The Land Of Stories – A Fairytale Journey To Sleep

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And tonight's episode is about a book series called Land of Stories.

Let's take a moment to settle in.

If you'd like,

Take a deep breath and get comfortable.

Let's begin.

The Land of Stories is a series of children's fiction,

Adventure,

And fantasy books written by American author,

Actor,

And singer Chris Colfer.

The first book,

The Wishing Spell,

Was released on July 17,

2012,

With the sixth and final book published in July 2017.

Colfer started plans for a prequel series in 2016,

And has since published three books in this series,

Beginning with A Tale of Magic in 2019.

Described by Colfer as a modern-day fairy tale,

The series follows twins Connor and Alex Bailey as they enter a world of fairy tales and discover that there is more to this world than meets the eye.

Books.

The Wishing Spell.

The first book in the series,

The Wishing Spell,

Was published in July 2012.

It has been 11 months since twins Alex and Connor Bailey lost their father in a car accident,

A month before their 11th birthday.

Since then,

Their mother has been trying to her job with caring for her family.

On their 12th birthday,

Their grandmother gives them an old book of fairy tales from her childhood,

Which Alex decides to keep despite Connor telling her to throw it away.

After she accidentally enters the book,

Connor also enters it to help her.

Upon arriving in the fairy tale world,

They meet Froggy,

A man turned into a frog who gives them a journal that tells of the Wishing Spell,

A spell that can grant a person's wish if they have eight specific items.

Hoping to return to the real world,

Alex and Connor set out to find the items needed for the Wishing Spell.

Along the way,

They meet various fairy tale characters from stories that their father had told them,

Including the huntress,

The daughter of the huntsman.

She works for the evil queen who also seeks to use the Wishing Spell,

Which they learn can only be used twice,

And the man who wrote the journal already used it.

They later conclude that their father is from the fairy tale world.

After Alex and Connor get all the items needed for the Wishing Spell,

The evil queen kidnaps them,

Takes the items,

And goes to her lair,

Which is located north of the Sleeping Kingdom.

There,

Connor tries to prevent the evil queen from using the Wishing Spell by smashing the fairy tear bottle,

One of the items needed for it.

The evil queen reveals that she was once Evelie,

A kind and caring girl who fell in love with a young boy named Mira,

But the enchantress captured her and prevented her from meeting him.

Evelie tried to send secret messages to Mira,

But the enchantress found out and imprisoned Mira in a mirror.

Evelie later killed the enchantress,

But was unable to bring Mira back until she found out about the Wishing Spell.

The evil queen uses one of Alex's tears to replace the fairy tear bottle and activates the Wishing Spell.

Mira is freed from the magic mirror,

But soon after dies in her arms,

And they are both sucked into her magic mirror as her lair collapses.

In the ensuing battle,

The huntsman and his daughter are killed,

And Alex and Connor are rescued.

Froggy is revealed to be the long-lost Prince Charlie of the Charming Kingdom,

And Alex and Connor learn that their grandmother is the Fairy Godmother,

Who can create portals between Earths,

Also known as the Otherworld,

And the Fairy Tale World,

And that the journal was written by their father,

Making them part fairy.

Alex and Connor return to the real world.

The Enchantress Returns The Enchantress Returns is the second book in the series and was published in August 2013.

Alex comes home from school and finds that Connor is worried because Charlotte has not come home from work,

And because she found a romantic note from her co-worker,

A surgeon named Dr.

Bob.

She later confirms that he is her boyfriend after she returns home from work.

Dr.

Bob later comes to their house and tells them that he plans to propose to her,

Which they agree to because it would make them happy.

They decide to surprise Charlotte with a special dinner,

But she does not show up on time despite another nurse at the hospital saying that she had left two hours ago.

They then hear a knock at the door and several soldiers from the Charming Kingdom enter along with the Fairy Godmother,

Who informs them that Charlotte has been kidnapped.

While she attends to her business,

Xanthus,

A member of the Fairy Council,

And Sir Lampton,

An old friend of their father,

Watch over them until Mother Goose,

Their grandmother's closest friend,

Takes over babysitting.

Alex discovers that Charlotte was captured by Esmia,

Also known as the Enchantress,

Who cursed Sleeping Beauty when she was a baby,

And that the Sleeping Kingdom has fallen into ruin.

Since she cannot enter the Land of Stories through the book,

She and Connor instead enter it through a glowing painting at their grandmother's house,

Which also functions as a portal.

Upon returning to the Land of Stories,

They reunite with Froggy,

Who has returned to his frog form as a disguise,

And they travel to the Red Riding Hood Kingdom,

Where Esmia has destroyed several historical landmarks.

Alex and Connor then sneak into a meeting for kings and queens,

Where Esmia captures her grandmother and reveals that she tried to capture Alex,

But instead captured Charlotte after she pretended to be Alex.

At Red's castle,

Connor learns of the Wand of Wonderment,

Which makes its wielder invincible,

And can only be created from the most valuable possessions of the six most hated people in the world.

To find the items,

Red asks the villagers to help her build a flying ship out of her baskets.

After the ship is completed,

Alex,

Connor,

Red,

Froggy,

Goldilocks,

And Jack set out to obtain the six items,

Including the Snow Queen's Ice Scepter,

Cinderella's Stepmother's Wedding Ring,

The Giant's Harp,

The Glass from the Evil Queen's Mirror,

And the Sea Witch's Jewels,

But they do not know what Esmia's most prized possession is.

After landing in Troll and Goblin territory,

They discover that Trollbella,

A female troll that likes Connor,

Is now queen,

And that Bob has also traveled to the Land of Stories.

In the Eastern Kingdom,

They meet the ghost of Old Queen Beauty,

Who tells them that Esmia's most prized possession is her pride.

Esmia uses vines to drag Connor,

Red,

Froggy,

Goldilocks,

And Jack into the Coliseum,

Where Alex attempts to defeat her by stealing her pride,

But is knocked off of the Coliseum.

The Wand of Wonderment saves her from dying,

But she is knocked unconscious and meets Alice,

Lucy,

Dorothy,

And Wendy in her dreams,

Where they give her advice.

Upon awakening,

She returns to the Coliseum on a flying horse.

Esmia attempts to kill her,

But Rumpelstiltskin sacrifices himself to save her out of guilt for what he has tried to do for Esmia.

Connor destroys the wand,

Which drains the magic from Esmia's body,

And she dies.

Afterwards,

Bob proposes to Charlotte,

And they get married in Queen Cinderella's Castle,

Where she thanks Charlotte for taking care of their baby.

When it is time to leave,

Alex claims that she is meant to stay in the Land of Stories,

And that Connor should share their stories in the real world.

The twins believe that they will be separated forever after the fairies decide to seal all portals leading to and from the Land of Stories.

Connor has Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters return him to the Otherworld,

Where he shares their stories.

A Grim Warning A Grim Warning is the third book in the series and was published in July 2014.

Alex has been crowned Fairy Godmother,

While Connor is at school and being questioned about her whereabouts.

He goes on a school trip to Germany to hear previously unheard stories from the brothers Grim that were unearthed from a time capsule.

While the girl he has a crush on,

Bree Campbell,

Is going on the trip,

Four rude girls known as the Book Huggers are also going.

Alex struggles to master spells and falls in love with farm boy Rook Robbins.

While their grandmother is dying,

She has entrusted Alex with her duties,

And knows that the fairytale world is in good hands.

Connor learns that one of the stories is a secret message and a warning for the Land of Stories.

He sets out across Germany to track a 200-year code,

And with the help of Bree and Mother Goose's guidance,

He eventually meets Emmerich Himmelsbach,

A boy from a small village.

Alex and Connor realize that time-displaced soldiers of the Grand Armée,

Led by General Jacques de Marquis,

With help from the Masked Man,

A prisoner whom he freed during a raid on the Pinocchio prison,

Are attacking the Otherworld.

After attacking some villagers,

The army blackmails Alex's crush,

Rook,

Into revealing the location of her and the royal family's.

The Masked Man betrays General Marquis by burning him with his dragon.

Alex's grandmother,

The Fairy Godmother,

Defeats the Masked Man's dragon with her fairy magic,

And returns to magic,

Dying.

Alex,

Hurt by Rook's betrayal,

Decides to break up with him.

She later encounters the Masked Man without his mask,

And becomes convinced that he is their deceased father,

John Bailey.

BEYOND THE KINGDOMS BEYOND THE KINGDOMS is the fourth book in the series,

And was published in July 2015.

The twins are pursuing the Masked Man,

Who Alex believes is their late father,

John,

But Connor is unconvinced.

Alex has been struggling to control her emotions and powers,

Causing her to attack others,

Including her family and friends.

She also insists to the Fairy Council that dealing with the Masked Man should be one of her highest priorities.

As a result,

She is removed from her position as Fairy Godmother,

And from the Fairy Council.

After attacking the Fairy Council,

Alex flees and arrives at the Giant's Castle,

Where Mother Goose is staying.

Morinna is a witch who cursed Froggy to become a frog,

Arrives at Red and Froggy's wedding,

Claiming to be Froggy's first lover,

And threatens to curse Red if she does not leave with her.

Meanwhile,

Connor goes to the library to get the wedding rings for Red and Froggy,

Where the Masked Man attacks him while attempting to steal books.

That night,

Alex wishes to talk with her late grandmother,

Who sends an angel moth from outer space of memories from the stars to tell her the truth about the Masked Man.

He is their Uncle Lloyd.

Connor's friend,

The Fairy Triggs,

Steals a book from his grandmother,

From which they learn that what Lloyd attempted to steal was a portal potion,

Which can transport anyone into any work of fiction.

The ingredients for the potion are a branch from the oldest tree in the woods,

A feather from the finest pheasant in the sky,

A liquefied lock and key from a loved one,

Two weeks of moonlight,

And a spark of magic.

Alex then explains to the others that the Masked Man is their Uncle,

And Mother Goose tells them that it was their grandmother's dying wish that she not tell them this.

The group then travels into several works of literature to stop Lloyd before he recruits an army of literary villains.

As they pursue him through the lands of Oz,

Neverland,

And Wonderland,

In Wonderland,

Lloyd sends them into a trap and traps them in different stories,

Alex in the world of King Arthur,

And Connor in the world of Robin Hood.

After escaping and reuniting in Oz,

They realize that Lloyd has sent armies to destroy the kingdoms and decide to enter Connor's short stories to recruit their own army.

AN AUTHOR'S ODYSSEY AN AUTHOR'S ODYSSEY is the fifth book in the series and was published in December 2015.

Connor,

Alex,

And their friends enter the worlds of Connor's short stories to recruit allies that can help them fight back against the Masked Man and his reign of terror,

Including the worlds of Pirates and Pyramids.

Meanwhile,

The Sea Witch and the Snow Queen,

Along with the witches of Dead Man's Creek,

Plan to use dust made from a magic mirror that demons created.

The dust caused the Enchantress' temper and heartache,

And they believe it will also work on Alex.

Morina attacks Alex as she heads for the bathroom and throws the dust in her face.

Meanwhile,

Lloyd attacks Connor and his friends and forces them to give him a blood transfusion from Emmerich,

Who is revealed to be his son.

Connor defeats Lloyd by trapping him in one of Bree's stories,

But then learns that Alex has disappeared.

WORLDS COLLIDE WORLDS COLLIDE is the sixth and final book in the series and was released in July 2017.

Connor,

Now 80 years old,

Celebrates his birthday at a bookstore.

He then returns home and goes upstairs to find a collection of books he wrote about their adventures.

He picks up the sixth and final book and begins to read in order to remember what happened.

Alex,

Still under the witches' control,

Wreaks havoc at the New York Public Library.

After learning of this,

Connor heads to New York City along with Red,

Jack,

Goldilocks,

And Bree.

As Connor's group attempts to reach the library,

A homeless man named Rusty,

Who had helped them earlier,

Leads them to a subway tunnel that was abandoned in the 1920s that runs underneath the library.

While there,

They hear from other homeless people and realize that a portal between the worlds will soon open in the library.

They break into the library and see Alex,

Who is under Morna's control.

While sleeping,

Connor receives a message from Alex that she wants him to kill her so that she can return to magic and be free from the curse.

The book huggers rescue Connor and his friends,

While the fairy council and other heroes battle the witches and villains.

But Alex continues to wreak havoc.

After the literary army is defeated,

Connor writes a special story where they never have entered the Land of Stories and their father was still alive.

Seeing her father again broke the curse and the old Alex is back.

They then repair New York with healing flames,

And a week later meet the president,

Catherine Walker,

Telling her that the book that leads to the Land of Stories must be protected to prevent future catastrophes.

The series ends 65 years later as Connor,

Now 80 years old,

Prepares to move into a retirement home.

His granddaughter,

Charlotte Charlie Black,

Visits him on his way to visit Alex,

And then to the Land of Stories.

The series ends with Charlie hearing a noise and going to the attic where she sees the Land of Stories book glowing.

After all that has happened,

Alex and Connor are finally reunited.

Development.

Colfer recorded his audiobook himself.

The Land of Stories,

The wishing spell,

Has been translated into several languages including Albanian,

Spanish,

Japanese,

Russian,

Italian,

French,

Hebrew,

Greek,

Portuguese,

Brazil,

And Dutch.

Later on,

Colfer wrote a prequel to the book series called A Tale of Magic,

Based on the Land of Stories,

But about the fairy godmother's childhood.

Characters.

Heroes.

Alexandra Alex Marie Bailey is Connor's twin sister who is intelligent,

Studious,

And curious,

And often gets full marks in class.

She is considered to be the teacher's pet,

But does not have many friends.

She is one of the most powerful fairies they have ever known,

And often struggles to control her power.

She is also the reason that she and Connor enter the Land of Stories,

As her attempts to investigate the book lead to her accidentally being transported into it.

Connor Jonathan Bailey is Alex's twin brother,

Who,

Unlike her,

Is lazy and often falls asleep in class.

He is sociable,

But feels constantly overshadowed by her talent.

He dislikes his teacher,

Mrs.

Peters,

But she later inspires him to become a writer,

And in an author's odyssey,

He travels into his short stories.

In Worlds Collide,

It is revealed that he and Brie married and had children together,

And that he became a successful author.

Charlie Carlton Froggy Charming is a large humanoid frog who helps the twins in their adventures.

He was formerly known as Prince Charlie Charming,

Until the Witch Morna cursed him because of his vanity,

And because she believed that he ended their relationship because of her appearance.

At first,

He is ashamed of being a frog and lives alone in the Dwarf's Forest,

But is later elected King of the Center Kingdom.

In Beyond the Kingdoms,

He is imprisoned in a magic mirror to protect Red,

And in Worlds Collide,

He is freed after performing a good deed,

And marries her soon after.

Red Riding Hood is the Queen of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom.

She can be snarky,

Self-centered,

And clueless,

But is also compassionate,

Loyal,

And courageous.

She was once in love with Jack,

But he rejects her in favor of Goldilocks.

Though initially repulsed by the fact that he is a frog,

She eventually falls in love with Froggy after learning that he was once a prince.

In A Grim Warning,

Little Bo Peep temporarily takes over her throne,

But she later gets it back.

In Beyond the Kingdoms,

Morna crashes her and Froggy's wedding,

And threatens Red in order to kidnap Froggy,

Who turns her way and goes with Morna to protect her.

In Worlds Collide,

She saves her friends from Morna and kills her with a hand mirror,

Later marrying Froggy and adopting the lost boys from Neverland.

Jack is a grown man who grew up Beanstalk when he was younger.

Despite Red's affection towards him,

He rejects her and falls in love with Goldilocks.

Because of his love for her,

He decides to join her on the run,

Regardless of the consequences.

He marries her in A Grim Warning,

And in an author's odyssey they have a child and name him Hero.

Goldilocks is a tough and fearless criminal who raids kingdoms.

Hageda,

A kind witch who lives in the Dwarf Forest,

Gave her her first sword.

She married Jack in A Grim Warning.

In Beyond the Kingdoms,

She becomes pregnant with his child,

And in an author's odyssey she gives birth to a baby boy and names him Hero.

Fairy Godmother,

Bristol Lynn Evergreen,

Is Alex and Connor's grandmother and the leader of the Fairy Council,

Who is the only one who can create portals between the Fairy Tale World and the Otherworld.

She dies in A Grim Warning after slaying a dragon.

It is revealed in A Tale of Magic that her real name is Bristol Lynn Evergreen.

Mother Goose,

Lucy Goose,

Is a member of the Fairy Council and like the Fairy Godmother can travel between worlds.

She is accompanied by her pet gander,

Lester,

And likes to read nursery rhymes to children around the world.

She is first mentioned in The Wishing Spell and appears in The Enchantress Returns,

A Grim Warning,

And Beyond the Kingdoms,

Where she retires and joins Merlin in his story in Beyond the Kingdoms.

She is the protagonist of The Mother Goose Diaries.

It is revealed in A Tale of Magic that her name is Lucy Goose.

Brianne Bree Campbell is Connor's classmate who first appears in A Grim Warning.

She is a horror writer.

Connor has a crush on Bree,

And at the end of A Grim Warning,

Bree reveals that she returns his feelings.

She becomes close friends with Emerick,

Whom she meets during the trip to Europe.

In Worlds Collide,

It is revealed that Connor and Bree married and had children together,

After which she changed her name to Brianne Campbell Bailey.

Emerick Himmelsbach is a boy from Hohenschwangau,

Germany,

Who is around 10 years old.

He first appears in A Grim Warning,

Where he helps Connor and Bree get into Neuschwanstein Castle and joins Connor on his adventure to save the Land of Stories.

In Beyond the Kingdoms,

He is revealed to be the son of Bo Peep and Lloyd Bailey,

Making him the twins' cousin.

Rook Robbins is a farmer's son and Alex's love interest in A Grim Warning,

Though they break up after he betrays her when the army blackmails him into revealing the location of Alex and the royal families.

The Book Huggers are a group of girls consisting of Mindy McCloskey,

Cindy Strutherburgers,

Lindy Lenkins,

And Wendy Takahashi.

They originally ran the book club at their school,

But after Alex and Connor's disappearance,

They abandon it in favor of a conspiracy club.

In Worlds Collide,

They follow Connor and his friends,

And after finding them in the library,

Interrogate Connor until he admits what has been going on,

And apologizes for hiding it from him.

In one of the last chapters,

It is mentioned that they are the Sister Grim's new recruits.

Auburn Sally is a character from Starboardia,

One of Connor's short stories.

She is based on Goldilocks and is a pirate who sails with her crew aboard their ship,

The Dalai Lama.

Connor manages to convince her to be part of his army after he helps her battle Smokey Sails Sam.

She appears in an author's odyssey and Worlds Collide.

King Arthur is the king of Camelot and Alex's love interest in Beyond the Kingdoms,

But they have to end their relationship because Alex has to stop the masked man.

Before she leaves,

She convinces him to fulfill his destiny.

Charlotte and John Bailey are Alex and Connor's parents.

John died in a car crash prior to the events of the wishing spell,

Leaving Charlotte to raise Connor and Alex on her own,

Until the enchantress returns when she marries Bob.

The siblings,

The Cyborg Queen,

Newters,

Bo,

The sailors of the Dalai Lama,

And Admiral Jacobson and his men are characters from Connor's short stories who he recruits for his literary army.

They help Alex and Connor fight and Worlds Collide.

Dr.

Bob is Charlotte's second husband and Connor and Alex's stepfather who works as a doctor.

He bought a dog named Buster for the Baileys,

Who is later revealed to be Sir Lampton.

Royals Queen Cinderella is the queen of the Charming Kingdom.

She first appears in the wishing spell where she is pregnant with King Chan's charming child,

Who is later named Princess Hope.

Queen Sleeping Beauty is the queen of the Eastern Kingdom.

Due to a century-long curse,

She and the women of the kingdom are unable to bear children.

In a grim warning,

She adopts the orphan Ash after rescuing her from a destroyed town.

Princess Hope is Queen Cinderella and King Chan's charming daughter,

And is a princess of the Charming Kingdom.

Princess Ash is the adopted daughter of Queen Sleeping Beauty and King Chase Charming,

And a princess of the Eastern Kingdom.

Sleeping Beauty saves her life while the royals are on the enchanted path.

She adopts her because the sleeping curse has made her infertile,

But she wishes for a child.

Ash is found in a chest in the burning remains of an attacked town.

Queen Rapunzel is the queen of the Corner Kingdom.

Queen Bo Peep is the queen of the Bo Peep Republic,

Who was crowned queen after challenging Red Riding Hood for the throne.

In a grim warning,

She temporarily takes over Red's throne,

But she later gets it back.

In Beyond the Kingdoms,

She dies of a broken heart as a result of the Masked Man's actions.

Queen Snow White is the queen of the Northern Kingdom,

Who is later revealed to have released her stepmother from the dungeon out of sympathy for her plight.

Sir William is Queen Rapunzel's husband and king of the Corner Kingdom.

King Chance Charming is Queen Cinderella's husband and king of the Charming Kingdom.

King Chandler Charming is Queen Snow White's husband and king of the Northern Kingdom.

King Chase Charming is Queen Sleeping Beauty's husband and king of the Eastern Kingdom.

King Chester Charming is the deceased father of the four Charming Kings.

Queen Beauty is a ghost living in the Eastern Sleeping Kingdom who comes from the story Beauty and the Beast.

She is the grandmother of Queen Sleeping Beauty,

And also known as the Lady of the East.