Re: The Land of Stories Main Thread

[fantastica]

[fantastica]

[Sani]

(x)
Stolen from tumblr.

[valkeakuulas]

There has been two editions around of Land of Stories already and I have now both of them, so to clear the matter:

The UK edition is published by Atom books and its first edition ISBN is 978-1-907411-78-2. It does not have the map and is about inch taller than the US version. The font is also slightly larger and the cover jacket does not have the gold decoration. Currently at least Amazon UK ships only the UK version, not sure about other Amazons, but quite sure the UK version will soon take over Europe.



The US first edition version goes with ISBN of 978-0-316-20157-5. So pay attention to those ISBN numbers when ordering the actual book. US ISBN starts always with 978-0 in it!

On a personal note, I like what Atom book has done with the spine of their edition:



The US version is so much cuter because it's smaller and compact, the UK version feels cluncky. (I've been reading the US version so I'm hugely biased.)

[Delight]

There has been two editions around of Land of Stories already and I have now both of them, so to clear the matter:

The UK edition is published by Atom books and its first edition ISBN is 978-1-907411-78-2. It does not have the map and is about inch taller than the US version. The font is also slightly larger and the cover jacket does not have the gold decoration. Currently at least Amazon UK ships only the UK version, not sure about other Amazons, but quite sure the UK version will soon take over Europe.



The US first edition version goes with ISBN of 978-0-316-20157-5. So pay attention to those ISBN numbers when ordering the actual book. US ISBN starts always with 978-0 in it!

On a personal note, I like what Atom book has done with the spine of their edition:



The US version is so much cuter because it's smaller and compact, the UK version feels cluncky. (I've been reading the US version so I'm hugely biased.)

^ Thanks for this info!

I got the UK version in the local bookstore. There isn't a Map

On the plus side, the one I ordered online from the Barnes and Noble website seems to be the US version (judging by the ISBN). So it seems more likely that my shipped copy will have a map, which is good (The mapless book shall be turned into a gift for someone else )

[fantastica]

"I would cast Dianna as Cinderella, because Dianna’s beautiful. It’s almost obnoxious how beautiful she is."

- Chris Colfer

[fantastica]

For those who has the UK version of the book and don't have the map, here's it is. If someone has a bigger version please post it. I have hte digital version and it only has a black and white small map that doesn't have name of the kingdoms in it, so I look at this one for reference too:

[fantastica]

[Buenos]

Not sure it belongs here but USATODAY's review: (3 out of 4 stars)

http://books.usatoday.com/book/chris-colfer-opens-up-a-fairy-tale-%27land-of-stories/r810713

[Jellyrolls]

^ you can listen/watch anything and everything you buy from itune directly in itune itself, on the pc.

I believe Karen/Jelly bought the audio version from itunes. She can give you tutorial on how to do that.

Nope. I bought the CD's and loaded it onto my iPod.

[fantastica]

USA Today review of The Land of Stories

Chris Colfer opens up a fairy-tale ‘Land of Stories’

It’s the summer for fictional bookworms who fall into fairy tales.

First came Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult, the best-selling novelist, in collaboration with her 16-year-old daughter, Samantha van Leer. They imagine a girl who not only falls in love with a fairy-tale prince but also ends up — physically — in the pages of the story.

Now comesThe Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, the debut novel by Chris Colfer, best known for his role as Kurt Hummel in the hit TV series Glee. Based on an idea he had when he was 10 — Colfer is now all of 22 — it stars 12-year-old twins who fall into the pages of their grandmother’s treasured fairy-tale collection.

The Land of Stories works best as a comic and ironic adventure. But it lacks the intellectual playfulness of Between the Lines, which yanks readers back and forth between reality and fantasy and explores the relationship between characters and their readers.

Colfer is aiming more for laughs while paying homage to the original fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, not their watered-down movie and TV versions.













His main characters couldn’t be more different. Alex is her class’s star student, “the definition of bookworm.” Her brother, Conner, is the class clown who has trouble in school, “mostly trouble staying awake.”

A year earlier, their lovable father, a bookstore owner, died in a car accident. (Parents tend to have high fatality rates in fairy tales.) Their also-lovable mother, a nurse, works overtime to make ends meet.

That world is left behind as the twins give new meaning to the idea of getting lost in a good book. They land in a series of kingdoms where Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White have become queens and married King Charming.

“Wait,” Conner asks, “all these queens are married to the same guy?”

Of course not, he’s told. There are three King Charmings. They’re brothers.

“Of course,” Alex says. “They all married Prince Charming! There’s more than one! How come I never thought about that?”

But wait, there’s more in Colfer’s magic kingdoms than Disney has dreamt of.

Goldilocks, a fugitive wanted for “burglary, thievery and running from the law,” and a fashion-minded Red Riding Hood are vying for the attentions of Jack, formerly of the Beanstalk. Out to impress Jack, Red Riding Hood “was showing too much skin, wearing too much makeup and was dressed too well for the middle of the day,” which may be too much information for Colfer’s youngest readers.

The Evil Queen, aka Snow White’s wicked stepmother, has escaped her jail cell, after hissing that “avillainis just avictimwhose story hasn’t been told.”

To return home to Mom, Alex and Conner must collect eight fairy-tale collectibles, including Cinderella’s slipper and a lock of Rapunzel’s hair, while being chased by a pack of wolves.

At 438 pages, the novel could have used tighter editing. The ending comes as no surprise but leaves room for a sequel. As Alex says farewell, she wipes away tears but can’t help smiling, “because she knew in her heart it wasn’t readygood-bye.”

In fairy tales, is it ever?

3/4 stars

http://books.usatoday.com/book/chris-colfer-opens-up-a-fairy-tale-%27land-of-stories/r810713

there are more reviews at the source below the main article.

[fantastica]

[fantastica]

[fantastica]

I like her too!

[fantastica]

Celebrity Book Club: Amber Riley Journeys To Chris Colfer's 'Land Of Stories'

What better time to call to order another meeting of Hollywood Crush's Celebrity Book Club than during the dog days of summer? After all, this is prime reading time for beach bunnies and sun saluters vacationing in the sort of sumptuous tropical locales we can only dream about from our aggressively air-conditioned cubicles. Not that we're jelly or anything.

"Glee" star Amber Riley is one such starlet who's been getting in some reading during her hiatus from McKinley High, and in addition to "The Hunger Games" (which the entire cast apparently read together), the actress is in the middle of a novel very near and dear to co-star Chris Colfer. Because he wrote it!

"I read Chris Colfer's book," Amber said with a big grin. "He actually tried to give me the copy, like the copy he was passing around, but I really wanted to, like, invest and buy it, so I downloaded it and bought it. I've only gotten through the first chapter. Don't kill me, Chris! I'm gonna read it. It's really good."

The book is titled "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" and tells the tale of twins Alex and Connor Bailey, who magically find themselves transported to a fairytale land populated by all sorts of colorful creatures.

Chris stopped by MTV News recently to discuss his just-released book and explain the inspiration for the enchanted story.

"I was obsessed with fairytales, and I was a very, very inquisitive kid, and I would ask my mom all kinds of questions. It all kind of formed a story in my head, and I really wanted to be a published author when I was 10, but I had a hard time writing a novel when I was 10," Chris explained. "So I decided to wait until I was little bit older and then get it done."

http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2012/08/02/amber-riley-celebrity-book-club-the-land-of-stories/

[fantastica]

[fantastica]

[ChrisColferFan1]

My book came today. Will start reading it soon.

[fantastica]

A nice review:

Squillace Reads: The Land of Stories

Tutor.com Sales Director, Tom Squillace, works remotely at his home office in Michigan. While he isn’t able to participate in the Tutor.com Reads Book Club, he did have his own summer book club meeting with his two daughters after surprisingly enjoying an unexpected book. Find out more below!

It isn’t every day that my job at Tutor.com gets to impress my two girls, but at ALA’s Annual Conference this past June I was able to do just that. In between catching up with old friends and meeting new faces, I made my way to a few of the events that ALA hosts during the conference. After pleasing the intellectual side of my brain at the John Irving presentation, I moved onto something a bit lighter and something my two daughters, Jacqueline, 11, and Colleen, 14, would totally “gleek” out over.

Chris Colfer, the Golden Globe winning actor who plays Kurt on the television show Glee, was at ALA 2012 to discuss his own book, The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. The book itself was basically an afterthought to my decision to attend. Since my two daughters are huge Glee fans, I figured that I could use my video phone to connect with them back in Michigan so they could watch a portion of the event.

As I was sitting there, feeling a bit sheepish, holding up my phone so my girls could get a virtual glimpse of an actual TV star, I looked at a copy of the book in question and was a bit skeptical. It didn’t look like the type of book that my girls would like, but I brought a couple of copies home with me anyway, hoping that at least it would keep their noses away from their electronic devices for a few minutes. When I got home, what ensued was an affirmation of the power of the written word, as well as a realization that perhaps I underestimated my girls just a bit. The book turned out to be an absolute hit, especially with Jacqueline, who has read and reread the book a few times.

A few weeks later, as I was selecting some reading material for our family vacation, I came upon The Land of Stories and decided that I would bring it along as a 4th string substitute. As it happened, our trip had a bit more rain than usual, and one rainy morning I picked up Mr. Colfer’s book. I was sure that I would get through a few pages, become bored, and go in search of a more substantial piece of writing. But the strangest thing happened. The book actually turned out to be a pretty ripping sort of yarn – a kind of reinvented fairy tale, with some pretty solid characterization (Goldilocks as a wanted fugitive!), a plot that hummed along at a favorable pace, and some surprises thrown in at the end.

While my enjoyment of the book was a surprise, the best part of it all was that I got to share my reactions with both of my girls. We kind of had our own little book club meeting while waiting for the sun to come out. It was a great part of our vacation, but now that I think about it, does this mean I have to start watching Glee?

http://blog.tutor.com/2012/08/squillace-reads-the-land-of-stories/

[Glorfindel]

Maybe a mod could erase the posts about GA in this thread, or move them to the snark & bark thread?

I also dislike any mentioning of GA on a Chris thread.
What do you think?

[fantastica]

yes, I agree that we should erase those GA references in this thread. this is a Chris thread and we should keep it clean.

[Delight]

^Good point. I've moved those posts to the S&B. Sorry for the delay. I haven't been checking all the threads as diligently as I should have, and I only saw these posts today





^ Dang. Another fan beat me to it. I was quite tempted to tweet Chris a drawing of Goldilocks.

[fantastica]

[Glorfindel]

My youngest daughter will love that.

[tanita_mors]

Waiting patiently for confirmation on Serbian. I better not be disappointed.

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