 First edition US book cover | |
| Author | Terry Brooks |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Magic Kingdom of Landover |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books (US), Orion (UK) |
Publication date | US: August 18, 2009 [1] UK: September 3, 2009 |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | 0-345-45852-4 |
| Preceded by | Witches' Brew |
A Princess of Landover by Terry Brooks is the sixth novel of the Magic Kingdom of Landover series.
A Princess of Landover was published in hardcover in the United States on August 18, 2009 and in the United Kingdom on September 3.
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(December 2015) |
The book begins a prologue on the witch Nightshade still trapped in the form of a crow in a cage in Woodland Park Zoo, having been exiled from Landover for more than five years. Apart from having mysteriously appeared in the cage, her red eyes marked her different from other birds and elicited brief interest from animal experts. They gave up trying to study her after failing repeatedly to capture her, despite her being in a cage.
The story proper begins in the principal's office of the exclusive private school Carringon Women's Preparatory in New England where Mistaya "Misty" Holiday had been sent by Ben to "learn about places other than" Landover. The school was informed that her parents were away most of the time and all correspondence to be made via Miles Bennett, Ben's former law partner. The headmistress Harriet Appleton was with Misty, recounting the girl's previous visits to the same office.
The first was when Misty organized a school protest and shut down classes for three days when the school tried to remove a two-hundred-year-old tree from the school grounds.
The second was when Misty formed an unapproved club for students to "engage in a bonding-with-nature program", the sticking point for the school authorities being ritualistic scarring for the members, which Misty thought would "convey the depth of commitment" and "reminder of the pain and suffering human ignorance fostered". Besides, Misty thought it should not be a problem as the "scarring was done in places that weren't normally exposed to the light of day".
The third and current visit came about because Misty had done something to terrify fellow student Rhonda Masterson to the point of hysterics and had to be sedated by a nurse. Rhonda and other blue-blooded East Coast snots had been bullying Misty until the latter was pushed too far by being called a name Misty refused to repeat. In retaliation, Misty conjured up an image of Strabo, the last dragon of Landover.
Though the headmistress could not be sure what Misty had done, she suspended Misty from school and indicated she would consider accepting Misty back if Misty agrees to be the type of student expected in Carringon.
Misty was only too glad to leave and decided to do so immediately instead of waiting for the Christmas break. Taking a flight to Dulles, the Waynesboro, she returned to Landover through a portal located in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, passable only by certain magic.
As Misty arrived in Landover, thinking about resuming her study of magic with Questor, she was met unexpectedly by Strabo, who somehow knew and made it clear he did not appreciate his image being used by Misty. Her next encounter was much more pleasant, with the mud puppy Haltwhistle coming to greet her. The third encounter before she reached home was a tied-up G'home Gnome Poggwydd, whom she rescued.
Once at home in Sterling Silver, Ben was informed to his dismay the reason of Misty's return. After a heated argument with Misty, Ben discussed with his advisors, Questor Thews and Abernathy.
Questor suggested for Misty to be sent to organize the Libiris, a royal library which was started by the last wise and dedicated king of Landover, to foster greater interest in reading for all subjects of Landover. The project stalled and the library fell into neglect. Questor proposed fixing the library and reopening it would be a worthwhile project for Misty. It was revealed that Questor and Abernathy also withheld something from Ben about the libiris.
Before Ben could approach Mistaya about the project, he was presented with a proposal of marriage to his daughter from Laphroig, lord of Rhyndweir, the largest of the Greensward baronies. Personally repulsed, Ben diplomatically avoided giving a direct answer. However, Laphroig chose to interpret it as tacit approval to woo the girl, and sprung himself upon Misty who had not been informed.
Aghast, Misty rebelled and refused to accept Ben's explanation, nor his idea of her going to the Libiris. She chose to run away from home to her grandfather and enlisted the aid of Poggwydd to hide some of the packings she would need, but this also resulted in her becoming stuck with the Gnome as a travelling companion.
In addition, she was joined by the mysterious cat Edgewood Dirk who seemed to be able to come and go as it pleases, and refused to talk or appear other than an ordinary cat except when alone with her.
When Misty arrived at her grandfather's domain of the lake country, he allowed her to stay but refused to take her side against her father. Realising her grandfather was going to send her back, Misty took a chance when Edgewood Dirk offered her to escape.
At Dirk's subtle proddings, Misty realised the only place she can go to escape from being found by her father or grandfather was the Libiris, the very place she was supposed to go in the first place. Convincing herself that she was going on her own accord, Misty presented herself as a peasant girl to the Libiris.
Misty was almost turned away by the Libiris staff Rufus Pinch, had not his assistant Thom who intervened and pretended Misty was his sister Ellice. Together, they seemed to persuade Craswell Crabbit, the person in charge of Libiris, to allow Misty to stay and help with the work in organising the books.
While Ben and the River King had been trying unsuccessfully to locate Misty, Laphroig deployed his spies to watch the royal castle, convinced he could take advantage of the situation. Questor and Abernathy discussed between themselves what would be the "last place" anyone would think of looking for Misty and came to a startling conclusion that the Libiris might be the place.
Questor made a secret visit to the Libiris and contacted Misty. By then, Misty realised something strange was going on in the Libiris and was convinced Crabbit was up to something bad. She was determined to stay on to investigate while Questor was to return to Sterling Silver, ready to act as backup if necessary.
Misty discovered some similarities between the Libiris and the sentient castle Sterling Silver. With Thom's help, she learned that books of magic were being passed to demons of Abaddon. With some help from Edgewood Dirk, she was able to implement a temporary fix.
Misty's efforts however were discovered by Craswell who had her and Thom captured. Apparently, Craswell had known all along her identity as Princess of Landover.
Meanwhile, through his spies watching Sterling Silver, Laphroig learned the location of Mistaya and set forth there with a large group of armed men to demand Misty from Crabbit. Deciding to play off Laphroig and Ben against each other, Crabbit offered to help by inducing Misty to agree to marry Laphroig, using the threat of Thom's life in the process.
Misty came up with a plan quickly and agreed to the ceremony, demanding it to be held outdoors, and promising not to escape. Once in place, she cast a spell to bring forth the image of Strabo again. Though the illusion was done correctly, the uproar it caused was short lived and she and Thom remained prisoners. However, that was only part of her plan - her goal was to incite the appearance of the real Strabo who promised to visit her if she ever invoke his image again.
The arrival of the real Strabo was much more effective at disrupting the wedding, but Strabo soon got distracted chasing after the armoured men-at-arms which he considered delicacies. Misty was still faced with the armed Laphroig, Pinch who had a crossbow and Crabbit the magician. A stunning explosion occurred when Laphroig's thrown dagger, Pinch's crossbow bolt, and magic from Crabbit and Misty came together.
When the explosion cleared and Misty recovered from being stunned, Laphroig had been turned to stone and there was no sign of Crabbit nor Pinch. Misty had no time to congratulate herself for the demons of Abaddon were breaking through within the Libiris.
With Thom's help, Misty managed to seal the breach from Abaddon. The Libiris began to heal itself, being a creation from the materials taken from Sterling Silver. It was all over by the time Ben and the others from Sterling Silver arrived.
Thom turned out to be the missing brother of Laphroig. Succeeding to the barony, he chose to give the land to the subjects of Rhyndweir in return for reasonable tax to the crown.
Back in the Woodland Park Zoo, the strange crow with red eyes disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared before. The two men in strange attire appeared in the same cage, ranting in an unknown language. After being taken away by security, the two ended up in custody of Homeland Security, which also could not understand them nor figure out where they came from.
The Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human family in the Star Wars franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force and sometimes lightsaber skills. Luke Skywalker, his twin sister Princess Leia Organa, and their father Darth Vader are central characters in the original Star Wars film trilogy. Darth Vader, in his previous identity as Anakin Skywalker, is a lead character in the prequel film trilogy and so is his wife and the twins' mother Padmé Amidala; while his mother Shmi is a minor character in the first and second films respectively. Leia and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, renamed himself Kylo Ren and is the central antagonist in the sequel film trilogy. Shmi, Padmé, and Han are the only members who are not Force-sensitive. The Skywalker bloodline, alongside the Palpatine bloodline, are the two bloodlines that are the strongest with the Force.
Scheria or Scherie, also known as Phaeacia or Faiakia was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey before returning home to Ithaca. It is one of the earliest descriptions of a utopia.
Misty, known as Kasumi (カスミ) in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise owned by Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri. She has appeared as a Gym Leader in the Pokémon video games Pokémon Red and Blue, Pokémon Gold and Silver, and their respective remakes. She was a protagonist in the ongoing anime for the first five seasons, travelling alongside Ash Ketchum and Brock to become the world's best trainer of Water-type Pokémon before departing home to Cerulean City to run the family gym, but made recurring appearances after. The character has also appeared in manga like Pokémon Adventures. She specialises in Water Type Pokémon. Her Japanese voice actress is Mayumi Iizuka, while her English voice was supplied by Rachael Lillis and Michele Knotz, while her Korean voice was supplied by Ji Mi-Ae, Lee Chi-Hyeon, Kim Hyeon-Ji and Yeo Minjeong.
Nightshade is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. Created by David Kaler and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Captain Atom #82 originally published by Charlton Comics.
Queen Zixi of Ix, or The Story of the Magic Cloak, is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Frederick Richardson. It was originally serialized in the early 20th-century American children's magazine St. Nicholas from November 1904 to October 1905, and was published in book form later in 1905 by The Century Company. The events of the book alternate between Noland and Ix, two neighboring regions to the Land of Oz, and Baum himself commented this was the best book he had written. In a letter to his eldest son, Frank Joslyn Baum, he said it was "nearer to the "old-fashioned" fairy tale than anything I have yet accomplished," and in many respects, it adheres more closely to the fairy tale structure than the Oz books.
Archelaus was a Roman client prince and the last king of Cappadocia.
Heroes for Hire are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #54, and was created by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias. The team continued to appear in comics regularly over the years, and has made guest appearances in television productions and game environments featuring other superheroes.
Lioness Rampant is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the fourth and last in a series of books, The Song of the Lioness. It details an adventure of the knight Alanna of Trebond, and her final battle between with her archenemy, Duke Roger of Conte.
The Black Unicorn is the second novel in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks, and the follow-up to Magic Kingdom for Sale -- SOLD!. Published in 1987, the book revolves around the evil wizard Meeks, attempting to wrest control of the kingdom from Ben Holiday, the High Lord and the appearance of a mythical black unicorn in the kingdom.
Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold! is a fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks, the first in his Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Written in 1986, it tells the story of how Ben Holiday, a talented but depressed Chicago trial lawyer, comes to be king of Landover, an otherworldly magical kingdom. The book was re-released as part of a Landover omnibus in 2009.
Witches' Brew (1995) by Terry Brooks is the fifth novel of the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. The plot has an usurper who claims to be from another world calling for Ben's abdication from the throne. Upon Ben's refusal, he soon begins to send several evil, magic creatures against him. During this time, Nightshade kidnaps Ben and Willow's new child, Mistaya, in a dangerous attempt to subvert her and use her innate magic. Meanwhile, Questor and Abernathy are stuck back in Earth to meet up with an old friend, leaving Ben and Willow alone to deal with the new threat.
Wizard At Large by Terry Brooks is the third novel of the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, following The Black Unicorn. Written in 1988, the plot has Abernathy accidentally transported to Earth by one of Questor's ill-conceived spells, while a demonic imp is unleashed upon the kingdom of Landover. It was the last of a trilogy of annual Landover novels until The Tangle Box was published six years later. The book was re-released as part of a Landover omnibus in 2009.
Tilda Johnson, introduced as the Queen of the Werewolves and also known as Dr. Nightshade, Deadly Nightshade, or simply Nightshade, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Introduced as a supervillain opposing Captain America, Falcon, Power Man, Iron Fist, and Black Panther, she is later reformed, becoming the superhero Nighthawk and joining the Avengers in 2017.
Sir Harold and the Gnome King is a fantasy novella American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of the Harold Shea series he originated in collaboration with Fletcher Pratt and later continued with Christopher Stasheff. It was first published in the 1990 World Fantasy Convention Program Book. It first appeared in book form as a limited edition hardcover chapbook issued by Wildside Press in August, 1991, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in October of the same year. In addition to the title story, the book includes an afterword by de Camp and illustrations by Stephen Fabian; the paperback edition also has a cover by Fabian. The story was afterwards reprinted, slightly revised, in de Camp and Stasheff's shared world anthology The Enchanter Reborn (1992). The original version was later reprinted together with the remainder of the de Camp/Pratt Harold Shea stories in the collection The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (2007).
The Magic Kingdom of Landover series is a series of six fantasy novels by Terry Brooks following the adventures of a former trial lawyer named Ben Holiday and the collection of friends and enemies that he encounters when he purchases a magical kingdom.
Tara Duncan is the heroine of the eponymous series of bestselling novels in French written by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian.
Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is a British preschool animated television series. The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and Entertainment One. Many of the voice actors who worked Peppa Pig have lent their voices to the show; these include John Sparkes, Sarah Ann Kennedy, David Rintoul and David Graham. The music is produced by Julian Nott, who is noted for his Wallace and Gromit and Peppa Pig scores. Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is the third show to be produced by Astley Baker Davies.
Gawayn is an animated television series created and designed by Jan Van Rijsselberge. It is produced by Alphanim, Gaumont Animation, and Mondo TV, and the series has been dubbed into different languages. The title of the show refers to King Arthur's nephew Gawain. As of April 2012, Gawayn has been shown on the Starz Kids & Family cable network. It was also the first Alphanim-produced cartoon to get dubbed in Japanese.
The Magic Mirror is a ballet-féerie in four acts and seven scenes, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa with music by Arseny Koreshchenko. The libretto is based on the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm and the 1833 poem The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights by Alexander Pushkin. The ballet was premièred on the 22 February [O.S. 9 February] 1903 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Flash is an American television series developed by the writing team of Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo that aired on CBS from September 20, 1990 to May 18, 1991. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. The Flash starred John Wesley Shipp as Allen, along with Amanda Pays, and Alex Désert.