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346th out of 1,588 books
—
10,565 voters
The Magic Kingdom of Landover: Volume 1 (Magic Kingdom of Landover #1-3 )
by
Terry Brooks (Goodreads Author)
Capture the fantasy, thrills, and far-flung adventure of the first three novels in Terry Brooks’s enchanting Magic Kingdom of Landover series–now for the first time in one gripping volume.
Chicago lawyer Ben Holiday can’t fathom what lies ahead when he purchases Landover–a magical kingdom of chivalry and sorcery–from Meeks, the mysterious seller who placed the ad. Weary and...more
Chicago lawyer Ben Holiday can’t fathom what lies ahead when he purchases Landover–a magical kingdom of chivalry and sorcery–from Meeks, the mysterious seller who placed the ad. Weary and...more
Paperback, 710 pages
Published
August 18th 2009
by Del Rey
(first published March 12th 1987)
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"The Magic Kingdom of Landover" (V1: #1-3) by Terry Brooks all build up to bangup fight finales. I don't find humor in the gnomes eating dogs, cats, or trying to. Middle-aged male wish fulfillment night, bathing in a warm spring and meeting a lovely green fae who says "I am yours" (both in birthday suits) gives me a bad taste in #1, so I prefer #3 where he's more committed to all his friends.
"Magic Kingdom for Sale" #1 For $1M, Ben Holliday, 39, recently widowed lawyer, buys the crown of Landov...more
"Magic Kingdom for Sale" #1 For $1M, Ben Holliday, 39, recently widowed lawyer, buys the crown of Landov...more
May 30, 2011
Erik
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
scififantasy,
has-good-review
An altogether mediocre book, which I purchased only because it came packaged 3-books-in-1
The premise is great - a jaded lawyer, unable to overcome his sorrow over his late wife's untimely death, comes across an ad selling a magical kingdom for ONE MILLION DOLLARS (fufufufu). Skeptical, he nevertheless decides he has nothing else to lose. He purchases it and finds that, indeed, there is a magical kingdom called Landover, full of unicorns and lions and tigers and bears oh my! Unfortunately for Ben...more
The premise is great - a jaded lawyer, unable to overcome his sorrow over his late wife's untimely death, comes across an ad selling a magical kingdom for ONE MILLION DOLLARS (fufufufu). Skeptical, he nevertheless decides he has nothing else to lose. He purchases it and finds that, indeed, there is a magical kingdom called Landover, full of unicorns and lions and tigers and bears oh my! Unfortunately for Ben...more
The Magic Kingdom of Landover: Volume 1 contains the first 3 books of a currently 5 book series. I am going to give a general description of the main characters, then summarize my experience with each of the three books in this volume.
Ben Holiday: Usually the main protagonist, Ben is a trial lawyer from Chicago who, having lost his wife and unborn child to a car accident, and having seen an ad in a Christmas wish catalog, decided to purchase a magic kingdom called Landover for the sum of one mil...more
Ben Holiday: Usually the main protagonist, Ben is a trial lawyer from Chicago who, having lost his wife and unborn child to a car accident, and having seen an ad in a Christmas wish catalog, decided to purchase a magic kingdom called Landover for the sum of one mil...more
This omnibus covers the first three books in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Overall, each one was a very enjoyable fantasy book with an engaging story. Certainly not the height of literary achievement, especially when it comes to character dialog, but still a fun read.
Terry Brooks managed to slip some environmentalism into the first and third books, but it wasn't annoyingly pedantic like some books.
There was only one small logical fallacy with the plot line of the third book that annoyed...more
Terry Brooks managed to slip some environmentalism into the first and third books, but it wasn't annoyingly pedantic like some books.
There was only one small logical fallacy with the plot line of the third book that annoyed...more
The first omnibus (#1-3) was done a day or two ago. The first book was okay. The second was slightly better, but I'm no fan of the unicorn concept so I was enjoying it but feeling uneasy at the same time. The third book was the best of the three.
Some comments on the characters:
- My favorite ones are Strabo (he's so grumpy!) and Dirk. I liked a great deal of Questor and Abernathy also.
- Ben was not up to my expectations. First of all, I don't like his name. Second, I don't like him, for no explan...more
Some comments on the characters:
- My favorite ones are Strabo (he's so grumpy!) and Dirk. I liked a great deal of Questor and Abernathy also.
- Ben was not up to my expectations. First of all, I don't like his name. Second, I don't like him, for no explan...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
As this is an omnibus, I'll review each book as I complete it.
Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold!
This book sets the scene for Landover and our adventures with Ben Holiday. Ben, a successful lawyer, comes across an advertisement for a magical kingdom of his own, and finds the offer too good to pass up. His purchase turns out to be not quite what he expected, but Ben is determined to make the best of it. As far as fantasy goes, this first book is very clichéd yet never feels like it's too standard. Bro...more
Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold!
This book sets the scene for Landover and our adventures with Ben Holiday. Ben, a successful lawyer, comes across an advertisement for a magical kingdom of his own, and finds the offer too good to pass up. His purchase turns out to be not quite what he expected, but Ben is determined to make the best of it. As far as fantasy goes, this first book is very clichéd yet never feels like it's too standard. Bro...more
How do you review an omnibus of three books without giving away any spoilers? I don’t know so I’m not going to try. These are the first three books in the Landover series of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. It is a story that is continually crossing over between our real-world Chicago and a magical Kingdom named Landover.
Book one opens with Ben Holiday, a successful lawyer and partner in a law firm who still grieves the loss of his wife, Annie. He opens a holiday catalog that is exclusive to peop...more
Book one opens with Ben Holiday, a successful lawyer and partner in a law firm who still grieves the loss of his wife, Annie. He opens a holiday catalog that is exclusive to peop...more
It's inconsistent and not great literature but very fun. The first and third book are much better than the second one, although I hope this volume is the end of problems for Ben Holiday that rely on villains that were introduced in the first few chapters of the first book. Light and enjoyable and very quickly read.
Terry Brooks does an amazing job of drawing you into his world of fantasy, where knights fight dragons... And a lawyer pays cash for access to this kingdom...
This book was a bit slow to start, then it got interesting... but unfortunately it got boring again. I did finish the book, but didn't bother with the sequel.
Great book all around. This reminded me that fantasy novels dont have to be dark gritty and contain a thousand characters to make it work. If you want a light, fun fantasy read give this a shot and you won't be disappointed.
I loved these when I was a kid. Reread the first one recently and found it to be terrible
Dec 26, 2012
Oceana Fern {Assorted Insanity}
marked it as to-read
My dad's ex-girlfriend's mother gave this to me for Christmas along with some other adult fantasies, since they were some of her favorites. So I'm going to read and review them... sometime in the near future... or future... eventually...
Quite clever
This book was good, it kind of felt like a dream, sort of surreal but it was entertaining. I didn't get too drawn in to the characters though so I didn't feel like I experienced this story, but it was readable. A lot of fantasy novels are hard to get through because the authors make their characters have really long and hard to pronounce names and the fantasy places and creatures are so foreign it's hard to keep track of what's going on. Unlike most fantasy novels this book is simple to read and...more
A nice series of fantasy books not involving Shannara! Nice quick reads.
I'm surprised people don't like the Landover books. I've started re-reading them and enjoy them as much as I did when they came out. If you've never read a fantasy novel and want to start somewhere, the Shannara books are the way to go though. I wish I had the time to start the whole series over again. Too many books, not enough time.
Good fantasy.
I thought this story could be really interesting (it was someone telling me about the story line that got me interested in reading this book). However, I REALLY felt that the author's writing style was very lacking and to me this really ruined the book. In fact, I only ended up reading the first book of the three in this edition.
This book was a very fun adventure. In my opinion, the more I read, the better it got. I think I liked "The Black Unicorn" story the best. Brooks did a great job describing the world of Landover. Sometimes I thought the descriptions were a little wordy, but vivid nonetheless. Very imaginative.
I only read the first two books in this collection, they were good. Even fun, some would say, but I just did not care to read the last book, "Wizard at Large". I will probably regret this decision and at some point read it...but not now, not with my to-read pile growing larger by the minute.
Did you ever want to check out of this world and into another and start over? This is an adventuresome fantasy tale of someone who did and Mr. Brooks writes it so well you feel like you have. One of those you don't want to put down and can't wait to get to the next one in the series.
A great trilogy. Each story unique yet keeping with the basic theme. A person could also see the parody between the magical world of Landover and our world. I thoroughly enjoyed the first story and the second and third built on it. A great fantasy.
Chicago lawyer purchases magical kingdom full of boring cliches, racial stereotypes, and horrendous characterization of women. A waste of fucking time.
Got through the first two books and couldn't force myself through the third.
awful unless you like books that have a an age limit of 12
Such a fun book and a wonderful world!
I read #1 and 2. I always knew the ending way to soon. I didn't become attached to the characters.
My least favorite of Mr. Brooks' work.
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Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received...more
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Jun 09, 2011 03:57am