What do you do when the dragons have gone, and you need them? When the evil you thought defeated has risen more terrible than before? When the world you have sworn yourself to protect, and the world you have left behind, face a terrible danger? Charles, John, and Jack, the Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, have finally made it back to the Archipelago of Dreams, but the world they have come to love is in desperate danger, and Time itself is fracturing.

As always, James A. Owen offers up a story full of danger, excitement, humour and the pleasure of visiting with characters who now feel like old friends. The Dragon’s Apprentice is the fifth in the Imaginarium Geographica series, and by now Charles, John, Jack, and the Grail Child have saved the Archipelago time and time again, but the world itself is unravelling, and the sacrifices the Caretakers must make are becoming more and more desperate.

This book begins with a warning, an obscure prophecy, a fogged vision of the future, a mysterious ghost. The Caretakers, investigating an odd happening, come across the ghost of an old friend with a message that creates more questions than it answers. After this mesmerizing visitor, Rose receives a message of her own

“What is this?” asked Rose.
“Ariadne’s Thread,” Mother Night replied, as if that answered everything. “The skein of eternity has come undone. History itself has unravelled, and none remain who may yet reweave it. None,” she said, her voice rising with emphasis, “save for you.”

Rose, and the Caretakers, must work quickly to stop the destruction of the Archipelago; they are in real danger of losing this world and its counterpart to their deadliest foe yet: the Echthroi. These are the shadow, the Un-Namers, whose only goal is the eradication of all that has been built and created, of all that has been dreamed of and fought for. The dragons have left, old loyalties are fracturing, but the Archipelago still has its champions, and the Caretakers must travel through Time itself to have any hope of restoring the Archipelago.

Owen has once again woven echoes of other books into the novel. Those familiar with Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet will remember that series’ version of the Echthroi and the threat they represent (and, if you are anything like me, appreciate that Rose eats a liverwurst and cream cheese sandwich while first learning about this danger). These books are more than mere adventures; they are filled with references and reflections of some of the most beloved books in literature. The heroes of these pages are powerful architects of their own stories, the characters familiar and yet full of mystery.  The world of the Geographica, filled with gorgeous illustrations, adventure, and old friends, reminds us of the power inherent in imagination and the stories it tells and gives its readers a window into a place where stories begin.

This review first appeared on our sister site Bookbitz.co.uk.

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