As James Owen notes in his afterword, is based on a stroll in 1931 with J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Hugo Dyson, discussing Christianity as mythology versus religion and the author's desire to "mess with the convention of the tales that everyone knows": King Arthur, Merlin and Mordred; Odysseus, Circe and Calypso, even Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee, Hank Morgan. Of course, there are dragons and dragonships; time-travel paradoxes. Lots of humor, especially the badgers, and nonstop action. His lovely illustrations, resembling classic 19th century wood-block drawings that one might see in a masterful Folio Society rendition of a book of fairy tales, add a special element. However, the plot skips around extensively, and I think the context of the first two books in the series are important to understand the battlelines and why the Scowlers (scholars) have to go back in history to restore Hugo's interference. The introduction of Chaz, as a variant of Charles, and his development, is brilliant.
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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. ( )

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 :) ( )

Literary figures, myths and legends all intermingle in this time-travelling tale that blurs the lines between fact and fiction. An enjoyable read, if a little confusing at times. ( )

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. ( )