Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / PortalBook

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%%
4%%
5%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
6%%
7%%
8%%
9%%
10%%
11[[quoteright:180:[[ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pbf-bookworld_2179.png]]]]
12[[caption-width-right:180:[[Series/ReadingRainbow Take a look, you're in a book.]]]]
13
14->''"This book is made to order, but it isn't to be read;\
15 When they open up this book, they're sucked inside instead!"''
16-->-- '''[[VideoGame/IMMeen I. M. Meen]]'''[='=]s VillainSong
17
18We've all heard the metaphor that books are a gateway to other worlds. Sometimes, [[LiteralMetaphor this stops being a metaphor and becomes the literal truth]]. A book is an ideal object to turn into a CoolGate to a MagicalLand. Portal Books usually come in one of three varieties:
19
20# As a literary version of TrappedInTVLand: The characters rapidly move from book to book, with the shelf or the library functioning as the PortalNetwork, creating a chain of {{shout out}}s and [[{{parody}} parodies]] of well-known genres and/or famous works along the way. Most of the books visited will be TheThemeParkVersion of public domain classics.
21# As a literary version of PortalPicture: One book functions as a portal into the world of the story told in its pages. [[WinToExit You usually can't escape until you reach the end of the story.]] This one is far less likely to be a real book in "our world."
22# As a literary version of SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong or WaybackTrip: Characters get AppliedPhlebotinum that allows them to enter the setting of one or more previously completely mundane, non-magical books. The conflict often centers on how their interference threatens to screw up the plot, and they have to get the original story back on track to resolve the "right" way.
23
24Any of these three may or may not overlap with RefugeeFromTVLand, when literary characters come through a Portal Book into "[[WelcomeToTheRealWorld the real world]]." The best candidates for such reverse travel are villains.
25
26Chances are 10 to 1 that there will be AnAesop [[ReadingIsCoolAesop about the value of reading]]. Nobody is more likely to fall into a Portal Book than someone who dislikes books. A {{Bookworm}}'s best hope of getting to experience this trope is if the Aesop is "BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor," and he must learn to stop withdrawing into the fantasy world of his books and "[[AntiEscapismAesop live in the real world]]." (Of course, ''either'' lesson runs the risk of being a SpaceWhaleAesop, given that books in the real world don't work like this.)[[note]]Unless the reader has an addictive personality- that's when things can get [[GoneHorriblyRight messy.]][[/note]]
27
28For help finding a Portal Book near you, see your local MagicLibrarian. Compare PortalDoor, for doors that lead someplace non-adjacent, and TelevisionPortal for the higher-tech version. If the book triggers the plot then it's a PlotTriggeringBook.
29
30Not to be confused for the behind-the-scenes digital book of ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}''.
31
32See also UsefulBook, for when books turn out to have other non-reading functions.
33----
34!Examples:
35
36[[foldercontrol]]
37
38!!Type 1:
39
40[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
41* ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'': One of Doraemon's gadgets are a pair of shoes that enables the user to go into the world of fiction. The consequences of losing those shoes while ''inside'' the storybook world is explored in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasDorabianNights'', when Shizuka accidentally got lost in the world of Arabian Nights necessitating Doraemon and the boys to find a way to retrieve her.
42* In ''Anime/{{One Piece}}'' one of Big Mom's children has the ability to bring people in a world of book in addition to using the pages of the books to fly.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Asian Animation]]
46* In the ''Animation/MotuPatlu'' episode "Magical Book", Motu finds a magic book in Dr. Jhatka's laboratory and gets himself as well as Patlu, Dr. Jhatka, Ghasitaram, and Inspector Chingum sucked into the book's world, where [[SentientVehicle sentient cars and trucks]] populate Furfuri Nagar instead of humans.
47* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Joys of Seasons'' episode 20, Wolffy discovers an old book written by his great great great great great grandfather and tries to use it to catch the goats when he realizes it sucks in anyone that opens it. Paddi finds the book, opens it, and is sucked in, leading to the others also getting sucked into the book's grassy field world when Weslie comes along and finds the book.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Comic Books]]
51* An early Franchise/{{Superman}} foe could treat comic like this, and brought villains from (fictional) comic strips to life. Lois Lane almost became an IntrepidFictioneer when she brought forth the heroes of those strips to oppose them. She did not get sent into a comic strip herself, though, only onto a blank page of paper.
52* Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Robin}} once used AppliedPhlebotinum to get into one of these in a story published during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks.
53* The premise of the [[ComicBook/MysteryScienceTheater3000TheComic comic book adaptation]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' involves Jonah and the Bots being sent into old comic books by the Mads, allowing them to riff from within the pages and interact with its characters.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Fan Works]]
57* Twilight and Navarone get sucked into one in ''Fanfic/DiariesOfAMadman'', and have to play along with the stories found in several books as they advance through the world.
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
61* The ''Film/{{Goosebumps|2015}}'' film adaptation reveals that ''all'' of R.L. Stine's original manuscripts are Portal Books that, when opened, release the monsters into the real world. He's dedicated his life to keeping the books locked and hidden in a house full of booby traps to presumably slow them down should they escape (which they do when the film's protagonist comes knocking).
62* The main focus of ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster''.
63[[/folder]]
64
65[[folder:Literature]]
66* DavidWeisner's Caldecott award-winning picture book version of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'' plays with this as, partway through the story, the pigs realize they can leave their book and visit characters in other stories, resulting in some impressive {{Art Shift}}s.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
70* "I can go anywhere! Take a look! It's in a book! A ''Series/ReadingRainbow!''"
71* One ''Series/UltramanDyna'' episode has the monster Bundar, who is created by an occult writer and exists only in the screenplay he wrote. The penultimate battle actually has Dyna fighting Bundar while skipping between multiple pages, and the battle ends with [[spoiler: Super GUTS spinning the foil of the book resulting in Bundar inadvertently destroying itself]]. Yes, it's from a BizarroEpisode.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Video Games]]
75* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' ''Dragonborn'', the Black Books act as portals to [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Apocrypha]], the Daedric Realm of Hermaeus Mora. Each book takes you to a different part of Apocrypha where you can learn a new power.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Web Original]]
79* The Book in ''WebOriginal/TheBookOfStoriesOCT''.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Western Animation]]
83* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Flush After Reading" shows [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands Roger has the ability to enter books]], which he reveals to help Francine evade Stan at the library. Their actions in a book retroactively rewrites it in reality, their misadventures in Pride and Prejudice turning it into a [[ToiletHumor a story about diarrhea]], which carries over to any depiction of them in other books. The problem comes in because Roger [[HowDoIShotWeb never learned how to leave]], trapping them in books a pyromaniac librarian is beginning to burn. They work out an escape by having Francine put into [[AndSomeOtherStuff instructions on how to make a pipe bomb]] in one of Stan's self-published books, making it entirely unpublishable and [[RetGone erasing it from under them]], dropping them back into reality.
84* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "Video Review" is an updated homage to the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts below, particularly "Book Revue", applying the same concept to a rental store full of videocassettes.
85* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' called "Shelf Life", where anyone in the books can use the fairies' wands to rewrite words and change the book with them. This causes the interesting complication that altering anything in non-fiction books [[RewritingReality will alter whatever it's referencing in the real world]], which the protagonists have to work to prevent when a disgruntled Tom Sawyer cons Cosmo out of his wand and seeks to escape to other books.
86* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid," the Chief Giant Brain trapped Fry and Leela's minds into such books as ''Literature/TomSawyer'', ''Literature/MobyDick'', and ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. Fry finally defeats it by trapping his mind in a book of his own writing, "a crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors."
87-->The Big Brain am winning again! I am the greetest! Mwa-ha-ha-ha! I will now leave Earth for no raisin!
88* Inverted with Orson from ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', who seems to have the power of pulling creatures, characters, and scenarios out of books [[RealityWarper just by reading them]].
89* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and/or ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'': "WesternAnimation/SnifflesAndTheBookworm," "WesternAnimation/HaveYouGotAnyCastles", and "WesternAnimation/BookRevue" all involve characters from books coming to life and interacting with each other.
90[[/folder]]
91
92!!Type 2:
93
94[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
95* ''[[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Cardcaptor Sakura]]'': In one episode of the Sakura Card arc, Eriol traps Sakura inside the Alice in Wonderland book.
96* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' - Miaka and Yui fall into the Book of the Four Gods, and their adventures can be read by anyone who picks up the book in the real world.
97--> This is the story of a girl who gathered the seven seishi of Suzaku, and acquired the power to make every wish come true. The story itself is an incantation. Whoever finishes the book shall receive this power. As soon as the page is turned, the story will become truth and begin...
98* This trope is what kicks off the events of ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' by transporting Naofumi to Melromarc when he opens a book about the four cardinal heroes. The other heroes come to the country by slightly different means though.
99* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', Noah/[[spoiler: Fake Eibon]] enjoys doing this.
100* ''Anime/TamagotchiHappiestStoryInTheUniverse'' has Mametchi and his friends travelling into books for fun. Then, Kikitchi travels into a book called "The World's Happiest Story", where his actions come close to affecting the real world; Mametchi and the others go in to get him out and save Tamagotchi Planet [[SaveBothWorlds as well as the world in "The World's Happiest Story"]].
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Asian Animation]]
104* In Season 8 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', the heroes travel into a book titled "A History of Magic" to retrieve Haha Xiao's staffs and wake up the Global Leader.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Card Games]]
108* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': "[[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=473012 Into the Story]]" depicts a magic-user entering a book.
109[[/folder]]
110
111[[folder:Comic Books]]
112* ''ComicBook/DouweDabbert'', in the album ''The Ship of Ice'', Douwe and Domoli enter a book so they can watch the story play out in front of them. However, they are merely there as spectators, and as such cannot interfere with the events in ways that would alter the course of the story.
113* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': In the story "Fables", Franklin's dog, Blue, disdains the book of [[Creator/JeanDeLaFontaine La Fontaine]]'s {{Fable}}s his owner was reading, arguing that his own solo stories also have {{Talking Animal}}s and it's just humans who can't understand them. However, when Blue tries to give the book a look, he falls into it and ends up [[FairyTaleFreeForAll in a land where all of the classic Aesop's fables take place]] and [[MetaFictionalDevice all the morals appear as literal pieces of paper delivering the lesson at the end of each story]]. He loses a bet after betting on the hare from "The Hare and the Tortoise", gets chased by the wolf from "The Wolf and the Lamb", gets tricked by the fox from "The Fox and the Goat" and in return tricks her into tasting castor beans in "The Fox and the Grapes", until he finally returns home.
114* In ''ComicBook/OzCaliber'', Peter, Kevin and Mary (and their dog Max) are sucked into the Literature/LandOfOz by a tornado that emerges from a strange book they find in an old trunk Kevin bought for $50.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Fan Works]]
118* Played quite literally in ''Fanfic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'', although in a bit of a subversion, the JustForFun/DaringDo book leads to the [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Lost World]].
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
122* ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'' has a variation that ties into its AdaptationExpansion: The Enchantress left one of these behind for the Beast on top of his magic mirror and enchanted rose. What does it do? [[spoiler: It allows the user to travel anywhere they wish in the world. Belle and the Beast use it to visit her childhood home in Paris, and the sad backstory of her Missing Mom is revealed in the process]]. See also Literature below.
123* The pirate movie ''Film/MagicIsland'' has a boy named Jack get sucked into his book. He ends up saving a mermaid and some treasure from Blackbeard the pirate.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Literature]]
127* There's a kids' series called ''Alice in Bibleland'' that centers on this premise.
128* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' novel ''Book of the Dead'' had a variant of type two, where Wesley was sucked into a book and trapped in its pages-he to help the other trapped people and defeat the people-eating worm demon hunting everyone before he could escape.
129* The ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''Lost in a Book'' has {{Bookworm}} Belle, during her stay in the Beast's castle, discover a magical book (''Nevermore'') in the vast library. And she can enter and leave its MagicalLand freely...''at first''. An unusual example in that Belle's "real world" is already quite magical.
130* ''Literature/TheInkworldTrilogy'' centers around people with the power to bring objects and people in and out of books by reading them aloud. Originally, Mo thought it was just bringing things out....and realized far too late that it was a case of EquivalentExchange when he accidentally read his wife into a book and was unable to get her out.
131* ''The Land Of Stories: The Wishing Spell'' (and presumably the other books in the LOS series) by Chris Colfer focus on two kids who enter a magical land through a book.
132* The various books in ''Literature/MagicTreeHouse'' seem to work this way. It's unclear whether they actually send the protagonists inside the book's setting or transport them directly to the historical era depicted in the book. The former seems more likely, however, since Jack and Annie also use the books (especially later on in the series) to travel to fantasy worlds.
133* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Halfway through, Bastian uses AURYN to travel to Fantastica himself.
134[[/folder]]
135
136[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
137* Done twice on ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'':
138** A microwave oven turns a comic book into a Portal Book in "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner." It ends with the hero going inside said comic book to stop the EmotionEater villain that had escaped earlier in the episode.
139** A video game junkie learns how (dangerously) exciting reading can be in "The Tale of the Bookish Baby-sitter."
140* Done in the ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' episode "Charmed Noir," where Paige and Kyle get trapped in a book written by two of the Magic School's students. Important to the drama of the plot, because the world of the book technically isn't inside the school, it [[LoopholeAbuse bypasses the enchantment]] on school grounds that prevents anyone from dying. This makes a mystery when bodies start showing up.
141* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Rita and Zed trap three of the Rangers in Kimberly's favorite childhood book. When that plan backfires, they turn the book's villain into the MonsterOfTheWeek.
142* El Exprimidor de Libros (The Book Squeezer) in ''Series/OdiseaBurbujas'', a device that allows the main characters to travel inside books, often use to teach kids about literature, as the show is educational.
143* Done with Alex's diary in an episode of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:Music Videos]]
147* In the music video for Music/AHa's "Take on Me", the (handsome) lead singer who is in a comic book, invites a (very cute) woman who is reading it to join him. She does, and becomes a black-and-white drawn character. When he stands behind a mirror, on one side he (and her) are three dimensional, in color, but on the other side, they're line-drawn black and white. When some {{mook}}s start chasing them, he runs and pulls her along, then pushes her back out to the real world. Then later, she returns the favor and invites him out of the comic and into her world. The official video is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914 here]].
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Pinballs]]
151* In ''Pinball/TalesOfTheArabianNights'', the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' serves as one of these; the player must enter seven of the Tales and retrieve a magic jewel from each one in order to confront the evil genie of the game.
152[[/folder]]
153
154[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
155* An old ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' monster is the Palimpsest, a sheet of rune-inscribed parchment that has become a carnivorous predator. If it senses prey that has mistaken it for something benign, the Palimpsest absorbs the reader into its page, after which an illumination of the frantic victim appears alongside the normal text or sigils on the parchment. After a few days the unlucky victim will be "digested" completely and vanish from the paper, at which point only a ''wish'' spell can revive them, though before that point a specific sequence of spells - ''remove curse'', ''abjure'', and ''resurrection'' - will animate the illustrated victim, remove them from the Palimpsest as a colorless, lifeless paper doll, and then restore them to normal. Alternatively, lightning magic like ''shocking grasp'' has a chance of making a Palimpsest regurgitate someone from its page, at the risk of also zapping the victim.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Theatre]]
159* The Z book in the Creator/CirqueDuSoleil show ''Theatre/{{Zed}}'' initially drew its two clowns into another world when they jumped into the book. They come back out at the end, but the denizens of the other world seemed to have followed them and have no desire to go back, despite needful protests from the clowns.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Video Games]]
163* ''VideoGame/CurseCrackersForWhomTheBelleToils'' has the Cursed Book, a series of not 5 but ''10'' particularly difficult levels that Belle has to go through after getting trapped inside a book, without Chime to help her. There doesn't seem to be a story going on, though; instead the book seems to function as an alternate dimension.
164* The plot of ''[[VideoGame/DisneysMagicalQuest Disney's Magical Quest 3]]'', as well as ''Mickey's Ultimate Challenge''. In the former, Huey, Dewey and Louie are sucked into Storybook World by the evil "King Pete" after they open an old book in the attic and Donald (or Mickey) has to enter the book in order to get them out. In the latter, Mickey (or Minnie) falls asleep while reading a book of fairytales and ends up within the book's world, and must find the source of the kingdom's problems while finding a way home.
165* This is the plot of ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', the game of which ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' is a DolledUpInstallment.
166* ''VideoGame/DressUpTimePrincess'' transports the player character into a role within the storybook she reads, obliging her to live through the story and try to reach a happy ending through her choices. The "Queen Marie" book, which is the first story available, dips into Type 3 since it's the story of Marie Antoinette, whose historical fate is something the player character would very much like to avoid.
167* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'': This is literally the plotline of the game. It happens again in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''.
168* The plot of the edutainment game ''VideoGame/IMMeen'' involves an evil wizard sucking "bookworm" kids into his magic labyrinth with a magic book.
169-->This book is made to order, but it isn't to be read\
170When they open up this book, they're sucked inside instead
171* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyFablesChocoboTales'' the demon book Bebuzzu transforms a storybook into one of these.
172* The main plot of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoChronicle'' consists of Arle and Carbuncle (as well as several other characters) getting sucked into a book leading into another world where they're the prophesied "Great Hero" who will bring love to everyone. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that Satan arranged for the whole thing so that he could live out his fantasy of Arle rescuing him as well as being the FinalBoss of her journey. Suffice to say, Arle was not impressed to say the least. Then the whole story gets thrown OffTheRails, first when Satan leaves the Colour Tower early to face Arle and Co., and second when Ally's pendant (that she got from Ecolo) ends up creating an EvilTwin bent on destroying everything...]]
173* The titular book of ''VideoGame/RakenzarnTales'', which is used to transport Kyros and Kyuu into the world of Rakenzarn to start the game proper.
174* ''VideoGame/SuperLuckysTale'': The book of Ages which Lucky is trapped and also springs the plot of the game. And managed to connect the worlds and reuniting with fellow Guardians.
175* In ''VideoGame/WorldMosaics 3: Fairy Tales'' the player has to find their way out of a book of fairy tales from various countries.
176[[/folder]]
177
178[[folder:Webcomics]]
179* Gumby can do this in ''Webcomic/{{Asperchu}}''
180* ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'' provides its own [[http://www.pbfcomics.com/130/ twisted take]] on this.
181[[/folder]]
182
183[[folder:Web Original]]
184* According to the Elias Material NewAge website, both historical time periods and fictional settings are arranged into books that one can experience as a point of view, or focus. The reader is presently focused in the Shift Book.
185* ''Website/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-826 SCP-826 ("Draws You into the Book").]] SCP-826 is two bookends. When a book is placed between them, the room it's in will change into the setting of the book. Anyone who enters the room will enter a random location in the book's setting. Any actions the explorer takes will be reflected in the book after they leave it.
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Western Animation]]
189* The ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} Challenge of the Super Friends]]'' cartoon in 1978 had episode 13, "Fairy Tale Of Doom", where the Toyman develops a device that can project anyone into the pages of a storybook. He forces Hawkman to chase him into Jack and the Beanstalk, Cheetah forces Wonder Woman to chase her into Alice in Wonderland and Brainiac forces Superman to chase him into Gulliver's Travels and the three villains trap the three Super Friends in the three treacherous fairy tales. The other Super Friends must rescue the trapped heroes before the clock runs out and the books vanish forever.
190* Certain episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' where Dora and Boots are shown reading a story at the beginning has them jump into the book to start the adventure. One episode does a variation where they jump into a video game, and "Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom" combines this with Type 1 when Dora, Boots, and Allie have to travel from story to story to find the missing crystals.
191* The ''WesternAnimation/GarbagePailKidsCartoon'' episode "A Rhyme in Time" had the Garbage Pail Kids enter a world of nursery rhymes through a book after noticing that Jack and Jill are missing from the illustration of their nursery rhyme and decide to enter the book to investigate.
192* Most episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}'' involve this.
193* Adventures of the Week on ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' frequently took the kids into books, including ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', ''Literature/PeterPan'', "Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin", and numerous {{Fairy Tale}}s. Interestingly, the episode specifically about books and libraries ''didn't'' use this but rather put the kids in the setting of ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' searching for Piggy's lost ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' book.
194* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E6PowerPonies Power Ponies]]" has Spike and the Mane Six learn the hard way that this kind of book is apparently a freely available specialized comic book retail item when they are sucked into it and have to play out its roleplaying game scenario in order to leave.
195* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' thanks to fairy magic the cast travel inside the book ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' with the characters taking the roles of the book's characters.
196* The [[TropeNamer trope-naming]] GreatBigBookOfEverything on ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}''.
197* ''WesternAnimation/SuperWhy'' revolves around this trope OncePerEpisode.
198[[/folder]]
199
200!!Type 3:
201
202[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
203* The plot of ''Anime/{{Superbook}}'' does this with Literature/TheBible.
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Literature]]
207* ''The Incredible Umbrella'' and its sequel ''The Amorous Umbrella'' by Marvin Kaye.
208* In Creator/WoodyAllen's "The Kugelmass Episode" Persky the Great invented a cabinet that can transport the occupant into whatever book is placed inside when he taps on the door three times. The titular character uses it to cheat on his wife with Madame Bovary. It eventually breaks when he tries to get sent into ''Literature/PortnoysComplaint'' and he ends up in an old Spanish textbook being chased by an irregular verb.
209* Jasper Fforde's ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' features this in several places. The first novel, ''The Eyre Affair'', has Thursday change the ending of ''Literature/JaneEyre'' (which, in the novel's AlternateHistory, ended with Jane going off to India with her cousin instead of ending up with Lord Rochester) and trapping antagonist Jack Schitt in Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheRaven''.
210[[/folder]]
211
212[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
213* ''Series/LostInAusten''
214[[/folder]]
215
216[[folder:Video Games]]
217* ''VideoGame/FictionFixers: Alice in Wonderland'' and its sequel ''Fiction Fixers: The Curse of Oz'' are about reversing changes in the books caused by an agent of the Illiterati.
218* To link books together in ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'', the world has to be described in its pages (in an [[LanguageOfMagic archaic, chinese-like form of D'ni]]), but once completed, the books on the shelf act similar to a PortalNetwork.
219** The whole premise of the ''Myst'' game is this trope. Initially type 2 but with the return averted. The main story/adventure is slowly revealed by the puzzles you solve and this part is more like a type 1.
220* In the ''VideoGame/{{Nevertales}}'' series Travelers can use any book as a portal into another world.
221* ''VideoGame/WishboneAndTheAmazingOdyssey'': When Wishbone inserts his copy of ''The Odyssey'' into the Epigraphic Interactive Pictographic Combobulator, it ends up shaping the virtual world he gets sucked into.
222[[/folder]]
223
224[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
225* In the '80s, the German RPG ''Das schwarze Auge'' (''VideoGame/RealmsOfArkania'') had a franchise for kids, called ''Der Geheimbund des Schwarzen Auges''. In this game, you were a Guardian at "The Library", and whenever there is something in a book that went wrong -- e.g. Huckleberry Finn got lost in the cave, Long John Silver has staged another coup on Treasure island or whatever -- the Guardians enter the book and its story to set it back on track.
226[[/folder]]

Top