The third in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, The Indigo King tells of the further adventures of the Caretakers John, Jack and Charles as they deal with some major meddling in the timeline. Once again, Owen has blended real events in the lives of those represented by the Caretakers with an imagined history and a dose of allusions to great fantasy and mythic stories. This series is one of the best in recent memory for me - I highly recommend it, especially to fans of classic sf and fantasy literature. ( )

Review by Karen Simpson Nikakis:

The narrative has a sense of being a ‘boys own’ adventure–almost in the flavor of Tin Tin or of Sherlock Holmes, for it has a certain genteel air about it. The heroes are middle-aged Oxford scholars, John, Jack and Charles, who belong to a group–reminiscent of Tolkien’s Inklings–who study folk and fairy stories. The real purpose of the group though is to protect the Imaginarium Geographica, the atlas of the Archipelago of Dreams–where fairy stories are in fact true.
In this parallel world, fact and fable mix, bringing with them the threat of catastrophic changes to history unless the heroes overcome such malign forces as Mordred in all his ancestral forms, and the famous explorer Richard Burton. We have the burning of the great library of Alexandria and Geoffrey of Monmouth laboriously building his. And we have Ptolemy and Jules Verne. The plot is a clever and complex blend of both fictional and real historical events, but will work best only where the reader has a solid understanding of the works referred to.

John and Jack are back with their friend Hugo Dyson. They have recieved a manuscript from Charles and have decided to begin training Hugo has a backup Caretaker. The manuscript is from the sixth centuary and has a message written in what looks like blood signed by Hugo himself. He confirms the writing is his and it concerns the Holy Grail and they go outside for a walk. In the grounds around Oxford University they find a door with a carving of the Grail appears from midair and Hugo walks through it. The other two try to call him back but he disappears.

A search and rescue party of badgers appears sent specially to appear on this day, place and at this time. Thus begins the journey of Jack and John into a world where things are vastly different. They meet up with Chaz (who Charles turned out to be in the different world) and Bert who is missing a few limbs. They need to travel through time using clues left by Jules Verne to find out the true identity of the Cartographer and Mordred and stop him from changing the world.

This was somehow quite different to the feel of the first two books in the series. It was more focused, slightly less action packed with more of a linear plot despite all the time travel. It brought in ideas of divinty, christianity and the Grail mysteries. I love that it was based on a real evening between the three characters and led to one discovering his true faith. I am so excited to read the fourth book The Shadow Dragon, although it would be good to have a new villian. ( )