*Full story spoiler ahead*
Foreword Before the Summary
A note before starting The Dollmakers Summary: I wrote a lot of this from memory. I didn’t anticipate writing a summary of this book, but I just kind of decided to. The main theme of this story is Shean’s and, to a more minor extent, Ikiisa’s growth as a character. Shean starts off so incredibly unlikable that I worried I’d hate this book, but I enjoyed it a lot more thoroughly than I expected to. I’m hoping this in depth summary of The Dollmakers helps others if they need a refresher before her other novels!
Shean’s Licensing Exam
Licensor Maton waits impatiently for Shean to arrive for her Dollmakers Licensing Exam. Master Nock, Shean’s mentor, shows up, apologizing for Shean’s absence. Hours later, Shean finally appears, eager and carrying her prized creation—a doll named Silver, crafted to be a guard doll. Shean has high hopes of being a certified guard dollmaker to fight Shod, the monstrous beings responsible for mass murder in the country called One. Maton is awestruck by Silver’s delicate beauty. Silver appears frail, lacking the robust build expected of a guard doll. Shean, however, is adamant that Silver is stronger than he looks and can even outsmart the Shod. Maton dismisses this as irrelevant since Shod are mindless creatures and doesn’t understand why Shean believes the Shod need to be outsmarted. Maton begins the exam.
Once getting to the end of the exam, Maton tells Shean to step outside for the licensor’s secret to the exam. Maton asks Silver if he was designed specifically to fight Shod. In response, Silver shakes his head, indicating he was not, and the exam concludes. Maton gives Shean her license, but to Shean’s dismay, it’s an artisan license rather than a guard license. This means she’s approved to make dolls for children, not to battle Shod, in Shean’s eyes. Frustrated and feeling misunderstood, Shean protests, insisting her dolls are meant for fighting, not play. Maton and Nock try to console her, explaining there is dignity in being an artisan. Enraged, Shean lashes out, punching Maton before rejecting the license entirely. Maton, realizing Shean’s volatile nature, warns Nock she will report the incident, which could result in Shean being permanently denied a dollmakers license. Shean will need to make a formal apology before Maton even considers giving her another license.
Shean’s Entitlement
Later, in Nock’s home, he hears Shean seething. She blames Maton and the licensing system, believing they don’t understand her purpose. The trauma of her family’s death in a Shod attack, known as the Red Tide, drives her. The Shod attacked her village, killing her parents and brother. Shean only survived because a guard doll saved her, and afterward, Master Nock took her in. Since then, she has dreamed of becoming a guard dollmaker to protect others from the horrors she endured as a child. Nock sympathizes, suggesting she seek advice from Ikiisa, a renowned dollmaker with a controversial reputation. Ikiisa’s dolls are the most powerful dolls Nock has ever seen, but their unsettling appearances often lead towns to reject her. She now resides in Web, a northern town, where she’s found some stability. Nock sends Shean on her way with a letter to Ikiisa sealed with a dollmaker’s lock, and Shean, accompanied by Silver and her six other dolls, sets off toward Web, after Silver sneakily steals Master Nock’s dollmaker license for Shean.
Along her journey, Shean arrives in the bustling city of Ports. She spots a stunning blue dress adorned with jewels, which she buys, hoping to make a striking impression upon her arrival in Web. She then befriends a local translator, who guides her to a nearby restaurant where they share a meal. After resting for the night, she continues her journey. Not far from the city, she encounters the aftermath of a recent Shod attack, where a merchant and his family have been killed. A dollmaker, investigating the scene, reveals the merchant skimped on protection because Shod attacks had dwindled after the Red Tide. When Shean tries to ask questions, he rebuffs her but she eventually gets all the answers she wants and goes on her way.
Shean’s Arrival to Web
Eventually, Shean arrives in Web and notices a group of children tormenting what she initially believes to be a Shod. However, upon closer inspection, she realizes they are attacking a doll. She confronts the children, who ignore her and continue beating the doll. When she demands to speak to someone in charge after threatening to tell their parents what they’re doing, the children direct her to Ilo, the man who keeps track of the work that needs to be done in Web. Dola, a timid young girl uninvolved in the harassment but wasn’t stopping the children, carefully retrieves the doll, and returns it to Ikiisa’s home. Dola explains to Shean that Ikiisa is a reclusive figure in Web, only interacting with a few villagers and rarely showing her face. Shean is determined to replace Ikiisa as Web’s guard dollmaker, convinced that her dolls and Silver is superior.
When Shean meets Ilo, she declares her intent to take Ikiisa’s place as Web’s dollmaker, showcasing Silver to prove her capability. However, Ilo remains unconvinced, questioning the need to replace Ikiisa. Frustrated, Shean threatens to send Silver to hunt down a Shod to demonstrate his skills, forcing Ilo to concede. To avoid further confrontation, Ilo meets with the council of Web. After Ilo talks to the council of Web, Leena, the most respected of the council, offers a solution to deal with Shean. Leena purposes a pageant in which Shean and Ikiisa will compete in various trials to determine who is best suited to the role. The council of Web plans to keep Ikiisa as the dollmaker, and Leena explains how the pageant works for Shean. Leena explains that the council chooses the first trial, Ikiisa the second, and Shean gets to pick the third.
Ikiisa’s World Falls Apart
The news of the pageant devastates Ikiisa, who had finally found acceptance in Web after many rejections elsewhere. Ikiisa has been kicked out of every village she’s been at because of the people being afraid of Ikiisa’s odd looking dolls. Fearing that history is repeating itself, she calls upon Roque, a traveling linguist she once helped, using a pendant he had gifted her long ago as a signal.
The pageant begins with the council’s choice of a race between Shean’s and Ikiisa’s dolls. Shean’s dolls are faster and win the first trial, filling her with confidence. Ikiisa then selects a test of strength, challenging the dolls to lift progressively heavier stones. When Silver’s arms crack under the weight, Shean accuses Ikiisa of foul play, claiming she deliberately selected rocks that were too heavy. Ilo dismisses her claims, telling her to accept the outcome. Before tensions escalate, Roque arrives, interrupting the proceedings. Introducing himself as a linguist and translator, Roque explains he’s in Web at Ikiisa’s request, much to Shean’s irritation.
That night, Dola invites Shean to witness a unique event in Web—the unveiling of the spider cities on the “neither moon,” a rare night when the moon does not shine. These spider structures, which inspired the architecture of Web, are illuminated as the spiders emerge to spin webs that glisten in the faint light. Dola explains that the villagers rely on spider silk, which is harvested and used in their daily lives. Fascinated, Shean is struck by an idea for her next trial.
Ikiisa and Roque Part Ways
On the second day of the pageant, Shean proposes a trial of intelligence, challenging each dollmaker to extract spider silk from a live spider. Shean demonstrates first, guiding Silver to perform the task with efficiency and ease, gathering more silk than a human could manage. Ikiisa objects, protesting that the challenge is unfair, but her concerns are overruled. When she attempts the task herself, her doll struggles, and Ikiisa accidentally kills the spider in the process, which angers the crowd, leading to her being kicked out of Web.
Ikiisa walked alongside Roque through the Deep, the dense forest near the village, with a heavy pack strapped over her back. She carried only her dolls, her dollmaking tools, and the bare essentials. Roque questioned her destination, and Ikiisa revealed she was heading to Glass, the city where her old master’s school still operated under her fellow apprentice, Darin. Despite Darin’s strong dislike for her, she hoped he would give her a place to stay while she searched for work elsewhere. As they reached the forest’s edge, Roque asked why she had to leave, leaving Ikiisa momentarily stunned. She explained how Ilo had asked her to go and given her house to Shean. Roque urged her to stay within the forest, having an inkling that she would be needed soon. He then turned back, eager to continue his studies on the Shod, leaving Ikiisa alone at the forest’s edge. She couldn’t bring herself to leave, wandering deeper until she came across a moss-covered boulder she hadn’t seen since she first came to Web. She reached into the moss and found a hidden switch. When pressed, it opened a concealed compartment within the rock—a space she could use if needed.
Meanwhile, Shean arrived at Ikiisa’s house, overwhelmed by the clutter of half-finished dolls scattered around. She told all of her dolls, except for Silver, to go hunt for Shod to prove that she was a true guard dollmaker. In her mind, completing this task would validate her work, allowing her to leave the village she despised and let Ikiisa have her job back. She had effectively driven Ikiisa out of her own home for the chance to show Maton and Nock the strength of her dolls. She started drafting a letter to Master Nock.
Marble’s Discovery
In the forest, Marble—Shean’s thirty-fifth doll—was dutifully searching for Shod. All of Shean’s dolls split up in their search for the Shods. Like Shean’s other dolls, Marble had a curious, research-driven personality. Upon encountering Roque in the Deep, Marble gestured towards himself and Roque to join in the search. Together, they stumbled upon a dollmaker’s graveyard, where they witnessed a doll crawling from the earth. As Roque and Marble observed in silence, the doll struggled to the plateau’s edge and looked over the cliff. Marble’s siblings emerged, following Marble’s lead as they peered over the cliff, astonished to find a chasm below, swarming with red, white-eyed Shod. Fascinated, Marble leaned closer, nearly slipping in, but Roque pulled him back just in time. A clump of dirt gave way, alerting the Shod to their presence. Roque urged the dolls to flee, but Marble and a few of his siblings remained captivated by the Shod and curious about their apparent being dolls.
Back in the village, Shean was frustrated with her letter until Dola approached with a notebook, sparking a conversation. Dola admitted she had wanted to apprentice under Ikiisa but was never noticed. When Shean asked what kind of dollmaker she wanted to be, Dola’s lack of preference unsettled Shean, who had always aspired to be a guard dollmaker. Their conversation was cut short when Roque rushed into the village, shouting about the impending Shod attack. Shean was indignant, convinced her dolls would protect the village, but Roque warned that he had seen the Shod destroy them. Just as he spoke, the Shod arrived, a wall of white eyes gleaming in the darkness, and Shean recognized the remains of her own dolls within the creatures.
Silver’s Secret
Ikiisa, awakened by the eerie Cry of the Shod, rushed with her remaining dolls to Web, hoping to protect the villagers. Her dolls managed to push back the Shod momentarily, and Ikiisa activated her pendant to instruct Roque to help evacuate the villagers. Meanwhile, Shean, Roque, and the others fled through the forest. Dola tripped in their haste, and as a Shod pounced, Silver—Shean’s only doll left to guard her—stood between Dola and the Shod, screaming, “No!” despite dolls supposedly lacking speech.
As Ikiisa fought, she noticed her dolls faltering, realizing with horror that their strength had dwindled over time, not from battle but from the constant wear inflicted by children in Web. She directed her dolls to hide, and she and Bobble ran into the forest. As Shean scrambled for cover, she was pulled into a shelter tree, barely escaping a Shod’s grasp. Yet just before the door could be shut, Shean sees Roque outside, and she rushes to push him inside. Before she could get back into the tree, a Shod grabbed her leg, tearing into her flesh. Before it could do more damage, Ikiisa arrived, fending it off long enough to help Shean escape. They took refuge in the boulder shelter Ikiisa had found, where she cleaned and wrapped Shean’s wounded leg.
Ikiisa and Shean’s Connection
In the shelter, Ikiisa and Shean shared a rare, vulnerable conversation. Shean, burdened with guilt over her dolls’ demise, confided her fears that they might feel pain in death. Ikiisa comforted her, explaining the dollmakers’ first edict—that dolls are made to protect, to serve without hesitation. They discussed their failures and Ikiisa’s wish for her own dolls to be as beautiful as Shean’s. Shean asks how Ikiisa knew she was a guard dollmaker, and Ikiisa says it seems silly but recommends asking the dolls themselves. Inspired by each other, Shean suggested using Ikiisa’s unfinished mannequins to hold off the Shod, giving the villagers time to escape. Ikiisa contacted Roque through her pendant to relay the plan.
Roque, ruminating on studying the Marks, listened to Ikiisa’s plea. Although Marks like the Breath Mark could animate dolls, he had yet to find one that could unmake them. Returning to the villagers, Roque explained the plan, rallying the villagers to evacuate through the forest. Shean and Ikiisa dashed to Ikiisa’s house to hastily mark the mannequins with Breath Marks, preparing a final line of defense. Together, they drove back the Shod for a brief moment, allowing Roque to escort the villagers safely from the tree.
The Web-Tide and Shean’s Revelation
As they celebrated their temporary victory, Shean recalled the ominous nature of the Red Tide—the reason it’s called the Red Tide is that the Shod would retreat only to return stronger. Sure enough, larger Shod loomed on the horizon, cobbled together from the defeated mannequins, growing stronger with each part absorbed. A doll resembling Shean’s brother’s attacked her, stirring memories as it tore into her leg. Shean and Ikiisa get separated as the Shod closes in. Shean returned to Ikiisa’s house and hid, her mind racing with desperation. There, Nock’s license fell out of her pocket and Shean notices the words scrawled on the back: “Give the Shod Breath Marks?” With nothing left to lose, she sprang into action.
Stripping down to her undergarments to avoid attracting the Shod to her ornate dress, Shean used the dress as bait, drawing the Shod’s attention away long enough to pin one down and draw a Breath Mark on it with her finger and ink. The Shod split in half, part of it falling lifeless while the other half squirmed, making a sorrowful Cry. All of the Shod turn to her and slowly walk towards her to get their own breath marks. Shean continued marking Shod, weakening them one by one. Ikiisa, running with Bobble, met Roque, and together, they witnessed the Shod slowly turn and converge on Web.
Shean, exhausted but relentless, marked Shod after Shod until Ikiisa found her amidst the aftermath. They reunited in relief and astonishment, Ikiisa recognizing Bobble as the very doll who saved her during the Red Tide. Overwhelmed with emotion, Shean thanked Ikiisa, finally recognizing her as her savior from when she was a child.
Shean’s Unexpected Journey
Weeks later, Shean worked tirelessly to help rebuild Web, burdened by guilt. Shean was ready to defend Ikiisa from the villagers’ criticism, but Ikiisa beats her to it pointing out their own role in damaging Ikiisa’s dolls. Roque proposed a partnership with Shean to research a Mark capable of undoing other Marks. Although their paths were set to diverge, Shean accepted. Shean is ready to leave and gets to the edge of the forest called Deep and sees Ikiisa and her new apprentice, Dola, waiting for her and Roque. They say goodbye, and Shean and Roque walk a bit before diverging. Shean stunned Roque by kissing him goodbye as they parted ways. Back in Pearl, Shean apologized to Maton, requesting a provisional license, and telling Maton of her knowledge of the Shod being dolls, understanding now that her dolls had a purpose beyond what she had tried to force upon them. During the doll exam, Maton recommends Shean join the research guild since her dolls are neither suited for Artisan nor Guard dolls. As a gesture of atonement, she also returned to Nock, seeking forgiveness for her actions, and Nock, moved by her sincerity, welcomed her home.
Character Index
Shean: The protagonist of The Dollmakers. Incredibly arrogant and entitled for the first 2/3rds of the book and eventually becomes humbled.
Master Nock: Master of Shean. Shean is his last apprentice and takes care of her like he would a daughter.
Ikiisa: Dollmaker of Web. The strongest dollmaker, Nock has ever met. Nock asks Shean to meet and talk with Ikiisa upon her anger at being an artisan dollmaker.
Dola: Grandchild of Leena and wants to become a dollmaker. Before Shean’s appearance, she was timid and tried to get Ikiisa to notice her. She grows very close to Silver during his time in Web. At the end of the book she becomes Ikiisa’s apprentice.
Silver: Shean’s most prized doll. Incredibly life-like and smart. Revealed that he wrote an entire journal on notes he took on people and things in Web. He’s the one who wrote “Putting a Breath Mark” on the Shod.
Roque: Came to the Country called One on a mission to find a Mark, much like the Breath Marks, that can undo other Marks. Immortal (or just about) but was saved by Ikiisa during the Red Tide. He gives her a pendant of communication because of that, and later, she uses it to contact him to come to Web and then, later, save the villagers. Roque meets with Shean in the city called Pearl and eventually recruits her for her help in finding the Mark that can undo other Marks.