three young men are drawn on a dark and stormy night to meet a scholar of remarkable renown. When they arrive their host has been murdered and the trio is chased by creatures unknown. These wendigoes are creatures of myth and chase the young men across a rainy London night to be rescued by Bert.
Bert and his daughter, Aven, help John, Charles, and Jack flee the wendigo abord Aven's ship: the Indigo Dragon. They adventure into Avalon then Paralon in the "Archipelago of Dreams". The young Oxford scholars learn they've inherited a magical book that allows them to sail the archipelago.
The group grows with each step in their adventure. Bug (also known as Artus) chooses to board the Indigo Dragon in Avalon. In Paralon they befriend Tummeler the badger who is writing a cookbook. Magwitch is picked up accidentally; abused and threatened by the Indigo Dragon's crew until he escapes back to his own crew in service to the Winter King.
The Indigo Dragon's crew and the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica discover their magical book is the one thing the Winter King will tear the archipelago apart to obtain. His shadow-born are wraithlike and have no independent thought: they do the Winter King's bidding through the enslavement of their souls.
John, Charles, and Jack aren't always in agreement with what should happen next, but they do agree keeping the Imaginarium Geographica from the Winter King and finding a stable ruler for the archipelago are the best they can hope for the new world they've discovered. All seems lost as their allies are slowly knocked to the wayside. Their last hope is to find the Cartographer of Lost Places--the author of the Imaginarium.
As the two forces drive toward a resounding clash, secrets are revealed. Friends are lost, and allies become enemies. In the end the map's declaration "Here, there be Dragons" becomes a rallying cry. Readers who enjoy the classic fantasies of Middle Earth, Narnia, and the Nautilus will find this sea-faring adventure in line with the magic of the great stories. Classic authors and their stories are peppered throughout Owens's story of strangers who must rely on each other to survive.
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