But it quickly turned into an epic game of cat and mouse, as multiple factions and individuals battled to get their hands on Aleeya. Some want to change the world, others want to ruin it, while yet others just want to save Aleeya.
My Review:
Mapmaker portrays a dark, beautiful, and powerful world. Or rather, the world can be quite dark and brooding, but this gives the characters the opportunity to shine bright. I loved this contract, among many others.
I’ll admit that it took me a little bit to get into Mapmaker, mostly because the slavery depictions were so brutal that a part of me wanted to shy away. However, once I got into it, I was pretty hooked! Aleeya’s character, as is her journey, is the best part of the story.
Mapmaker Book 1 establishes the world and characters, and I’m eager to see what questions Book 2 answers. Because, let me tell you, I have so many questions. My questions range from current relationship statuses to questions about the world and the magical system. I also hope that we can one day see Aleeya’s homeland.
Readers looking for a magical yet foreboding world full of twists and turns should check out Mapmaker. It gets major bonus points for having compelling characters and cartographic elements.
Highlights:
Magical Fantasy World
Roman Mythology
Winged Creatures
Map Making
Trigger Warnings:
Slavery
Abuse & Violence
Kidnapping & Controlling Behaviors
Thanks to N.E. White and Reedsy for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Tumblr | Reedsy
Aleeya is probably the best cartographer around, not that she’s allowed to relish this fact. As a slave, Aleeya is not allowed to do much beyond following orders. Unfortunately, it’s this talent that has put a target on Aleeya’s back.
It started as a simple - but horrible - transaction for Aleeya’s papers. But it quickly turned into an epic game of cat and mouse, as multiple factions and individuals battled to get their hands on Aleeya. Some want to change the world, others want to ruin it, while yet others just want to save Aleeya.
My Review:
Mapmaker portrays a dark, beautiful, and powerful world. Or rather, the world can be quite dark and brooding, but this gives the characters the opportunity to shine bright. I loved this contract, among many others.
I’ll admit that it took me a little bit to get into Mapmaker, mostly because the slavery depictions were so brutal that a part of me wanted to shy away. However, once I got into it, I was pretty hooked! Aleeya’s character, as is her journey, is the best part of the story.
Mapmaker Book 1 establishes the world and characters, and I’m eager to see what questions Book 2 answers. Because, let me tell you, I have so many questions. My questions range from current relationship statuses to questions about the world and the magical system. I also hope that we can one day see Aleeya’s homeland.
Readers looking for a magical yet foreboding world full of twists and turns should check out Mapmaker. It gets major bonus points for having compelling characters and cartographic elements.
Highlights:
Magical Fantasy World
Roman Mythology
Winged Creatures
Map Making
Trigger Warnings:
Slavery
Abuse & Violence
Kidnapping & Controlling Behaviors
Thanks to N.E. White and Reedsy for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Tumblr | Reedsy
February 20, 2025
Mapmaker provides an interesting fantasy. Unlike the typical medieval style fantasies with species such as orcs, goblins, dwarves, and elves, this novel’s main characters have bat-like wings. There’s some nice worldbuilding and characterization that went into this novel.
Readers should be aware that the protagonist is a slave who has been subject to physical and emotional abuse. There’s violence, but not of a graphic nature. Just be aware if you have a sensitivity for that issue.
The magical ability of our protagonist makes for an unusual plot. Kudos for originality. However, I craved a little more explanation as to how the ability might work and its limitations.
There are some other issues to nitpick, such as a shift in point of view during the climax of the story when our protagonist is overcome by the use of her magical abilities. There is also a bit of repetition within the plot wherein the main characters escape from danger only to be captured (or recaptured). And there were times when “spacing” became an issue where I was confused about distances between characters or certain objects. It made me wonder how certain events could have possibly taken place.
But all-in-all this was generally a nice read. It will hit the right notes with a large following of readers.
Readers should be aware that the protagonist is a slave who has been subject to physical and emotional abuse. There’s violence, but not of a graphic nature. Just be aware if you have a sensitivity for that issue.
The magical ability of our protagonist makes for an unusual plot. Kudos for originality. However, I craved a little more explanation as to how the ability might work and its limitations.
There are some other issues to nitpick, such as a shift in point of view during the climax of the story when our protagonist is overcome by the use of her magical abilities. There is also a bit of repetition within the plot wherein the main characters escape from danger only to be captured (or recaptured). And there were times when “spacing” became an issue where I was confused about distances between characters or certain objects. It made me wonder how certain events could have possibly taken place.
But all-in-all this was generally a nice read. It will hit the right notes with a large following of readers.
February 17, 2025
A compelling classic fantasy adventure with some novel twists
The best kinds of fantasy novels are those that you can't put down, and I was compelled to finish this in just two days! This feels like those classic fantasy adventures - you grow to love the characters and their struggles and want things to turn out alright for them. The use of cartography as a magical device is novel and intriguing, and this world of winged and non-winged races is one I plan to revisit in book two (and three).
April 15, 2025
The Mapmaker creates a vivid world with unique fantasy creatures and a magic skill using cartography that feels fresh and familiar all at once. As events unfold, we learn them alongside Aleeya, being just as unaware of the greater plot as she is. It opens on her being sold and we’re brought along as she leaves Ka’ai for the first time, becoming enmeshed in a greater plot as she learns of her new magical talents. There are some delightful plot twists and deceitful characters that kept me on my toes. I found it to be a quick and fun read.
I loved the attention to detail with the wingmen, such as how they wore halters and other clothing specifically created to accommodate their wings in flight. They’re different from most other flying races I’ve seen in fantasy, and it was a nice change of pace (don’t get me wrong, I love the classics too). The religions and multiple gods felt realistic, and Ka’ai felt like a lived-in city. Mysteries unfold each time Aleeya thinks she gets ahead, keeping discoveries about the world feeling exciting each time she encounters them.
Perhaps I am biased from reading historical texts and more grim dark fantasy, but I did not find the depiction of slavery anything worse than YA, though it may still be triggering for some. The description of how to protect oneself on a pleasure boat is likely the most intense scene, which I think works well as a contrast to Aleeya’s shyness about sex later in the book.
Overall, a great fantasy recommendation. The full trilogy is already published, so I’ll be adding them to be tbr.
I loved the attention to detail with the wingmen, such as how they wore halters and other clothing specifically created to accommodate their wings in flight. They’re different from most other flying races I’ve seen in fantasy, and it was a nice change of pace (don’t get me wrong, I love the classics too). The religions and multiple gods felt realistic, and Ka’ai felt like a lived-in city. Mysteries unfold each time Aleeya thinks she gets ahead, keeping discoveries about the world feeling exciting each time she encounters them.
Perhaps I am biased from reading historical texts and more grim dark fantasy, but I did not find the depiction of slavery anything worse than YA, though it may still be triggering for some. The description of how to protect oneself on a pleasure boat is likely the most intense scene, which I think works well as a contrast to Aleeya’s shyness about sex later in the book.
Overall, a great fantasy recommendation. The full trilogy is already published, so I’ll be adding them to be tbr.
January 6, 2025
Liked
Kept you entertained and figuring out what the end results were as unexpectedly. Continued to move forward with ongoing action
Kept you entertained and figuring out what the end results were as unexpectedly. Continued to move forward with ongoing action
November 4, 2025
Aleeya sucks the reader into her life from the very beginning. One moment you feel sorry for her in the next your in total admiration of her power. My struggle is the romantic interest because I'm not completely trusting the main guy and tend to trust more in the man who kidnapped her to sell. I will read on to learn who the man of her future is. I'm OK either way, but I have to know. One is a little too sincere and the other started off so rotten but he keeps telling her things I think maybe she should listen to. You have to get there. White writes incredible worlds that must be read.
February 28, 2025
Why did I like this as much as I did? This had a very unique world, interesting characters, and a great magic system. I did take a star away for the use of “my sex” instead of the real words, I hate that terminology. It was a fun story to read. Thank you Goodreads for the copy. #goodreadsgiveaway
January 29, 2025
You know what's been used a ton in fantasy? Dwarves, elves, and orcs. After them comes the D&D races and fairies. I was so happy to read a fantasy book that had none of those. Mapmaker was a really fresh breath of air for me in this genre. The fantasy races were unlike what I've seen so much in fantasy without being bonkers. The races all felt believable for this fantasy world and that made the characters more relatable. Speaking of exploring new areas of fantasy, I've seen characters afraid to use their powers before, but White's presentation of this trope was fantastic and novel. I won't spoil it for you, but the title is quite apt to the main character's power set.
Another reviewer mentioned the violence and depictions of slavery. It was nothing gory or excessive, just what I'd say is on the adult side. The main character is enslaved and finds a way to take ownership of her situation.
As for the other characters, there's good nuance so nobody is entirely squeaky clean, which makes forgiveness and redemption an important theme, which I always appreciate. Mapmaker offers a vibrant world with exciting characters and great usage and inversion of fantasy tropes we all love. This is a very strong debut novel and White's career will be one to watch!
5/5 wingmen
Another reviewer mentioned the violence and depictions of slavery. It was nothing gory or excessive, just what I'd say is on the adult side. The main character is enslaved and finds a way to take ownership of her situation.
As for the other characters, there's good nuance so nobody is entirely squeaky clean, which makes forgiveness and redemption an important theme, which I always appreciate. Mapmaker offers a vibrant world with exciting characters and great usage and inversion of fantasy tropes we all love. This is a very strong debut novel and White's career will be one to watch!
5/5 wingmen
July 15, 2025
A great new fantasy by N.E. White. I won’t spoil the plot, but the story carried a hint of a world like ancient Rome or Greece, yet had its own unique characters, species, and history. It’s a vividly imagined world of flying wingmen and wingwomen where one talented slave will discover she has abilities like no other. I highly recommend. I’m voluntary leaving this review after receiving an ARC copy.
May 19, 2025
I didn’t expect to get so emotionally tangled in Aleeya’s story, but here we are. The world-building was smooth and immersive, and that one moment where she starts to realize her own power? Gave me chills. Quietly powerful and totally worth the read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 22, 2024
A gripping adventure tale in a unique fantasy world. The heroine’s struggles to survive in a harsh world kept me in suspense through the entire story. A very satisfying ending. I recommend this to any fantasy reader looking to discover a new world.
July 17, 2025
To be honest, it took a while before this book fully caught my attention, but when it did, I was glad I kept reading.
June 22, 2025
Loved this book. Really original ideas, really well written. I literally bought the sequel as soon as I finished. 10/10 no notes.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews