Line #95 Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magic_land_image.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:330:"Totoshka, I have the feeling we're not in Oz anymore."]]
3
4	A little Kansas girl named Ellie Smith and her faithful dog Totoshka find themselves in Magic Land. In order to get home, Ellie must make a long journey through the magical country. And she must assist three beings in the granting of their fondest wishes. She meets Strasheela the living scarecrow, then the Iron Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, and the four of them continue on to the Emerald City to see the mighty wizard Goodwin the Great and Terrible, in order to ask him to grant those fondest wishes. But after a multitude of adventures, they unmask Goodwin, and he turns out to be a perfectly ordinary balloonist from Kansas, blown there long ago by a windstorm. In spite of that, he does fulfill the wishes of all three of Ellie's friends, and Ellie herself returns home with the help of a pair of silver shoes.
5
6	Now if this sounds familiar, it should since this was based on ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''.
7
8	In the 1930's, Russian author Alexander Volkov was looking for an English book to translate into Russian as a hobby. He chose Creator/LFrankBaum's ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' as his book. He brought out his rather liberal translation of the story in 1939 (the same year Creator/{{MGM}} released [[Film/TheWizardOfOz their film]]). He called it ''The Wizard of the Emerald City'', and the country where the story is set became not Oz, but ''Magic Land''. The Soviet Union was not part of international copyright protection back then (nor would they have likely cared, given their whole communism thing), so it was perfectly legal. Modern Russia is, but InNameOnly, by the way.
9
10	The book was revised in 1959, with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky, three years after ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' entered public domain. It was later adapted into a stop-motion series of shorts in the 1970s.
11
12	What is Volkov's Magic Land like? And how does it differ from Oz?
13
14	One of the main differences the reader will find is in the names of the characters. Baum's Dorothy Gale has become ''Ellie Smith'' and the Wizard is now ''James Goodwin''. Of the heroine's three friends, the Cowardly Lion is much the same, but the Scarecrow is called ''[[MeaningfulName Strasheela]]'' (derived from a Russian word meaning "terrifying", with a not very serious suffix, with a resulting meaning along the lines of "Scary-pants"), and the Tin Woodman is now the ''Iron'' Woodman. It's because tin doesn't rust. All four of the witches, good and bad, have new names: Villina (Baum's Good Witch of the North), Gingema (Wicked Witch of the East), Bastinda (Wicked Witch of the West), and Stella (Baum's Glinda, Good Witch of the South). And there's also an Ogre who captures Ellie early on and is about to devour her when the Woodman makes quick work of the creature with his trusty ax!
15
16	Yet many of Baum's features survive intact. The young heroine, as always, comes from Kansas. Readers will find the familiar Yellow Brick Road leading to the same fabulous Emerald City. And we still have the Munchkins who live in the Blue Land and the Quadlings, renamed the Chatterers, of the Rose Land. The Winkies, however, live in the Violet Land, while the Yellow Land, to the north, is seldom mentioned and never described. In Volkov and his successors, Blue Land lies to the west, and Violet Land to the east. (Rose Land is still in the south.) The Munchkins are renowned for their munching, the Winkies are skilled craftsmen, and the Chatterers can never stop talking! But in all its essentials, Volkov's treatment of the opening story is the same tale that the English-speaking readers (and filmgoers) have loved for generations.
17
18	!!''Tales of the Magic Land'' books are:
19	* ''The Wizard of the Emerald City'' (1939, revised in 1959)
20	* ''Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers'' (1963)
21	* ''The Seven Underground Kings'' (1964)
22	* ''The Fiery God of the Marrans'' (1968)
23	* ''The Yellow Fog'' (1970)
24	* ''The Mystery of the Deserted Castle'' (1975)
25
26	The books in the series have been translated into English (or retranslated, in the case of the first book) by Peter L. Blystone, and were published by Red Branch Press in three volumes (two books a volume) in 1991, 1993, and 2007.
27
28	In Germany, one author has written his own set of sequels to Volkov's books.
29
30	''The Wizard of the City of Emeralds'', a 1974 Russian television series, brought the first three Volkov books alive with stop-motion animation. Ellie and Totoshka are carried to the Magic Land, meet their three friends and the wizard Goodwin, and destroy the witch Bastinda. Later, they battle Urfin Jus’s wooden army, then defeat his schemes to manipulate the seven underground kings.
31
32	Sergei Sukhinov wrote his own series of sequels to ''The Wizard of the Emerald City''. Using ''The Wizard of the Emerald City'' as a base, he disregarded Volkov's sequels and took his own books in a different direction. Sergei's books have been described as "''Wizard of Oz'' meets [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]]". In this series of ten books, Ellie and her friends fight the forces of an evil warlock named Pakir in an epic struggle between Good and Evil. It introduces Corina, a stepdaughter of Gingema, The Wicked Witch of the East.
33
34	Sukhinov also wrote series of books called ''Tales of the Emerald City'', which covers the childhoods of many of the characters in ''The Emerald City'' series and covers details not covered in other series.
35
36	* ''Goodwin the Great and Terrible'' (2001): Prequel to the ''The Emerald City'' books. Takes place before ''The Wizard of the Emerald City''.
37
38	!''The Emerald City'' series
39	* ''Gingema's Daughter'' (1997)
40	* ''The Fairy of the Emerald City'' (1997)
41	* ''The Sorceress Villina's Secret'' (1997)
42	* ''The Sorcerer's Sword'' (1998)
43	* ''The Eternally Youthful Stella'' (1998)
44	* ''Parcelius the Alchemist'' (1999)
45	* ''Battle in the Underground Kingdom'' (2000)
46	* ''King Midgety'' (2002)
47	* ''The Sorcerer of Atlantis'' (2002)
48	* ''Knights of Light and Darkness'' (2004)
49
50	! Tales of the Emerald City (2000)
51	* ''Corina the Lazy Enchantress''
52	* ''Corina and the Ogre''
53	* ''The Sorceress Villina's Ward''
54	* ''The Little Dragon''
55	* ''The Crystal Island''
56	* ''Corina and the Magic Rhino''
57	* ''Three in the Enchanted Forest''
58	* ''The Black Fog''
59	* ''Master of the Winged Monkeys''
60	----
61	!!Alexander Volkov's ''Magic Land'' books have examples of:
62	[[foldercontrol]]
63	[[folder:In General]]
64	* AdaptationalVillainy: While Baum didn't elaborate on what makes the Wicked Witch of the East evil (allowing for [[Literature/{{Wicked}} certain]] {{Invoked\|Trope}} {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}), Volkov wastes no time, and opens the series by portraying her as an OmnicidalManiac. Specifically, she summons the hurricane that brings Ellie's house to the Magic Land in the first place, making her [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hoist by her own petard]].
65	* AdaptedOut: Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. Instead of being an orphan like Dorothy, Ellie lives with her parents, John and Anna.
66	* AlternateContinuity: To Baum's universe.
67	* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Everyone's reaction to the death of the wicked witches. Even the Gnomes who have served Arachna faithfully for ''millenia'' don't mourn her.
68	* AscendedExtra: The old crow mentioned in passing in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', although she gets precisely the same amount of screentime in ''The Wizard of Emerald City'', gets NamedByTheAdaptation as Kaggi-Karr and becomes one of the major characters from the second book onwards.
69	* BearyFriendly: Urfin's devoted good-hearted bear Topotun (Stamper) is a TokenGoodTeammate.
70	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The personality of a creature animated by the Powder of Life is defined by their looks. The only known exception is the horrendously ugly Tilly-Willy, but he is animated without the use of the powder, thanks to the general prevalence of magic around him, and he has probably been influenced by his creators' kindly personalities.
71	* BeingEvilSucks: A large part of the books featuring Urfin Jus is devoted to him rather than the heroes, and his arc is all about him realizing the trope's truth. He raises and trains his army through blood, sweat and tears, actually getting it to the Emerald City always proves painstaking (due to the army's [[TheBrute complete stupidity]]), then after an even more painstaking siege he successfully takes over a population that hates his guts and refuses to obey him, leading to a paranoid, very short reign followed by an eventual shameful dethroning and eviction. [[spoiler:It takes him two such failed takeovers to eventually realize his evil deeds have never actually brought him any happiness, at which point he proceeds to HeelFaceTurn and becomes a very useful ally against new villains]].
72	* TheBrute: Every single soldier in Urfin Jus's army. Twice. The first time, he leads magically-animated wooden soldiers, the second, a primitive tribe.
73	* CarnivoreConfusion: There are some mentions of hunting – though the heroic characters mostly do it in the first book, there is some continuity awkwardness with the Cowardly Lion hunting animals in the early chapters and becoming the king of all animals in the end.
74	* CleverCrows: Kaggi-Karr is a wise crow who is the one to advise Strasheela to get brains and later becomes one of his closest advisors. She manages the bird relay, the fastest form of non-magic communications in the Magic Land, and in the fourth book, when Strasheela is deposed by Urfin Jus for the second time, she steps in as regent.
75	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience:
76	** Blue for the Munchkins, green for the Emerald City and its vicinity, violet for the Winkies, pink for Stella and the Chatterers, yellow for Villina's country. On illustrations, the Marrans are usually associated with red. When Urfin Jus defies his Munchkin identity, he switches from blue to brown and green.
77	** In the Underground Land, the seven kings use the seven colors of the rainbow for themselves and their respective subjects.
78	* CompositeCharacter: Ellie's uncle Charlie Black, who is a combination of Baum's Cap'n Bill and Johnny Dooit.
79	* CrazyPrepared: Charlie Black seems to have some instrument at hand for any occasion.
80	* ContagiousHeroism: Guamoko is an unscrupulous owl whose idea of happiness is serving as a familiar to a powerful wicked witch or wizard. [[spoiler:After Urfin turns to the good side, Guamoko at first only follows him because the alternative is living alone in the forest, but ultimately he always supports Urfin and, though rarely being actively heroic, never does anything villainous anymore]].
81	* CrossingTheDesert: If you want to reach Magic Land by land, you'll inevitably have to cross the SeaOfSand surrounding it and face Gingema's enchanted stones that stop any foreigner from going further. Charlie Black and Ellie have a particularly hard time in the second book, as their cart is their only means of transport and they don't know about the stones yet.
82	* DerivativeDifferentiation: It started off as a loose translation of ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', but later books in the series are original works that use said translation as a basis.
83	* TheDeterminator: Once Urfin Jus sets his mind on anything, he never stops until he achieves it.
84	* DeusExitMachina: The two Good Witches are rarely mentioned from the second book onwards, with various excuses why they don't personally get involved against Urfin Jus or Arachna, and the protagonists rely on relatively mundane tools and ingenuity to counter the magic-using antagonists.
85	* DirtyCoward: Ruf Bilan, the recurring minor villain, whose chief priority is always the safety of his own skin.
86	* DismemberingTheBody: In the fourth book, Urfin Jus, in order to motivate his army, claims that a garrison they left in a conquered province was slaughtered, with the bodies cut apart and fed to pigs. As soon as the army enters the province, they see their supposedly dead comrades alive and playing volleyball with the "murderers", causing Urfin's reign to collapse within about three minutes.
87	* TheDreaded: Many inhabitants of the Magic Land aren't usually known for their overwhelming bravery, so often a reputation as TheDreaded is enough to keep them in control. All the witches (except for the Mouse Queen), James Goodwin and Urfin Jus use it at different points of the plot, claiming to be able to destroy all their enemies with one puff of magic. Actually, the only ones shown to be really capable of destructive spells are Gingema and Arachna ([[spoiler:Bastinda has several armies of magical minions and one last spell of the Golden Cap, but once she wastes all this, she becomes powerless]]).
88	* EvilVirtues: The narrative makes no secret of the fact that any villain who wants to do more than scare their nearest neighbors must have something in them beyond generic wickedness. Urfin Jus is determined, strong-willed and inventive, the Seven Underground Kings, especially Mentaho, and later the Menvits are intelligent and quick-thinking, and even Arachna, though more leaning towards the usual WickedWitch standard, is quite good with pragmatic strategies.
89	* FakeWizardry:
90	** In the first book, James Goodwin masquerades as a mighty wizard to frighten off the potential enemies.
91	** In the third book, Ellie pretends to perform a spell to bring back the Sleeping Water (the Miners won't let her leave otherwise, and her pretense is part of her escape plan). She uses the magic words she had heard from Villina, in a desperate hope that maybe they would work (they don't).
92	* FanSequel: Volkov's ''Magic Land'' books after the first one can be considered sequels to ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' but he took the books in a different direction from Baum. Plus, he borrows certain ideas and characters from the Baum books, like the Powder of Life.
93	** Exaggerated with the above-mentioned German ''sequels to Volkov's sequels'' by Klaus and Aljonna Möckel (as [[{{Pseudonym}} Nikolai Bachnow]]) as well as Sukhinov's Russian-language works based on Volkov's first book. That means that (at least the German and Russian versions of) ''The Wizard of Oz'', in the broadest sense, now has ''four'' continuities – Baum's original work, Volkov's translation and his own sequels, the Möckels' German-exclusive sequels set in the same universe and Sukhinov's reboot.
94	* FantasticFoxes: The (non-anthropomorphic) fox kingdom that Annie and Tim pass through on their first journey into Magic Land.
95	* FantasticFruitsAndVegetables:
96	** The rabbit trees that grow in the fox kingdom. Their fruit taste just like rabbit meat.
97	** The golden carrots, blue cucumbers and many more hybrid species grown in the sixth book [[spoiler:by Urfin]].
98	* ForTheEvulz: The Wicked Witches' motivation for being, well, wicked. Most notably, in the case of Arachna: the book flat-out tells us that to her, any day on which she doesn't make someone miserable is a day wasted.
99	* GentleGiant:
100	** Gurrikap, the founder of the Magic Land, who didn't want to kill even Arachna.
101	** Tilly-Willy, when not in battle, of course.
102	* GoodFeelsGood:
103	** In the fourth book, the wooden soldiers run away rather than become evil again.
104	** [[spoiler:Urfin]] feels much better after his reformation.
105	* HeelFaceBrainwashing: [[spoiler:Urfin Jus]] is the only redeemed villain who ''doesn't'' get it in some form.
106	** [[spoiler:The Deadwood Oaks]] get friendly faces painted in place of their old frightening ones and become peaceful workers.
107	** From the third book onwards, bad guys are dosed with the Sleeping Water and raised to be kind and industrious after they wake up.
108	* HufflepuffHouse: The Good Witches and their subjects. They are nice and happy, and that's practically all we know. The villains are too scared to attack them, but for unknown reasons the heroes don't visit them often either. They do some good things far away in the background, but little more.
109	** Villina, if she appears, pops up in the beginning of the book with a prophecy about the plot and promptly disappears into thin air (literally) again. The Yellow Land is never a plot location, never gets described, and we never learn the name of its inhabitants.
110	** Stella gets a bit more page time along with the Chatterers and Flying Monkeys of hers, but still she doesn't even appear after the first book. The longtime trade between the Rose Land and the Leaper tribe is mentioned but not elaborated upon. Basically, the only truly plot-relevant thing coming from the Rose Land was the magical television.
111	* HumongousMecha: Tilly-Willy, built in ''The Yellow Fog''. Features an interesting subversion, because Tilly-Willy, while definitely created as a mecha, ends up sentient and completely autonomous like much of the Magic Land's other denizens. He still has backup manual controls.
112	* InstantMessengerPigeon: The bird relay is the fastest and most reliable way to get a message across Magic Land without directly involving magic. Justified, since the birds are sapient.
113	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kaggi-Karr the crow is cynical, sharp-tongued, and has a bit of a temper, but she is one of Strasheela's best friends and bravest supporters.
114	* MeaningfulName: Ellie's second cousin is called Fred ''Cunning''. He is a resourceful boy who grows up to be a clever and inventive engineer.
115	* MoodSwinger: The Munchkins can switch from crying to laughter and back again within seconds.
116	* MyopicConqueror: Urfin Jus conquers the Emerald City twice, only to become ultimately disappointed when it brings him no joy, his subjects, except for a few cowardly lickspittles, hate him with a passion, and he gets increasingly paranoid to the point of madness. [[spoiler:He is overthrown both times and ends up doing a HeelFaceTurn and living a peaceful life near the Magic Land's border as a gardener, toymaker and inventor]].
117	* OminousOwl: [[OverlyLongName Guamokolatokint]] (usually shortened to Guamoko), an old and devious owl. He was Gingema's {{familiar}}, and became Urfin Jus' ally and friend after the death of the Witch. His [[TheOwlKnowingOne ancient wisdom]] is absolutely vital to Urfin's conquests, though he occasionally does backstab him out of spite as well.
118	* PinkMeansFeminine: Not only is the Rose Land ruled by young, beautiful and feminine Stella, but her guards at the Rose Palace are also an exclusively-female AmazonBrigade.
119	* PintSizedPowerhouse: Ramina, queen of the mice, is so tiny that even Totoshka dwarfs her, but she still has impressive magical powers.
120	* PowerCrystal: Some ordinary gemstones are revealed to have magical powers.
121	** Diamonds are used as [[spoiler:protection from the magic water's effects]].
122	** Emeralds are revealed as [[spoiler:a means of protection against the Menvits' hypnosis]].
123	* RedemptionPromotion: The wooden soldiers and policemen become a lot more competent after their HeelFaceBrainwashing.
124	* RhymingWizardry: PlayedWith; spells tend to have rhyming gibberish in the beginning, although the words of the spell itself don't tend to rhyme.
125	* SelfImposedExile: Urfin Jus goes into this ''twice'', both times after a failed attempt to conquer the eponymous land. In both cases, the heroes contemplate sending him into an actual exile, or even imprisoning him, but decide that the universal ostracizing of TheUsurper by the people would be punishment enough.
126	* SeriesContinuityError: The books underwent several revisions even in the author's lifetime, hence a few inconsistencies creeping up despite the generally solid worldbuilding.
127	** In the second book, Guamoko is the one who spies on the besieged Emerald City and learns Ruf Bilan is Strasheela's enemy. When Urfin recalls that moment in the fourth book, though, the narration claims Eot Ling did the spying.
128	** There are seven underground kings; however, when the narration describes [[spoiler:them plotting to put their rivals to sleep]] closer to the end of the third book, eight kings are listed.
129	* TerrorHero: Tilly-Willy is designed to look terrifying, but is very firmly on the side of good.
130	* TookALevelInBadass: All the people of the Magic Land, but especially the Winkies who are initially stated to be the most fearful. Compare their situation in book one (frightened to death of Bastinda and everyone and everything else) and book five (nearly killing ''Arachna'').
131	* VictoryIsBoring: A constant problem for Strasheela. When everything in the Emerald City goes smoothly, he is always faced with trying to find something to do.
132	* VillainousHarlequin: Eot Ling, Urfin's evil wooden clown.
133	[[/folder]]
134	[[folder:''The Wizard of the Emerald City'']]
135	* ChekhovsGunman: The crow that advises Strasheela to find brains never appears in this book. However, between this and the next one, she finds Strasheela again and becomes his trusted advisor.
136	* FreeingTheGenie: After exhausting her three uses of the Golden Cap, Ellie gives it to Stella (Glinda), who uses the three wishes to transport Ellie's companions to the lands they will rule from now on. After that, Stella gives the Golden Cap to the Flying Monkeys themselves, effectively freeing them, so that nobody can use the power of the Cap for evil ever again.
137	* HighOnCatnip: the drink that the Wizard gave to the Cowardly Lion to make him brave was clarified in later editions to contain valerian, which has the same effect on cats as catnip but is better known in Russia.
138	* KilledMidSentence: Bastinda.
139	-->'''Bastinda''': No, who put you u... fffffff... ''(melts)''
140	* MeaningfulRename: After Goodwin gives him a courage potion (actually, a mix of carbonated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass kvass]] and valerian extract), the Cowardly Lion changes his name to the Courageous Lion.
141	* NamedByTheAdaptation: Almost every character who was only [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep known by their occupation]] in ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' has an actual name here, such as Faramant (the Guardian of the Gates), Din Gior (the Soldier with the Green Whiskers), Ramina (the Queen of the Field Mice), and all four witches.
142	* OmnicidalManiac: Gingema summons the hurricane to exterminate the human race.
143	* PlaceboEffect: Goodwin's gifts to Strasheela, the Iron Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Strasheela's new brain is actually a mix of bran, pins and needles. The Iron Woodman's new heart is a bag full of sawdust. And the Cowardly Lion's courage potion is a mix of carbonated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass kvass]] and valerian extract (kvass is a very mild alcoholic beverage and valerian extract is a powerful stimulant for cats).
144	* SpannerInTheWorks: Villina manages to weaken Gingema's world-destroying hurricane so that it would only target one house, which she knows to have a tornado shelter (unfortunately, Totoshka in turn becomes a spanner in Villina's own works, running into the house as the tornado's approaching, which causes Ellie to rush after him and end up swept by the hurricane).
145	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Strasheela gets so angry with the crow that he begins to shout at her. It has no effect as she calmly tells him that in Magic Land, a talking scarecrow isn't much of a surprise.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:''Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers'']]
149	* AppropriatedAppelation: The wooden soldiers are called Deadwood Oaks, after their creator's constant insults about their learning abilities. In the end, one of the soldiers called himself that, and Urfin Jus decided this is the perfect name.
150	* ArtisticLicenseOrnithology: Ellie's neighbor Jimmy [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals hunts down animals and birds]], including jackdaws. However, jackdaws don't live in Kansas.
151	* BodyPaint: The wooden soldiers are mocked because they are naked. Urfin solves the problem by painting them.
152	* CapturedByCannibals: Subverted. Charlie Black was presumed dead for years after being captured by a cannibal tribe. When he turns up alive, Ellie askes whether he managed to defeat them in combat. Charlie states there was no way for him to have fought off thousands of people, but the cannibals turned out to be quite nice guys, and once he showed himself to be more useful alive than cooked, they were all too happy to leave him alive, accepted him into the tribe, and, eventually, helped him return home.
153	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: In the first book, every antagonist the characters face is a non-human FlatCharacter and only terrorizes the region where they actually live (the wicked witches are tyrants of their respective countries and the sabertooth tigers never venture beyond the Tiger Forest). Urfin Jus, however, is a human SelfMadeMan, whose point of view is shown so thoroughly he's close to being the VillainProtagonist and who plans to conquer the Magic Land and briefly succeeds.
154	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Kaggi-Karr insults Urfin right in his throne room, in front of him, the wooden soldiers, and his courtiers. Being a crow, she manages to escape when they try to capture her.
155	* DragonAscendant: Urfin Jus starts out as a tax collector for Gingema, but after her death he conquers the Munchkins and then becomes a threat to the entire Magic Land. He lampshades the trope, claiming that while Gingema has perished, her magic powers went to him, her loyal servant.
156	* EveryoneHasStandards: Most of Strasheela's courtiers are IdleRich who spend their days chattering and laughing and only pretend to be occupied with state matters. Nevertheless, when Urfin Jus offers them to swear allegiance to him, they refuse even to send back a reply, and the very few people who do begin to serve Jus are universally viewed with scorn and disgust.
157	* FakeDefector: One of the Munchkins pretends to switch to Urfin's side to lure Kabr Gvin, the Blue Land's governor appointed by Urfin, into a trap.
158	* IgnorantAboutFire: Urfin Jus is so afraid of setting his wooden soldiers on fire that he doesn't even light his oven as long as he is making them. During the siege of the Emerald City, the first fire attack on his army nearly destroys it, thanks to his soldiers being curious rather than afraid.
159	* KillerRabbit: Kaggi-Karr leads an army of magpies, crows and other small birds against the wooden soldiers and manages to send them into disarray and delay the invasion of the Emerald City.
160	* PutOnABus: Guamoko abandons Urfin after the latter's defeat, becomes the ruler of the local birds, and doesn't appear again until midway through ''The Fiery God of the Marrans''.
161	* RefusalOfTheSecondCall: When the heroes attempt to recruit James Goodwin for their cause, he refuses outright, saying he has had enough of magic, and never appears afterwards.
162	* ReversePsychology: When Kaggi-Karr is somewhat hesitant to go to Kansas to deliver a message to Ellie, Strasheela tells her that it's okay, they'll send a younger bird in her place. Kaggi-Karr, outraged, immediately says that nobody except her is fit to go.
163	* SequelHook: Two instances of it.
164	** Ellie and Charlie discover the seven kings' city while travelling through an underground passage, but it has no influence on the plot.
165	** When Ruf Bilan runs away after Urfin's defeat, he hides underground. Ellie and everyone else decide to leave him alone. [[spoiler: In ''The Seven Underground Kings'', Bilan is the one who accidentally sets off the plot of the book]].
166	* SoBadItsGood: InUniverse. When Urfin tries to comprise an orchestra of his wooden soldiers and courtiers, the music they make is so ''horrendously'' cacophonic that soon all the miserable people he has forced to attend his coronation burst into laughter.
167	* SomeCallMeTim: There is a long dispute between Urfin and his owl about what the owl should be called. Urfin insists on Guam, the owl demands that the full name be used – Guamokolatokint. They compromise on Guamoko, though the owl is still not satisfied and makes it amply clear.
168	* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: Urfin has to cut his title in half after his ministers provide a funny moment when attempting to repeat it.
169	* WickedToymaker: Urfin Jus starts out making dolls with horrific grimaces that scare children, before progressing to magical golems with horrific grimaces that scare adults.
170	* WildGooseChase: After Ellie frees Din Gior and Faramant, friendly farmers in the neighborhood send Urfin's search party in the wrong direction.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:''The Seven Underground Kings'']]
174	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Ramina says that Ellie will never return to the Magic Land ever again. The next book introduces us to a TimeSkip and Ellie's SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.
175	* FounderOfTheKingdom: Bofaro became the first king of the Underground Miners' Land.
176	* GenerationXerox: Early in the book, it's shown the Cave has two rival doctors Boril and Robil. A TimeSkip of several generations later… there are still two rival doctors Boril and Robil. Justified, since it's stated explicitly that the profession is passed from [[FollowInMyFootsteps father to son]].
177	* GildedCage: The Miners provide Ellie with every luxury they can afford but don't allow her to leave unless she brings back the Sleeping Water.
178	* TheGoodChancellor: The two Wardens of Time who play the most prominent parts in the history of the Miners' Kingdom, Bellino and Ruzhero. They are the ones who actually keep the country running while the kings waste their time in drinking and feasting. [[spoiler:After the kings are deposed, Ruzhero becomes the de jure ruler of the Miners as well]].
179	* ImplausibleDeniability: Boril and Robil argue whether a certain man is dead – the magic water even stops breathing and heartbeat, but the body is still warm and there is no rigor mortis. In the middle of the argument, the person stirs and opens his eyes. The pro-dead doctor, mocked by his colleague, merely states "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis It's! still! necessary! to! prove! that! he's! alive!]]"
180	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The Dr. Robil who was alive at the time of the magic water’s discovery tended to talk like this.
181	* RainbowMotif: The Rainbow Palace, made of seven respectively colored wings, is built by the underground kings specifically in memory of the rainbow that they could no longer see. Each of the kings has the furnishings in his wing, the clothes he wears etc. of a single color.
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:''The Fiery God of the Marrans'']]
185	* DeathSeeker: When Karfax realizes he has unwittingly helped to start an invasion, he goes to the Vale of the Giant Eagles to certain death rather than live with the shame. However, it turns out things have changed since he left the Vale.
186	* FaceDeathWithDignity: After Karfax finds out about his conquering plans, Urfin calmly stands in front of him and tells him to strike the death blow. However, Karfax is unable to do it to someone who saved his life.
187	* FantasticDrug: Urfin has a problem with his soldiers never staying awake. The owl recommends some nuts which cause insomnia. Unfortunately, these nuts also work as a powerful drug, and soon many Marrans become addicted to them. [[spoiler:The Sleeping Water is revealed to be an antidote to the addiction]].
188	* GodGuise: With the help of a giant eagle, some red dye and a lighter, Urfin poses as the god of fire to impress the Marrans.
189	* IOweYouMyLife: The reason Karfax doesn't kill Urfin is because the latter previously saved his life.
190	* LaserGuidedKarma: Arrahes challenged a snake king to battle due to his enormous vanity and ends up getting killed.
191	* MechanicalHorse: Fred Cunning builds solar-powered mechanical mules named [[UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar Caesar]] and [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Hannibal]] for Annie and Tim. Upon entering the Magic Land, the mules become alive and are able to speak. Later on, they become such hard workers that Ellie and Annie's dad has tons of free time, so he hires himself out to help plow and harvest his neighbors' lands, earning a decent profit.
192	* OriginalPositionFallacy: An inversion when a Miner claims he would have been the first to rise against the kings in their time. He assumes he would have been a craftsman like he is now; in reality, he was a king and quite happy with his position.
193	* PetTheDog: Urfin saves the life of Karfax, a giant eagle, from two other giant eagles, ''before'' he decides to manipulate Karfax into assisting his own plans.
194	* PopulationControl: The giant eagle tribe is limited to a hundred birds, with the order of having a baby being set according to a long-standing custom. A coup started when the chief attempted to put himself in the beginning of the queue.
195	* ProudWarriorRace: The Marrans, strong and resilient and at the same time very impressionable and barely acquainted with civilization – that's why Urfin chooses them as his next army.
196	* PutOnABus: After leaving the Vale of the Marrans, Karfax disappears from the plot, then briefly pops up to help Annie and Tim get across the mountains, then disappears from the plot again until the final battle in ''The Yellow Fog''.
197	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: From this book onwards, Ellie's place as the main character is taken by her little sister Annie (born during the events of ''The Seven Underground Kings'') and Toto is replaced by his grandson Arto.
198	* TimeSkip: Eight to ten years (there are some slight contradictions in the narration) pass between ''The Seven Underground Kings'' and ''The Fiery God of the Marrans''.
199	* UnwittingPawn: Honorable but gullible Karfax helps Urfin seize power over the Marrans, believing that Urfin genuinely wants to make their life better. It lasts until Urfin rallies them to conquer Magic Land, at which point Karfax realizes he has been played.
200	[[/folder]]
201
202	[[folder:''The Yellow Fog'']]
203	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Tilly-Willy designs a perpetual motion machine. And it works. The magical nature of the land they are in may have something to do with it.
204	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Caught between two enemies, [[spoiler:Arachna throws herself off the Cliff of Doom]].
205	* CatchingUpOnHistory: Evil sorceress Arachna wakes up after a five thousand year-long enchanted sleep and spends many days afterwards reading the chronicle of the Magic Land to find out what the country is like at present and especially if there are any strong witches and wizards she should be wary of. The chronicle is immediately available to her because it's been written by the Gnomes, Arachna's faithful servants who live right by the side of her cave and have taken care of her in her sleep as well.
206	* DisneyVillainDeath: Arachna [[spoiler:falls down from a cliff]].
207	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Some effects of the Yellow Fog can read as rather similar to chemical warfare.
208	* ExactEavesdropping: When Strasheela and his advisors ask the magical television to show them Urfin Jus, it just happens to be the very moment when Urfin is telling Guamoko [[spoiler:he flat-out refused to help Arachna]].
209	* FogOfDoom: The titular curse.
210	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Urfin Jus]], after thinking long and hard about his previous life, decides to change his ways.
211	* JacobMarleyWarning: [[spoiler:Urfin Jus]] reminds Arachna that [[spoiler:he conquered the Magic Land twice, was never secure on his throne and ended up overthrown and defeated both times]]. She thinks it's the attitude of a defeatist.
212	* KickTheDog: Arachna ends her first failed attempt to conquer the Magic Land with angrily smashing a cat.
213	* LastSecondWordSwap: When Strasheela refuses Arachna’s terms of surrender, he almost blurts it out they’ve found a way to protect themselves from the fog. He saves the situation by saying "We’ve found... it more appropriate to refuse her insolent demands!"
214	* LastWords: Arachna realizes that with all her strength and magic power, the residents of the Magic Land, fighting for their freedom, have defeated her, and [[spoiler:throws herself down a cliff, screaming "Urfin was right!"]].
215	* LoopholeAbuse: The Gnomes swore an oath of fealty to Arachna long ago, but it didn't mention [[spoiler:fighting against her enemies]], so they never do it.
216	* NeglectfulPrecursors: The ancient good wizard Gurrikap, being an ActualPacifist, didn't want to kill the evil sorceress Arachna, so he did the next best thing in his (magical) book: he put her to sleep for five thousand years, hoping against all reasons that in that time she would lose her taste for evil (which, big shock, didn't happen), and he didn't even care to properly seal her away or at least arrange for some warning to the future generations.
217	* NotMeThisTime: When Arachna first appears, Strasheela and his advisors instantly suspect that [[spoiler:Urfin Jus is working with her]], only to find out he has pulled a HeelFaceTurn.
218	* PetTheDog: The only people that Arachna is genuinely good to are her loyal servants, the Gnomes.
219	* PragmaticVillain:
220	** Arachna considers using locusts to make the Magic Land submit, but decides she can't tax people whose cattle has starved to death. She instead unleashes a spell that essentially causes eternal winter with a side-order of toxic air (the Yellow Fog), but it is a much more gradual process, and Arachna expects (based on precedents) that the people will surrender before the climate changes set in. (Un?)fortunately, they managed to deal with every other effect of the fog.
221	** She also rules out flooding rains, since it would look too much like natural disaster and thus hard to prove that it is her doing. The Yellow Fog, on the contrary, can be created and dispelled instantly, thus clearly proving Arachna's control over it.
222	* SealedEvilInACan: Arachna, asleep in her cave for five thousand years.
223	* WeaponsBreakingWeapons: Arachna realizes she has been defeated when [[spoiler:Tilly-Willy's sword]] cuts her club in two.
224	* WeCanRuleTogether:
225	** Arachna offers Urfin a chance to join forces with her and have his revenge. [[spoiler:He firmly refuses and predicts her downfall]].
226	** Later, after yet another of her attacks fails, Arachna thinks that had she had just a squad of such brave people, she would have conquered the entire continent.
227	[[/folder]]
228
229	[[folder:''The Mystery of the Deserted Castle'']]
230	* AlienInvasion: The plot centers on a very SciFi alien invasion of the Magic Land by the means of a sleeper ship and an additional enslaved alien race.
231	* BackForTheFinale: Fred Cunning travels to the Magic Land again.
232	* ShooOutTheClowns: Annie decides not to bring her dog Arto to the Magic Land this time.
233	[[/folder]]
234
235	!! The adaptations contain examples of:
236
237	[[folder:''The Wizard of the Emerald City'', 1973]]
238	A stop-motion adaptation of the first three books.
239	* AgeLift: Villina, elderly in the books, becomes very young.
240	* CanonForeigner: The Wolf, Bastinda's guard, was created for this version specifically to be voiced by Music/VladimirVysotsky.
241	[[/folder]]
242
243	[[folder:''The Wizard of the Emerald City'', 1994]]
244	A live-action film adaptation of the first book.
245	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Instead of the one-eyed old hag from the book, Bastinda is a beautiful and elegant LadyOfBlackMagic, played by Natalya Varley who was only in her late forties at that point.
246	* AdaptationalVillainy: Both the Ogre and the sabertooth tigers are sent by Bastinda to kill Ellie and her friends. In the book, they are independent villains, and Bastinda only starts sending her minions against Ellie when the latter enters Violet Land.
247	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The Hurricane is sapient and can appear as a human.
248	[[/folder]]

Context Literature / TalesOfTheMagicLand