Audiobook Review – The Mapmaker’s Apprentice (Glass and Steele, Book 2) by C.J. Archer, Narrated by Marian Hussey (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy/Steampunk
Length: 9 hours and 9 minutes
Publisher: C.J. Archer
Release Date: February 10, 2017
ASIN: B01N1A2QSY
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Glass and Steele series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

“When an apprentice from the Mapmakers’ Guild goes missing, Matt and India are employed to find him. Going undercover as a married couple, they discover that not everyone at the guild is what they seem, and the lad’s unearthly maps caused jealousy, suspicion and fear.

With one of the apprentice’s magic maps in their possession, India and Matt must use their wits and India’s fledgling, untried magic to find him. But the more they investigate, the more sinister plots they uncover, including a link between the Mapmakers’ and Watchmakers’ Guilds, and an ancient magical treasure buried beneath the streets of London.

As the net of suspicion widens and enemies draw closer, it’s not just the apprentice’s life that’s in danger, but Matt’s too. Someone will go to great lengths to prevent him discovering the name of the man who can fix the watch keeping him alive. Great lengths indeed.”

This is the 2nd book in the Glass and Steele series and I didn’t like this quite as much as the first book in the series. The characters are still fun and engaging and I enjoyed the mystery (both the main mystery and the mystery around India’s magic).However (aside from the smaller mystery featured in this story) the story doesn’t make a lot of progress.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. I enjoy the narrator for this series quite a bit.

As for the story, I had hoped India’s magic would feature more in this story but it really doesn’t. The whole issue with Matt and his magical watch doesn’t really go much of anywhere either. Matt and India do end up solving the mystery of a missing Mapmaker’s apprentice. However, this still kind of felt like part of a book rather than a complete novel.

While I do understand this is part of a series, I am beginning to feel like this story is being broken down into small sections just so the author can sell more books.

Overall I am uncertain whether or not I will continue this series right now. It’s a pleasant series to listen to on audiobook and I like the quirky characters but it just doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere.