13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adventures of the High Lord, August 18, 2009
The Magic Kingdom of Landover Volume 1 (2009) is an omnibus edition of the Landover series. It contains
Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold!,
The Black Unicorn and
Wizard at Large.
These novels are set in Landover, a kingdom nestled within the mists of Fairy. It provides enchantment and adventure and has knights and knaves, dragons and damsels, and wizards and warlocks.
Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold (1986) is the first fantasy novel in this series. A prestigious department store offers a Magic Kingdom for sale at only $1,000,000.00 to an appropriate buyer. See Meeks at the main office.
In this story, Ben finds a Christmas Wishbook in his mail. It is addressed to Annie, his deceased wife. Looking through the catalog, he finds an advertisement reading "Magic Kingdom for Sale" and describing Landover.
Naturally, Ben initially considers the advertisement to be a hoax. Yet the department store has a reputation for providing exactly what they advertise. Maybe it would be an adventure.
Ben discusses the ad with Miles, his partner and only friend. Miles also sees it as a cruel hoax, but doesn't mention anything that Ben hasn't already considered. Eventually, Ben takes a week off and goes to New York to talk with Meeks.
Meeks is initially more interested in questioning Ben about his work and skills, but does finally provide a little more information. Yet he chooses not to disclose the location of the kingdom nor the identity of the seller. He lets Ben see the contract terms on the offer, but refuses to let him have a copy until Ben buys the kingdom.
Ben clears away all pending commitments and raises the $1,000,000.00 price of the kingdom. A month after his meeting with Meeks, Ben receives plane tickets and directions to a rendezvous point where he will be met. The directions take him into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
After parking the rental car and walking up the designated path, Ben finds a dark tunnel through the woods. He considers turning back, but continues on into the darkness. As he travels through the tunnel, he encounters a dark creature with a dark rider.
Ben flees from the screaming creature and then finds a battered knight at the other end of the tunnel. The mounted knight charges past him toward the following threats. Ben is nudged off the path by the horse as it rushes past him. There is a sudden explosion of light.
The Black Unicorn (1987) is the second fantasy novel in this series. Ben is firmly established as the High Lord of Landover and has various projects underway to improve the land.
In this story, Ben, Questor and Willow have dreams. When they discuss them at breakfast, there seems to have been an urgency to each dream. Despite warnings from Abernathy, all three set out to follow the dreams.
In Ben's dream, Miles is having some difficulty. So Ben returns to Chicago to check. He encounters visions of Meeks twice during his visit, once at the end of the time tunnel and once outside the elevator on the fifteenth floor near the offices of his law firm. Miles tells him that his fears are unfounded and Ben hurries back to Landover.
In Questor's dream, the hiding place of the lost magic books is revealed. So Questor and Bunion travel to the ruined fortress of Mirwouk. There they find the lost books and return to the castle.
In Willow's dream, a black unicorn appears in Landover. So Willow and Parsnip search for the unicorn.
Ben returns first to Sterling Silver. Shortly thereafter, Questor arrives and shows the magic books to Ben. Then Ben goes back to bed, but has a strange encounter in the night.
Suddenly Meeks appears before him. This time he is not an illusion, but the real wizard. He paralyzes Ben with magic and them replaces his clothes with those of a common man. When Ben tries to use his Paladin medallion, he finds it changed to an image of Meeks. And Meeks has the Paladin medallion.
Somehow Ben no longer looks like himself to others and Meeks looks like Ben. Ben tells his friends that he is the High Lord, but they deny him and have him ejected from the castle. After stewing a while, Ben realizes that Willow will bring the Black Unicorn to Meeks in his guise as the High Lord, so he heads south to intercept her.
Wizard at Large (1988) is the third fantasy novel in this series. Ben has been High Lord for almost five years.
In this story, Questor has found a way to transform Abernathy back to his human form, but he needs the Paladin medallion to use as a catalyst. Since Questor's magic efforts usually fail in part or completely, Abernathy is not certain that such effort would be beneficial.
Despite his objections, it is obvious that Abernathy wants to regain his human form. Ben reluctantly agrees to the effort and hands the medallion to Abernathy. On the first try, Questor changes Abernathy into a full dog, without speech or hand-like paws.
Embarrassed, Questor tries again and successfully returns Abernathy to his dog-like form and pushes for a full transformation into a human. But then he sneezes and Abernathy disappears. A bottle with dancing harlequins appears in his stead.
Questor believes that he has exchanged Abernathy for the bottle. And he is certain that he has seen the bottle previously, but is unsure of where and when. Later he realizes that the bottle contains a Darkling, a form of demon that does dark magic for the holder of the bottle.
Meanwhile, Abernathy finds himself crowded into a display case. After a while, a young girl comes into the room and soon discovers him within the case. Elizabeth lets him out and takes him to her room. Unluckily, two guards see Abernathy with her and report the news to Michel Ard Rhi, the master of the castle.
The author of this series is best known for his Shannara novels. This fantasy series has a somewhat different emphasis.
Highly recommended for Brooks fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of court wizards, fanciful creatures, and true romance.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once upon a ............., October 18, 2010
If you like enchanted castles, wizards, demons, talking dragons, evil witches, love, battles, etc., etc., etc., then "The Magic Kingdom of Landover" Vol. 1 is for you.
I know it's trite and over-used but this is a page turner and a fun read. I don't want to give much of the story away, I'll just say the premise is ingenious the way our hero, Ben Holiday (a successful modern day lawyer in Chicago) ends up King of Landover, a mythical kingdom (or is it?).
I've already decided for myself that (just like Hogwarts) Landover's out there somewhere. You'll just have to read and decide for yourself.
I'm anxious to read Vol. 2, (the two remaining books in the series).
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