A Tale of Magic... (A Tale of Magic..., 1)

Highly recommended for teens. That said I took a chance and got this for my 7 year old daughter. I feared the wording and the terminology might be too complicated for her to appreciate. Needless to say, she was hooked after chapter one and so was I as we read it together. Brystal Evergreen is a great heroine who shows true grit throughout. It's fair to state that the story is hardly original and comparisons with Harry Potter and the like are inevitable. But 'A Tale of Magic' is unique in it's own right as it feels like a brilliant hybrid of the Harry Potter verse and the Jane Austen world (in particular Pride and Prejudice). The chapters may be slightly too long, but this is a minor quibble. The story keeps you so engrossed you fly through the pages. All of which lead you to a brilliant conclusion and totally leave you wanting more. Long may this franchise continue 👌

The kingdoms hate magic and this is the tale of how magic came to be accepted and made lawful in the kingdoms. Bristol Evergreen grew up in the Southern Kingdom and had a vision that she would live a different life than the one available to women in the Southern Kingdom. Bristol finds a book on magic and is caught doing magic. Madame Weatherberry eventually finds her and Bristol is able to learn to perform magic. With other students at the school of magic, Bristol fights the snow queen. That chain of events leads to the legalization of magic in the kingdoms and the release of many who were imprisoned because of magic. This is an interesting tale for middle grade readers. It encourages the development of your unique talents. Those talents likely aren't magic but each person has something to contribute.

Seemed like it had possibilities at first, but deteriorated as it went along. Don't waste your time when there are so better choices.

A book on the og fairy godmother and the fairy council as young kids and how they got to where they were when the wishing spell begins. I couldn't put the book down I am a fan of all the land of the land of stories books but this one is my favorite. There was a twist at every corner. I like how it includes a little history from our world too (witch hunts) I am ever in support to this author.

The latest land of stories book is a prequel to the main set of novels. It essentially is the origin of the use of magic within the land of stores. The book is carefully constructed gathering the players and moving them along to an epic finish that is loaded with surprises. The good: The ending was fantastic. It was surprising and it left a lot of room for the next book. The book carefully placed clues and fitted the stories about the characters into the larger established land of stories universe. The not so good: The book is dark. Executing children, slavery, violent parenting. It's tough to justify letting just any old kid read this. You need to be selective based on how sensitive the reader is with this one. The author ties modern social issues, such as gender inequality, into the story. However, he ties way too many into this book. Oppressive governments, manipulating adult figures, it goes on and on. The book lacks all of the charm from the original series. The sarcasm, wit and special qualities of the characters from the first books (like Red, Bree, Conner, etc) is absent from this book. The characters all felt dull. The book is so slow. It takes 300 pages to get the plot moving. The casting out of those with magic feels so unimaginative. Every X-Men in the Marvel Universe had these same origins 50 years ago. Kid discovers powers, cast out by their family, banned by the government, finds people like them that accept them. They learn their powers. The book didn't need 300 pages to tell the same story. I love, LOVE the series. This may be the weakest book in the series. However, the payoff at the end washed away a lot of my unease with the book. I didn't find it to be as anti-religion as others. It was anti a lot of things. But I did find it to be kind of boring and I couldn't list out three characteristics for any of the characters except the main one. I'm hoping the follow up book brings back some of the humor, charm and creativity I've come to love with this series.