Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! (1984)
Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! is a 1984 magic kingdom of landover (imaginary place) book written by Terry Brooks.
Ben Holiday, a Chicago trial lawyer numb with grief, spots an ad in a luxury catalog: a magic kingdom, one million dollars, satisfaction guaranteed. He buys it, and Landover turns out to be real, broke, and barely governable. The barons ignore their new king, a court wizard bungles his spells, a talking dog serves as royal scribe, and a demon lord waits to settle the throne by combat. Terry Brooks plays portal fantasy for warmth and wit rather than grand doom. A light, comic adventure about a disillusioned man learning to want something again.
Quick answers
What is Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! about?
Ben Holiday, a Chicago trial lawyer numb with grief, spots an ad in a luxury catalog: a magic kingdom, one million dollars, satisfaction guaranteed. He buys it, and Landover turns out to be real, broke, and barely governable. The barons ignore their new king, a court wizard bungles his spells, a talking dog serves as royal scribe, and a demon lord waits to settle the throne by combat. Terry Brooks plays portal fantasy for warmth and wit rather than grand doom. A light, comic adventure about a disillusioned man learning to want something again.
When was Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! published?
Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! was published in 1984.
Who made Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold!?
Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold! was written by Terry Brooks.
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A few thoughts on Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold!
Its comic tone and reluctant-hero whimsy point toward Stardust, the film of Neil Gaiman's fairy-tale quest, and The Princess Bride, which shares the same affection for a knowing, good-humored fantasy adventure.
Fantasy worlds worth escaping into, sword and magic included
Ben Holiday buys himself an entire fantasy kingdom to run, complete with barons, wizards, and a demon lord waiting at the border. The Witcher 3 and Skyrim hand you a comparable realm to wander and mend, Breath of the Wild sets you loose in one worth saving, and God of War gives its reluctant king a family to protect inside it.
Ordinary people who step through a door into somewhere magical
Ben Holiday finds his kingdom through a catalog ad rather than a doorway, but the leap into somewhere else lands the same. Stardust sends its hero through a literal wall into a magic realm, Inuyasha drops a modern girl down a well into feudal fantasy Japan, Doraemon's gadget door opens onto strange worlds on command, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon raises its heroine inside one from birth.
Reluctant heroes who get handed power they never asked for
Ben Holiday never trained to be a king, just a tired lawyer who said yes to an ad. Sailor Moon lands the same shock on a schoolgirl handed a magical destiny, Brisingr sends a farm boy into a war he never chose, Wizard and Glass hands a young gunslinger a command he is not ready for, and Redwall's young hero rises to defend an abbey nobody else can save.