Tangled Up

Terry Brooks' fourth book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series was The Tangle Box. He wrote it after spending several years on a four-book Shannara series after book three, and I think that time away shows. In this book, he comes back to Landover with an arguably more serious plot line than that of the original "trilogy."

In this book, a sort of magician/con man comes into possession of a magical artifact that functions as a prison -- the Tangle Box of the book's title. He unleashes the evil demon living inside it, and it soon forces him to take part in a plan to seize control of the Kingdom. Step one is getting rid of King Ben Holiday so he can't interfere; he is banished into the Tangle Box himself, along with two other powerful beings in the realm (rivals of Ben's) who might be strong enough to thwart the plan. Inside the Box, all three are afflicted with a sort of amnesia, unable to remember who they really are or how they came to be trapped -- all serious obstacles to their efforts at escape.

Meanwhile, the fairy creature who has become Ben's wife, Willow, announces she is pregnant with their child. But as a magical child of multiple worlds, the delivery will not be simple. Willow must embark on a quest of her own to ensure the child will be born safely.

For the first time, Terry Brooks isn't quite able to weave in all the major and minor characters from previous Landover books into his new tale. Ben's old law partner from our world, who appeared briefly in each of the earlier three books, isn't around this time -- though he's honestly not especially missed. The plot still manages to work in a short trip back to Earth, keeping the notion alive that Landover is an Oz-like reality somewhere near our own.

The Willow subplot is really the strongest thing going in the book. What she has to do is simple enough, but still makes for a compelling read. The publishers knew this, I suppose, since the cover illustration is a reference to that storyline, rather than The Tangle Box itself. Also interesting are chapters focusing on Ben's remaining friends at court trying to deal with the con man who started the whole mess, and being magically taken in.

The dilemma of Ben being trapped inside the Box with no knowledge of his real identity is a compelling idea, but it's not quite as interesting in execution. We the readers know more than the characters, so every chapter devoted to that plot is just a wait for them to realize the truth and find their way out. It's not that it's boring; it's just that you know where it must inevitably lead.

I'd say that after the especially good installment that was Wizard at Large, The Tangle Box was a return to form for the Landover series -- a really enjoyable book overall, but still not quite "top shelf" Terry Brooks. I rate it a B+.