Merchant's writing is stunning and vivid, written with a beautiful prose style that is both accessible and full of elegance and wit. Some of my favorite parts of Merchant's writing are her focus on detail and her wit, both of which seem to play hand in hand. Something that I am always drawn to in books is when an author includes very minor, quirky details or insights about a world that aren't necessarily necessary, but that for me serve to build up the world and create a more immersive experience, and this is something that I think Merchant captured really well. Similarly, in doing this she includes some strong wit in both her creative details and a bit a humor that acts as an undercurrent and really helps make this story flow even better than it already does.

Cordelia's search for her father in this story (using the starlight map from book 1) not only reveals a river that responds to human commands - amazing - but crucially, a Secret Society of Mapmakers!!! This has a connection to Merlin and Arthurian Legend - which I love! A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. Anyway, there’s the usual shenanigans and friends helping each other despite their families not getting along at all, Sam and Goose continue to be awesome, and the search for Cordelia’s father continues. We get to learn more about the villain and what they want and why. One to recommend to fans of Michelle Harrison and if you’re after more magical millinery, there’s always Howl’s Moving Castle too by the incomparable Diana Wynne Jones. If that wasn’t enough of an achievement, Tamzin is also in the midst studying herbalism. Here, the actress turned wonder woman - who notably lost the role of the Mother of Dragons after filming the pilot of Game of Thrones - opens up about success, failure and the ‘negative’ moments in her life that ultimately became her most empowering moments…. By penning your own book, The Hatmakers, was it a way of you controlling the narrative of your own career?

Customer reviews

That's surprising, because cliche characters usually bother me SOO much, but somehow this was NICE cliche. Which makes no sense, but I just found it kinda cute and endearing. And I did like Cordelia- she was a very strong female MC and I was rooting for her throughout the book. I also enjoyed the way all the characters complimented each other and how they all had such different personalities. So, yes, maybe a little 1-dimensional but since it's middle grade and I still thought they were cute, I'll let it slide. Right from the first chapter I was enchanted by the beautiful writing. I constantly found myself tabbing and writing down quotes as I went. Like, this: "Keep wildness in your wits...and magic in your fingertips".....come on that's just pure magic.

What a delightfully magical read! I had such a great time, & I’m so sad I don’t have more in my hands to read right now! Lol Cordelia comes from a long line of magical hatmakers, who weave alchemy & enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia's world, Making - crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots & gloves from magical ingredients - is a rare & ancient skill, & only a few special Maker families remain. Cordelia's father, Prospero, a renowned Hatmaker is lost at sea. She lives with her Aunt and Uncle and is learning bits and pieces about their family trade hatmaking. BUT Commisioned hats go wrong. There's a robbery. There are chaos. This is a big probem because France is declaring war on England, and the Maker-families through their magic can actually bring about peace. The peace clothes for the princess apeears to be missing and a villain and a thief is in their midst. This book, uniting historical and philological approaches, uncovers the remarkable lives and writings of these tradesmen, showing how they adapted to their new environment and reacted to the challenges they faced. It also presents a modern edition of the texts of the Hatmakers' guild book. The Hatmakers is set in a fictional country where the king has appointed 5 “maker” families to make gloves, hats, boots, cloaks and watches. These families each specialize in one item and have done so for hundreds of years, and no one else in the kingdom is allowed to make those items. Additionally, the families make the items using magical materials. It’s an interesting idea, and I can see that the author was going for the zaniness and comedy ludicrousness of a Ronald Dahl book, and the whimsy of Diana Wynne Jones. But unfortunately it never reached those points.Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners, who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia’s world, Making – crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients – is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Maker families remain. But life as a magical milliner isn’t without its difficulties . . . A gorgeous adventure from exceptional new storytelling talent, Tamzin Merchant, featuring beautiful illustrations by Paola Escobar. What a fun book! The cover of this is colorful and drew me in, then the start of the book dives right in and keeps a great pace with plenty of action. I thought the characters were entertaining and the plot was interesting. I flew through this in one sitting and I hope there will be more!

In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White. Set in a world where there are Makers, such as the Hatmakers, who weave enchantments into the hats they produce, allowing the wearer to be more bold, daring... or even violent! Cordelia is a Hatmaker who lives with her Aunt and Uncle, and one day her father becomes lost at sea. Not only that, but France is declaring War on England, and it's up to the various families of Makers to produce peace clothes for the princess. Can Cordelia find her father and stop a looming battle with France? Stories featuring strong female hatmakers have captured my heart since meeting Sophie in Market Chipping and this one is no different. Although this isn't quite the next Howls Moving Castle, it's an adorable younger sister to it and delighted my heart as much. Cordelia shares many of the same traits with Sophie: she's determined, loyal and unafraid of doing what's right. The escapades of Cordelia and her friends had me snort-laughing-out-loud, with some delightful twists and a queer romance subplot that just melted my heart. Wildly inventive . . . full of laugh-out-loud humour, enchanting magic and rebellious hope. I loved it’ Catherine Doyle She never expects to stumble upon a secret society of Mapmakers - or to learn that magic isn't limited to the few Maker families, but is instead is all around, if you just know where to look . . .An enchanting fantasy adventure about the importance of bravery, resourcefulness, and following your heart from a debut celebrity author. Puffin is an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world’s number-one publisher representing a vibrant community of publishing houses marked by unparalleled success. Through our world of stories, Puffin aims to open up the world to every child. Our mission is to inspire children to feel they can be and do anything, and to create readers for life. Ever since Cordelia discovered the hidden map in her father's precious telescope, she's been searching the streets of London by starlight and trying to uncover its secrets. She's sure that her missing father is out there somewhere, and that if she follows his map, she'll finally discover the truth about his disappearance. I would say that I've always in my career liked to do my own things. Being an actor is an amazing adventure. It's so much fun, but at the same time there was a lot of spare time especially when you sign onto a show, a big show that has multiple seasons like Carnival Row, those contracts can be quite restrictive. You have lots of time between seasons where you're actually not really allowed to do a tonne of stuff so this is a way of fulfilling other creative parts of my soul, which actually acting doesn't necessarily fulfil. Actually right now I'm studying herbalism. You are studying herbalism! What has that been like? Forgotten magic is like a flower in winter. It disappears down into the depths of the person, and anyone looking could be forgiven for thinking it had gone away completely. But it hasn't gone - it just has to be woken up again." (P.67)