On My Shelves: The Magic Kingdom of Landover

Terry Brooks is best known – by far – for his Shannara series, which I have written about previously. However, he has written other books in other settings, and the ones I have enjoyed most have been the Landover novels.

 

There were three volumes in the original Landover series; these are the ones I have read, although I intend to purchase the remaining ones after the seventh and final is completed. Thus this review covers the first three novels: Magic Kingdom for Sale – SOLD!, The Black Unicorn, and Wizard At Large.

 

In Magic Kingdom For Sale – SOLD!, Ben Holiday, an expert lawyer who has lost most of his interest in living since his wife died, is idly paging through one of the super-fancy Christmas Catalogs, the sort that offer things like a child's fully-functional Mercedes or other equally overindulgent extravagances, when he comes across an advertisement for a magical kingdom – available for one million dollars to a "qualified" candidate. The advertisement claims that the magic is real, that the purchaser will genuinely be King, and that true adventure is to be had. Almost against his will, Holiday ends up making an appointment for an interview

 

An interview with Mr. Meeks, the person in charge of selling this most unique item, makes it more mysteriously attractive than ever. Impulsively, Ben decides to take the chance, and buys this "Magic Kingdom of Landover".

 

Despite his doubts, he follows the directions to finding his "kingdom", and walks through strange mists… to a world that is certainly not the one he left. There really is a magical kingdom there, and he is, in fact, its king.

 

But unfortunately, Mr. Meeks told the truth like a Jedi. While the medallion he was given technically makes Ben Holiday the King of Landover, Meeks has actually been selling Landover for vast sums many times over the last twenty years – twenty years being the time the last true, accepted King of Landover died. Meeks was in fact the traitorous former court wizard, who was attempting to control Landover rather than support it.

 

Landover is on the brink of collapse; it is a mystical realm that depends, in literal fact, on the existence and presence of a strong, just, and willing sovereign, and the twenty-year gap has taken an enormous toll on the land. The various pretenders all stayed a short time and then fled back to Earth, unable to handle the responsibilities and dangers of being the King of Landover; the castle, Sterling Silver, has fallen into a state of terrible disrepair called the Tarnish; the lords of Landover have renounced their loyalty to the Throne; the dragon Strabo is wreaking havoc on the countryside; and the Iron Mark, lord of the underworld Abaddon, has claimed the Kingship and will challenge any who choose to assert their right to rule.

 

Ben has only four allies in Landover: Questor Thews, court wizard, half-brother to Meeks, and at best … unreliable with his magic, since Meeks hid all the great books of magic and has been doling out little tidbits on the use of magic in exchange for Thews' cooperation with his schemes; Abernathy, court scribe unfortunately stuck in the body of a dog due to one of Thews' spells; and the kobold warriors called Bunion and Parsnip, formidable monkey-like creatures who function as bodyguards and servants.

 

But Ben also has two other things: a tremendous sense of justice that has driven his career as a lawyer… and a stubborn anger at the thought that Meeks chose him as a loser, as a man who would run away like all the others and leave Landover to collapse.

 

He's going to prove Meeks wrong.

 

He just doesn't know how.

 

Thus begins the first of the Magic Kingdom of Landover books, and it's a hell of a ride after that. The Landover stories are fascinating – speaking as an author – in the way they deftly balance whimsy, affection, flat-out comedy, and honest terror with a sense of joy and wonder. It's a terribly hard balancing act to maintain, similar to the tightrope that Howard Tayler walks when writing Schlock Mercenary, but Terry walks it perfectly.

 

Ben Holiday is a wonderful hero to adventure with. He's not a hero to begin with… but he's someone we can sympathize with, and even very early on we can see the glimmerings of something great hiding within. Meeks made a terrible mistake when he picked Ben Holiday, and Holiday does indeed make him regret that most greviously.

 

Landover itself is an interesting creation; quite deliberately partaking of many of the clichés of fantasy movies and literature, it remains original and powerful through a number of typically Brooks-ish creations, such as the living castle Sterling Silver, the charming if destructive Strabo, and the various macabre threats in the magical world, such as the Darkling and the Iron Mark, which carry the same menacing weight as the Demons of The Elfstones of Shannara.

 

But I must be honest and say that it is Questor Thews I love most. The oft-incompetent, clumsy, yet indomitably honest and utterly loyal and idealistic wizard is in many ways more a hero than anyone else in Landover; he shows this most clearly in Wizard At Large, when he is forced to find a way to cross the Mists and rescue Ben Holiday and his other friends who have become trapped in the mortal world… and in a crowning moment of total awesome, does so by defeating Strabo, the nigh-invincible Dragon, in a duel of magic.

 

The Landover books seem like comedy, but in actuality have much that is serious at their core – themes of finding oneself, of honesty, of courage, of love, are vital parts of the stories and of the world of Landover itself.

 

I recommend these books very strongly indeed!