The Indigo King

Written by James A. Owen

Narrated by James Langton

On a September evening in 1931, John and Jack, two of the Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica, discover a plea for help on an ancient medieval parchment--which seems to have been written by their friend, Hugo Dyson!  When they rush to warn him, Hugo is abducted by fierce creatures called the Un-Men, who have mistaken him for the third Caretaker, Charles.

 

And in that moment, the world begins to change.

 

The Frontier which separates our world from the Archipelago of Dreams has fallen.  Dark and terrible beasts roam throughout England.  No one can be summoned from the Archipelago.  And worse, their mentor and ally Bert has forgotten them entirely!

 

The only hope to restoring the proper order of things lies on a forgotten island--where a time travel device left by Jules Verne must be used to race through history itself--from the Bronze Age, to the fall of Troy and the founding of the Silver Throne.  And in that single night, John and Jack will find that the only way to save their friend and stop the chaos destroying the world is to solve a two-thousand-year-old mystery:

 

Who is the Cartographer?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 21, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743574723

James A. Owen

James A. Owen is the author of the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series, the creator of the critically acclaimed Starchild graphic novel series, and the author of the Mythworld series of novels. He is also founder and executive director of Coppervale International, a comic book company that also publishes magazines and develops and produces television and film projects. He lives in Arizona. Visit him at HereThereBeDragons.net.

Reviews for The Indigo King

[xxsphynx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok their are 3 characters in this book that represents famous authors like CS Lewis, Tolkien, and some other characters that represent other famous Authors. Basically put these three characters are keepers of the imaginarium geograhpica(place that's imaginary that teaches history and other things), and in this book in 1932 the 3 are separated by a catastrophic event that changes their time, so in order to fix their world and the other world they have to travel through time to defeat an enemy they already defeated! This in turn screws up the time-line somewhat even more!!Great read :)

[drneutron_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rhinoa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jrashk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arthurian legends meets Odysseus myths with a bit of time travel tossed in...and we can't forget the talking badgers! All of that plus a bit of history of map making (cartography). I loved how the accidental time traveler Hugo meets a certain Connecticut Yankee. Owen's mashing up of myths, legends, and classical literature continues to impress and be a fun read.