| Beyond the Kingdoms
is a follow up to The Wishing Spell, The Enchantress Returns,
and A Grimm Warning. The Land of Stories series stars
many of our favorite fairy tale characters and their offspring.
A fifth book hasn’t been announced, but the ending of
this one gives readers the impression another one is on the
way.
The prologue opens with Hans Christian Anderson meeting up
with the Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmother has two sons,’
John and Lloyd. She’s worried about her second son,
Lloyd. Hans offers the idea of taking Lloyd into the stories
he reads, so the Fairy Godmother uses magic to turn books
into portals. Just when she thinks she has the gift to win
her son back, she sees his truest desire in the Hall of Dreams
and realizes she can’t save him, at all.
Alex and Connor Bailey (the twins) are back. They continue
to chase the Masked Man who raised an army and a dragon, and
procured something very special, but dangerous in the wrong
hands. The storyline starts off with the Masked Man trying
to trap a coven of witches and blackmail them into a partnership
and some popular Fairytale figures from the last three books
in the series trying to sabotage it. This leads, once again,
to action and adventure for the characters and pure entertainment
for the readers. Alex the leader of the Emerald world is dethroned
by the Fairy Council, which means chasing the Masked Man will
be considered a crime. Alex and Connor know who the Masked
Man is and are determined to find him. Before we witness them
following the Masked Man to the Land of Oz, Neverland and
Wonderland, we see Red Riding Hood suffer a wedding dress
melt down; but her guests are the who’s who in the Fairytale
world, including all the Charming Kings. Bree is close to
discovering her magically family tree; and Alex’s wish
to her late grandmother is finally answered as she witnesses
one of her grandmother’s darker memories. There isn’t
a lag or dull moment in the storyline. Beyond the Kingdoms
is an extraordinary fantasy for tweeners and up.
Fair warning, there are plenty of spoilers from past titles,
and those popular fairytale characters have grown up –
Goldilocks is pregnant and Red Riding Hood is getting married.
Author Chris Colfer is best known as Kurt Hummel on the TV
show “Glee.” I’m not a follower of “Glee”
and I don’t know Chris as an actor, however, after listening
to Beyond the Kingdoms, I can say this young man
has created a series to be remembered. Beyond the Kingdoms
is a great story for both young and old, and the author is
the perfect narrator for his series.
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