In his latest novel, the creator of the world of Shannara returns to his somewhat more original creation, the magic kingdom of Landover. Sovereign Ben Holiday attempts to be merciful in allowing a couple of exiled sorcerers to return to Landover. Unfortunately, the exiles are stalking horses for the Gorse, a potent and evil sorcerer who seeks revenge upon the fairy folk. Ben ends up in the Tangle Box, his only hope for freedom the Lady Willow, who is unfortunately not available when she is needed. All works out tolerably well in the end, and Brooks once again proves he has a surer touch with humorous fantasy than with the saga. Unlikely to lack readers wherever fantasy fans congregate. Roland Green
From Kirkus Reviews
Fourth of Brooks's Magic Kingdom of Landover series. For those unacquainted, widower and lawyer Ben Holiday bought the otherworldly kingdom of Landover for a million dollars and unknowingly acquired a heap of trouble. This time out, King Ben confronts conjurer, trickster, and con man Horris Kew and his sidekick, Biggar the talking bird. Worse, Horris has been sent from our world by the powerful and vengeful sorcerer Gorse, who plans to enslave the fairies of Landover. And soon Ben is trapped in the foggy, labyrinthine Tangle Box with his erstwhile allies, Nightshade the witch and Strabo the dragon. Only the lady Willow can free Ben and friends, but of course Willow has vanished on a mysterious mission of her own. Solid entertainment for series fans, and useful comic relief from Brooks's recently completed Shannara series. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From the Inside Flap
OH, WHAT A TANGLED WEB...
Everything should have been quiet and pleasant for Ben Holiday, the former Chicago lawyer who became sovereign of the Magic Kingdom of Landover. But it wasn't.
Horris Kew, conjurer, confidence-man, and trickster, had returned to Landover from Ben's own world. Alas, Horris had not returned of his own volition--he had been sent by the Gorse, a sorcerer of great evil, whom Horris had unwittingly freed from the magic Tangle Box, where it had long ago been imprisoned by the fairy folk. Now it had returned to enslave those who had once dared condemn it. But first, it would rid Landover of all who could stand in its way...
Soon Ben found himself imprisoned within the gloom of the Tangle Box, lost in its mists and its labyrinthine ways. The only one who could free Ben from the Tangle Box was the lady Willow. But she had disappeared, was gone from Landover on a mysterious mission of her own....
About the Author
Terry Brooks published his first novel, The Sword of Shannara, in 1977. It was a New York Times bestseller for more than six months. He has published twenty-five New York Times bestsellers since. Two of those--the novels Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word--were chosen by the Rocky Mountain News (Denver) as among the best fantasy novels of the twentieth century. A practicing lawyer until his third book was published, Brooks now writes full-time. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Judine.
