There were several series that I move with, and Terry Brooks wrote two of them. The Shannara Series and the Magic Kingdom of Landover Series. Although I love the Shannara Series, it was Terry Brooks Magic Kingdom of Landover series I read first. I was searching through my highschool library, this book was published in 1986 so you get an idea how long ago this could have been😊, when I came upon the book cover where a dog was reading a book and a man knelt on one knee before him. Instantly intrigued, I read the back cover, and the rest is history.

Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold
I first read this as a teenager, but when I reread it as an adult, I connected with the story even more. Ben Holiday, a widowed man, receives Rosen, his wife’s favourite store’s, Christmas Wishbook. They filled the Wishbook with an eccentric collection of oddball gifts to fulfill the wishes and dreams for those who could afford it. Gifts included everything from a private dinner in a movie star’s house to the purchase of a Magic Kingdom. A place to escape into dreams and “be born again.”
The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said, “I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Dorothy.
“Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left, nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world. There we still have witches and wizards amongst us.”
L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz
The above quote is at the front of the book. It foreshadows the adventure Ben Holiday will have in Landover.
With his disposition delayed and his preliminary injunction impossible as the judge bears stays and pleas was on a 30-day vacation, and Ben feeling lost in life, he meets with Meeks and agrees to start with a ten-day examination as the King of Landover. In the contract, if he does not change his mind and return within the first ten days, then he must stay in Landover until the first year is complete.
Escape into your dreams…
Maybe.
And maybe he would be escaping into his nightmares.
Terry Brooks, KingdomFor SaleSold
Ben headed out to the Blue Ridge Mountains, wearing the Medallion, which was his key to enter Landover and prove he was the rightful heir. Entering a tunnel cut through the center of a wall of oaks, was attacked by the demon Lord, Iron Mark, and saved by the Knight on his medallion. Not the greatest start. Then Ben finds his guide, Questor Thews, a half-baked wizard lacking control over his magic and that he is the ruler of a dying land.
With the Barons unwilling to recognize him as king, the peasants left hopeless, and a dragon terrorizing the countryside, Ben Holiday’s magical adventure turns out to be a stew of politics, evil plots, and a duel to the death. It is a good thing Ben is stubborn.
Eyes tell more about a man than anything he says. Eyes reflect a mans’ soul. They reflect a man’s heart. Sometimes they even tell the truths a man wants to keep hidden.
Terry Brooks, KingdomFor SaleSold
The rest of his vessels consist of a man turned into a dog, and a couple of flying monkeys.
I can’t buy a house in downtown Vancouver for one million, so I am not sure what Ben expected paying one million for a kingdom. You get what you paid for. He paid for a Kingdom suffering the Tarnish, with no one paying taxes, and plenty of enemies. And I paid for a light, humourous fantasy adventure in a Wizard of Oz like land and enjoyed every minute. Rereading it was a pleasure. It reminded me of my early preference for light humour and action in a fantasy realm. I love darkness and action, but there are times I need something light to escape into, and Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold provides the perfect escape.
If you are looking for a place to escape to, I suggest this series:)
Happy reading!




