The Land of Stories 3 : A Grimm Warning Spoiler Thread (to be turned into Read and Discuss Thread later?)

[Glorfindel]

Here's the preview that was in the USA Today article:

Suddenly the hall of fairies parted. Something was causing a ruckus, and they hurried away from it as fast as possible. Three boisterous witches had just arrived in the Fairy Palace, and they noisily made their way into the center of the hall.

Each wore a long, ragged black cloak and smelled foul. One witch had cat eyes and twigs for hair, another was missing an eye but had two large noses, and the third had skin so loose, it appeared to be melting off her face like wax. They cackled loudly at the fairies cowering away from them.

The eight members of the Fairy Council formed a circle around the witches. It was obvious they had come to start trouble.

"What business do you have here?" Emerelda asked them.

"We came here for the Fairy Inaugural Ball, of course," the one-eyed witch said in a shrill voice.

"You weren't invited," Violetta said. "This is a celebration for fairies only."

"You're breaking the laws of the Happily Ever After Assembly by being in our palace," Xanthous threatened. "Witches are not allowed to set foot in this kingdom, and you know it."

"Enforce those laws while you still have them, because soon there will be no assembly to scare us with," the one-eye witched warned.

The fairies whispered to one another. What did the witch mean by this? Xanthous grew impatient and didn't care to find out. "Leave at once, or we'll have you thrown in Pinocchio Prison," he threatened.

The witches cackled even harder at his attempt to frighten them. "But if we leave, you'll never receive our gift," the witch with cat eyes hissed. "We didn't come all this way empty-handed."

"We don't want your gift," Tangerina said. The bees flying around her neck and wrists flew at a quicker pace. "Go back to wherever it is you came from."

"Trust us—you want what we have to offer," the witch with waxy skin wheezed. "It's less of a gift and more of a prophecy. It's something the witches have kept to themselves for a great while, but since it's such a ceremonious night, we thought we'd share it with you."

"We don't want to hear your ridiculous prophecy, either," Rosette said.

"I do!" Coral peeped, speaking on behalf of all the curious fairies in the room. "It couldn't hurt just to listen to whatever information they want to give us."

The members of the Fairy Council looked at one another, but no one objected. "Very well," Emerelda said. "If the witches promise to leave us in peace when they've finished, they may share their message with us."

The witches scowled at the audience of fairies around them. They held hands and formed a circle in the center of the hall. The witches cocked their heads up to the sky, and their mouths and eyes began to glow. A strong breeze swiftly blew through the palace as the witches chanted a rhyme in unison.

"Fairies, listen well,

For there is truth in the sights we foretell.

'Happily ever after' will not last,

When it's greeted by a threat from the past.

One by one, the kingdoms will fall apart,

From battles they'll lose and wars they'll start.

Fairy blood will be spilt by the gallon,

When you face the army of thousands."

The witches howled with laughter at the conclusion of their prophecy. All the fairies had to cover their ears from the screeching sounds.

"Get out of this palace before I turn you into ashes," Xanthous said, and his whole body burst into flames.

"Yeah, and then I'll kick your ashes into next week!" Mother Goose added.

The witches left the palace, cackling as loud as they could the entire way. The fairies looked to one another anxiously. Did they have any reason to believe a word of what the witches had just said? Was there really some sort of army on its way?

"Do not worry," Emerelda told them. "This was nothing more than a foolish attempt to ruin our evening, and I refuse to let them. I say we continue our celebration in the gardens and celebrate under the stars."

The fairies cheered, and Emerelda led all the guests through the hall and outside the palace.

"Aren't you coming, Mother Goose?" Coral asked as she left with the others.

Mother Goose was the only one who stayed behind. "Sure," she said. "I'll be out in a minute."

"All right," Coral said, and flew off with the others.

Mother Goose's eyes darted left and right, and small beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She was the only person to whom the witches' prophecy had meant something. Everything the witches had foretold was very relevant to a dark secret Mother Goose had kept for many years, a secret she had never told to anyone, not even the Fairy Godmother.

But Mother Goose had done everything in her power for years to make sure the army wouldn't cross over. Was the threat still alive?

There was only one way to find out, and there was only one person who could help her—and he was worlds away.

Mother Goose took a giant swig from her flask and hopped onto Lester's back. She steered him to the window of Alex's room. Mother Goose climbed in and had a look around. She found the magic mirror placed in the corner and touched its glass. The mirror shimmered for a few seconds, and the round, freckled face of the person she was trying to contact appeared.

"Oh, C-Dog, thank God it's you," Mother Goose said to Conner. "Listen, we need to talk. I need your help.…"

x

OMG the familiar name in the last sentences:


   

If my memory is correct Mother Goose already called Connor C-dog in book 2, right?

[Glorfindel]

I take it the 2 persons on the left are the Grimm brothers?

[Buenos]

Dragons and Unicorns!

[Ireth]

Gorgeous cover! Love that there's a dragon!

[Glorfindel]

There's a panflute on the cover. Doesn't Peter Pan have a panflute?  

[Ranwing]

There's a panflute on the cover. Doesn't Peter Pan have a panflute?  

Maybe Chris throwing some shade? Wishing thinking, I know...

Gorgeous cover! Love the dragon.

[Glorfindel]

There's a panflute on the cover. Doesn't Peter Pan have a panflute?  

Maybe Chris throwing some shade? Wishing thinking, I know...

I doubt it. Chris probably had the story already mapped out in his head, including Peter Pan, long before the announcement of the tv musical.
But it's nice to think about it.  

This reminds me that Chris never watched 'Once Upon a Time' so his own TLoS ideas wouldn't get tainted with the ideas from that tv show.
I wonder how much his TLoS characters still resemble the OUAT ones, just because he saw the same character traits in certain people from the fairytales (from the original stories) as the writers of OUAT did.


A DRAGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

[Glorfindel]

Taken from the TLoS3 main thread:

Aside from the obvious reunion of the twins, I can't help but notice that dragon in the background. Just curious-- has there even been a dragon featured in a fairy tale? I could only think of Maleficent transforming into one, but I had wondered if that's just a purely Disney cartoon creation.

Not that I know of, but I think Chris is taking TLoS3 a little bit more into the fantasy style territory, and he has added elements of fantasy (as in: not fairytale) in his previous TLoS books before: Elves, Trolls, Goblins.
A dragon is just the next logical step.   


This might also connect to the Elves getting a bigger role in TLoS3, as Chris has said.

And as I suspect that the panflute on the cover stands for Peter Pan.....then the Land of Stories has become a nice mixture of fairytale land, Middle-Earth and Neverland.   

[Glorfindel]

In the third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series by Chris Colfer, the Brothers Grimm have a warning for the Land of Stories.

Conner Bailey thinks his fairy-tale adventures are behind him--until he discovers a mysterious clue left by the famous Brothers Grimm. With help from his classmate Bree and the outlandish Mother Goose, Conner sets off on a mission across Europe to crack a two-hundred-year-old code.

Meanwhile, Alex Bailey is training to become the next Fairy Godmother...but her attempts at granting wishes never go as planned. Will she ever be truly ready to lead the Fairy Council?

When all signs point to disaster for the Land of Stories, Conner and Alex must join forces with their friends and enemies to save the day. But nothing can prepare them for the coming battle...or for the secret that will change the twins' lives forever.

The third book in the bestselling Land of Stories series puts the twins to the test as they must bring two worlds together!

- See more at: http://hachettebookgroup.com/titles/chris-colfer/the-land-of-stories-a-grimm-warning/9780316406819/#desc

x

So Conner will go to Europe! And Mother Goose still can travel back and forth between the 2 worlds.

Exciting!  

[ColdFlame96]

Connors classmate Bree. Omg maybe that's where Ryan got the name for that one Cheerio girl from.   

Also, is she gonna be Connors love interest? Because I think that'd be adorable.   

[ColferInspired]

In the third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series by Chris Colfer, the Brothers Grimm have a warning for the Land of Stories.

Conner Bailey thinks his fairy-tale adventures are behind him--until he discovers a mysterious clue left by the famous Brothers Grimm. With help from his classmate Bree and the outlandish Mother Goose, Conner sets off on a mission across Europe to crack a two-hundred-year-old code.

Meanwhile, Alex Bailey is training to become the next Fairy Godmother...but her attempts at granting wishes never go as planned. Will she ever be truly ready to lead the Fairy Council?

When all signs point to disaster for the Land of Stories, Conner and Alex must join forces with their friends and enemies to save the day. But nothing can prepare them for the coming battle...or for the secret that will change the twins' lives forever.

The third book in the bestselling Land of Stories series puts the twins to the test as they must bring two worlds together!

- See more at: http://hachettebookgroup.com/titles/chris-colfer/the-land-of-stories-a-grimm-warning/9780316406819/#desc

x

So Conner will go to Europe! And Mother Goose still can travel back and fort between the 2 worlds.

Exciting!  

This sounds really exciting.  

Makes me want to read it now.

[valkeakuulas]

And as much as I love his Land of Stories land, Connor's in real world right now so we get to see more Chris writing about the real humans land!

[Glorfindel]

And as much as I love his Land of Stories land, Connor's in real world right now so we get to see more Chris writing about the real humans land!

Wanna bet that somehow Chris will have Conner visit the Grimm graves and Neuschwanstein?  

(And I'm sure there will be some fairy magic hidden in that castle too, lol)

   

[Buenos]

Sounds darker, a grim story indeed.

[MoviesAreLife]

I like how the twins are having their separate storylines in the two different worlds...but it kind of makes me sad also.

[Glorfindel]

I like how the twins are having their separate storylines in the two different worlds...but it kind of makes me sad also.

Let's see if Chris can handle a split narrative better than RIB have.  


Jibes at Glee aside: I wonder how long it'll take in the book before the twins are reunited again? Like.....somewhere in the middle or at the very end?
As Conner goes on a quest in Europe I don't expect their reunion in the beginning of the book.

Oh, and it's kind of funny that in book 1 Conner and Alex' father went on a quest to find a way back into the real world, and now Conner maybe has to go on a quest to find a way to get back to the Land of Stories (unless mother Goose has a couple of aces up her sleeve).

[MoviesAreLife]

I like how the twins are having their separate storylines in the two different worlds...but it kind of makes me sad also.

Let's see if Chris can handle a split narrative better than RIB have.  


Jibes at Glee aside: I wonder how long it'll take in the book before the twins are reunited again? Like.....somewhere in the middle or at the very end?
As Conner goes on a quest in Europe I don't expect their reunion in the beginning of the book.

Oh, and it's kind of funny that in book 1 Conner and Alex' father went on a quest to find a way back into the real world, and now Conner maybe has to go on a quest to find a way to get back to the Land of Stories (unless mother Goose has a couple of aces up her sleeve).

LMFAO! I know, right?!   

I must be an old stick in the mud. For the first two books, it was Alex and Conner against the world(s). And now it's Conner and...Bree. I hate that name, thanks to Glee.

It will be interesting to see Conner trying to get into TLOS by himself, since it was always Alex who activated portals with her magic before.

I thought the two worlds were sealed off from each other, so how is it that Mother Goose can still travel back and forth between the two?

[Glorfindel]

It will be interesting to see Conner trying to get into TLOS by himself, since it was always Alex who activated portals with her magic before.

It was never made really clear, as Alex was always the magical one in the previous books, but I think Conner has hidden magic in him too.

I thought the two worlds were sealed off from each other, so how is it that Mother Goose can still travel back and forth between the two?

I think Mother Goose is a big fat liar. Shocking, right?  
If my hunch is correct the worlds were never really sealed off completely, and Mother Goose (and maybe Godmother too) lied to Conner and Alex and everyone else to make sure noone would ever try again.

[Buenos]

Mother Goose?

Never trust a lush.

[Lottie2303]

I am not sure if I want Connor in Germany. I'll either be delighted or judge Chris so very harshly. There won't be an in between   

[Glorfindel]

^As long as there are no lederhosen involved I'm fine with it.  

[Lottie2303]

^As long as there are no lederhosen involved I'm fine with it.  

Oh God... I love Chris, but dude can be so stereotypical American. I am a bit terrified   

Public notice: despite poplar belief, the majority of Germans are not wearing Lederhosen. Bavaria is not Germany!    

[Buenos]

I thought all lederhosen clad Germans drink from beer steincups while eating schnitzel and sausage listening to polka music 24/7.   

[MoviesAreLife]

It will be interesting to see Conner trying to get into TLOS by himself, since it was always Alex who activated portals with her magic before.

It was never made really clear, as Alex was always the magical one in the previous books, but I think Conner has hidden magic in him too.

Of course he does. Why he doesn't want to embrace those abilities is beyond me.

[Glorfindel]

Of course he does. Why he doesn't want to embrace those abilities is beyond me.

Maybe he just wants a more simplified life?  

But I think he's one of those people who can't ignore their feelings of responsibility (like e.g. Harry Potter).

[Sponsored content]