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The Books of Magic #5
The Books of Magic: Lost Places
Timothy Hunter is just like any other thirteen-year-old boy in London...except for the tiny fact that he might be the most powerful magician of his time. Tim knows how stories knight saves princess from dragon, everyone lives happily ever after. Then his girlfriend, Molly, is abducted by a visitor from the future. Normally, of course, the hero would rescue the girl -- but this is no ordinary fairy tale...
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Carla Jablonski
47 books63 followersCarla Jablonski is the author and editor of dozens of best-selling books for teenage and middle-grade readers. She grew up in New York City, where she attended public schools and the Bronx High School of Science. She has a BA in anthropology from Vassar College and an MA from NYU's Gallatin School, an interdisciplinary program for which she combined playwriting, the history of gender issues in 19th Century Circus, and arts administration. "I wanted to write the play, contextualize the play, and learn how to produce the play for my degree," she explains. "I think I may have been the happiest graduate student at NYU -- I SO loved working toward my thesis."
While still in graduate school she supported herself as the editor of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. "When I interviewed for the job they asked me if I'd ever read the Hardy Boys as a kid. 'No way,' I scoffed. 'Those are BOY books! It was Nancy Drew for me!' Luckily my future boss had a sense of humor. She hired me after I promised I'd read the books if I got the job."
She has participated in the renowned Breadloaf Writers' Conference as well as Zoetrope's All-Story highly competitive writing workshop held at Francis Ford Coppella's resort in Belize. She has taught writing for the children's market, as well as "cold-reading" skills for teachers as part of Project:Read. Several of her books have been selected as part of the Accelerated Reader's program.
She continues to work freelance as an editor for publishers and for private clients, even as she writes novels and creates new series. She also has another career (and identity!) as a playwright, an actress, and a trapeze performer. "I try to keep the worlds separate," she explains about her multiple identities. "The different work I do has different audiences, so I want to keep them apart. But they're all me -- they're all ways of expressing what I'm thinking and feeling -- just in different mediums."
While still in graduate school she supported herself as the editor of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. "When I interviewed for the job they asked me if I'd ever read the Hardy Boys as a kid. 'No way,' I scoffed. 'Those are BOY books! It was Nancy Drew for me!' Luckily my future boss had a sense of humor. She hired me after I promised I'd read the books if I got the job."
She has participated in the renowned Breadloaf Writers' Conference as well as Zoetrope's All-Story highly competitive writing workshop held at Francis Ford Coppella's resort in Belize. She has taught writing for the children's market, as well as "cold-reading" skills for teachers as part of Project:Read. Several of her books have been selected as part of the Accelerated Reader's program.
She continues to work freelance as an editor for publishers and for private clients, even as she writes novels and creates new series. She also has another career (and identity!) as a playwright, an actress, and a trapeze performer. "I try to keep the worlds separate," she explains about her multiple identities. "The different work I do has different audiences, so I want to keep them apart. But they're all me -- they're all ways of expressing what I'm thinking and feeling -- just in different mediums."
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September 1, 2023Lost Place (Books of Magic)
After waiting for Molly to come out of dance school, Tim tells Molly he’s taking her on a picnic. There are some magical friends he wants her to meet. On the way there, they stop at the cemetery. The seeds Death gave him have grown significantly. He takes her to the abandoned lot but unlike before now, it has a different look. It's filled with ancient monuments, tire swings, fruit bushes, colorful paper, and later. He tells her this is a place made of the things he believed in when he was a kid. They come across Crimple and Tanger trying to make wings. When Crimple notices then he runs into the tree and refuses to come out because Tim is the only one that’s supposed to see them. Molly has an idea and asks him for help (for her and Tim) making wings. Molly goes to look around although the others warn her not to because they don’t know what’s outside their tree. Crimple goes after her and Tim and Tanger go after him. Tim finds out that if they go outside their tree there’s a possibility Crimple and Tanger might die.
Tim realizes that Tanger thinks that since he’s left his world he’s changed reality. So, now he’ll cease to exist altogether. Tim thinks maybe the death will be a symbolic one as the old Tim died when he learned he had magic. He convinces himself that he’ll help Taner and Crimple find their way back and they continue forward.
Crimple and Molly get separated. Molly ends up in a clearing full of dolls that leads to a doll house. (Lacey dolls). Molly squeezes her way into the house and it’s the most beautiful house she’s ever seen. Three dinosaurs lock Molly in and tell her she’ll be someone’s doll soon. She cries out to Crimple. Crimple hears her and goes to save her. but he’s soon captured and locked into the house with Molly. A blue creature congratulates the dinos on a job well done. They hear the creature call himself Barbados and tell the dinos they’re out and they pick up the house and vanish.
Tim says its hopeless but Tanger reminds him don’t say its. That will make it true. Tim then gets an idea. He takes a stone and scratches an arrow and an M on it. If he believes it will the stone will show him where Molly is. But it vanishes. Tanger says that’s his answer. She’s no longer in that realm. Then he takes another stone, drows another arrow, and puts the initial C. He asks the stone to show him Crumple no matter where he is. Through a sphere, he sees Molly and Crimple in a pink hued world having tea in a dollhouse. Tangle says it’s the demon’s playground.
Tim uses the Opening Stone to transport him but finds that he’s lost Tanger in transition. He then sees a figure that tells him this isn’t the demon’s playground. When the fiture takes off his hood, he’s looking at…. Himself. This version of time calls himself Noone. Critisms fly back and forth and then a smaller-sized Tim appears in the air. Then another appears. And another. And another. And another until a cloud of Tims surround him. They kept telling him he doesn’t know who he is. This isn’t his place and he doesn’t know his place in it. He threatens one main one and says if he doesn’t help him find his friends he’ll be sorry. He intimates the other Tim to tell him which way to go by producing a fire (energy) ball.
Unfortunately, they follow him to the bridge, but he again produces the energy ball and zaps them away realizing as he does that his problem has always been listening to all the voices in his head. It’s only temporary tho. They’re right back when a green monster appears that calls himself Toll. Toll tells him his price is either to (give him?) his karma card or read him a sotry. Tim chooses the story but when he opens the book the pages are blank.
Molly tells Crimple they’re grooming her to marry a nasty magician. But she refuses and flings a teacup. So, they say they're going to send her to the governess who’ll make her mind ancient tall woman who specializes in just this thing-.Her name is Vuall but she says call her Miss. Vuall before she knows it takes out a pair of shears and slashes Crimple across the throat and he crumplues. This immediately makes Molly sing a new song. She concedes to Vuall’s lessons. The lessons are absurd and all aabout pretty princesses who don’t have any other qualities. Molly and Crimple are able to force Vuall to the floor by grabbing her long, chain, earrings. They threaten if she doesn’t take them home they’ll cut off her hair (it's in a bun). Eventually, the book forms words and pictures. The story is “The Boy Who Choose The Sea”.
The story’s moral is you’ve got to be where you belong. People that understand magic. For example demons. But Tim goes off on him and tells him he’s tired of people telling him what he ought to be and shoots a burst of energy at him. He tells him he wants to live his own life. The bridge snaps, The troll disappears. Only the troll was a demon. Tim sees another bridge (to Molly) and once and for all makes the other Tims go POOF!
Tim walks in on Vuall on the floor and Molly and Crimple holding her down. Molly goes off on Tim for involving her and breaks up with him. She starts to cry, he apologizes, they kiss and makeup. Everything starts to change and become all hearts and sunshine and softness and sparkles and swirls. Crimple is now a lot more leafy and sprouting wings. There’s now a coffin in the room with a beautiful woman inside who turns out to be Vuall. The Vuall she was before she got put on this path. Now on to finding Tanger. Away from the dollhouse he tries the stone trick again.
Barbados isn’t happy. If this keeps up Tim won’t become corrupted and power hungry bitter and twisted, He has to think of a way to separate the two. Molly, Tanger, Crumple, and Tim are reunited. Then they find the book that Toll had and the pages open. A fierce whirlwind starts to form and sweeps Tim into the book. Then Barbados sweeps in Molly but to a different page. Then he returns to where the beginning of the book starts with Tim all grown up worrying about the future they created becoming undone. He tells him he’s done what he can but the future is still unstable. For the next phase, he’ll need his help. He must go to Molly as a child but in disguise. She must see him as he truly is. Then he turns him into a dragon and sweeps him into the storybook.
Tim realizes he’s in a beautiful forest. Weirdly he has a canteen. He also has on an armor and and a helmet. But this quickly changes when he realizes the glasses are real. This world is trying to make him belong (thus forget). But as long as he remembers who he is. He takes a pen and writes on his hand “I am not prince anybody”. Then he sees a replica of YoYo. He decides to play along and see where this plot goes. He talks to YoYo to see what the next step is. But instead of helping him, the owl attacks him. After a bit, it flies away. It’s taken his glasses.
Molly is trapped by a cave with a dragon that wants to admire her. He’s trying to impress her with his treasure. She isn’t (and quickly lets him know). He produces a gorgeous dress even tho she tells him she’s fine with her clothes. Molly smacks the dress to the floor. The dragon says he’s worried about her and asks how they’ve grown so far apart. The dragon looks on the verge of tears so she puts the dress on, but then says he’ll have to tell her why he acts like he knows her. Now she’s talking as if she’s a princess. The dragon says he’s known many of her. The first was when she was 17 and he gave her to Vuall to train. The most recent one was 36 that he tried to train. He seems familiar. Tim finds a castle and heads toward it. It’s atop a mountain but the mountain is fake Still, Tim continues on (tho it seems like an impossible task). Eventually, he’s facing Molly and the dragon. Molly swoons and gasps (something she’d never do). So, Tim starts to tell a story about a boy knowing the difference between what’s real and what’s fake and this isn’t his girlfriend. The world then begins to fall apart in front of him. Then he sees Barbados and magically ropes him. Tim demands to know where Molly is. He says Isn’t it obvious. She’s under all the destruction of the landscape.
The roof of the cave has fallen in, bumped Molly’s head, and something heavy has fallen on her (metal). The entrance of the cave is blocked. The dragon is holding up the cave to protect them. He apologizes for not letting her go. He says call him by his real name Tim Hunter. She says already has a Tim. She’ll stick with dragon. She gives him something to help him hold up the cave. Tim tells her he’s a version of the Tim she knows. He’s the version that shows up Tim can be if he goes power mad. His form represents his soul. Molly realizes he’s the grown version she was being trained for. Molly realizes that in the future Tim creates a lot of different versions of her because he wants her to be someone different. He admits he should have left her like she is. Molly tries to find out what events got Tim to that point, but the dragon says he sold his memories to the demon Barbados in exchange for power. The dragon is about to do something to save Molly from getting crushed but Barbados appears. Molly recognizes him instantly. He tries to stop the dragon but he says it’s the only way. He starts to blast the cave with flames. He’s burned away the roof so she can climb down the roof but he incinerated himself in the process. Barbados tells her she’s ruined everything but this isn’t over. He then snaps his fingers and vanishes.
Tim finds Molly and tries to use the Opening Stone to take them home, but it doesn’t work. Molly makes him swear by his name that he won’t deal with demons anymore or they’re through. Tim wonders what could have happened, but Molly says she can’t tell. Regardless he swears by his name, Molly realizes the way to end the fairy tale is with a happily ever after. Barbados begs him not to but he does it. He kisses Molly. Now everything goes back. His glasses are back and so are Tanger and Crimple.
My Thoughts
So with this one, the biggest question I had was what happened.? It starts off with Tim going to a castle to meet the demon and he passed a hall of Molly’s. There’s a certain one that’s docile but Vuall says she’s not ready yet. Does Molly end up dying? Well duh, she MUST have ended up dying. But from what I’ve seen in all these books, Tim doesn’t seem to have any issues with who Molly is. Unless he doesn’t want the replacement too much like the real thing. Kinda like Synergy (in the Jem cartoon). Do you know what else comes to mind when I read the beginning? If you haven’t heard of Migel listen to his song “All I Want Is You” and watch the video. It took me a minute to catch on that the others were clones (or robots).
Just like in the previous book, there was something to think on. This time about people who don’t accept you for who you are and try to make you into what *they* want you to be. Even tho they might not literally stick you in a dollhouse (or marriage or house). I actually knew a guy that tried some crap like this. He wanted to train me (and yes he actually said the words train me) to be his second girlfriend. He kept talking about piercings and being more social and opening me up to being more social and (probably tho he didn’t quite say this out loud wanting me to be bi-actually he kept trying to get me to say I was bi because this is the kind of women he was used to). Needless to say, I ended up snapping on him and eventually letting our friendship slowly evaporate. If someone ever tells you they want to train you one word RUN!!! They are NOT FOR YOU! I am who I am. Love it or leave it. So, I guess I do have a little Molly in me. I tho would have liked the gown. Hey! I have a girly side. The combat books worked for me too tho. I love that Molly knows who she is and won’t compromise for ANYBODY! THAT’S RIGHT!
Rating: 6
After waiting for Molly to come out of dance school, Tim tells Molly he’s taking her on a picnic. There are some magical friends he wants her to meet. On the way there, they stop at the cemetery. The seeds Death gave him have grown significantly. He takes her to the abandoned lot but unlike before now, it has a different look. It's filled with ancient monuments, tire swings, fruit bushes, colorful paper, and later. He tells her this is a place made of the things he believed in when he was a kid. They come across Crimple and Tanger trying to make wings. When Crimple notices then he runs into the tree and refuses to come out because Tim is the only one that’s supposed to see them. Molly has an idea and asks him for help (for her and Tim) making wings. Molly goes to look around although the others warn her not to because they don’t know what’s outside their tree. Crimple goes after her and Tim and Tanger go after him. Tim finds out that if they go outside their tree there’s a possibility Crimple and Tanger might die.
Tim realizes that Tanger thinks that since he’s left his world he’s changed reality. So, now he’ll cease to exist altogether. Tim thinks maybe the death will be a symbolic one as the old Tim died when he learned he had magic. He convinces himself that he’ll help Taner and Crimple find their way back and they continue forward.
Crimple and Molly get separated. Molly ends up in a clearing full of dolls that leads to a doll house. (Lacey dolls). Molly squeezes her way into the house and it’s the most beautiful house she’s ever seen. Three dinosaurs lock Molly in and tell her she’ll be someone’s doll soon. She cries out to Crimple. Crimple hears her and goes to save her. but he’s soon captured and locked into the house with Molly. A blue creature congratulates the dinos on a job well done. They hear the creature call himself Barbados and tell the dinos they’re out and they pick up the house and vanish.
Tim says its hopeless but Tanger reminds him don’t say its. That will make it true. Tim then gets an idea. He takes a stone and scratches an arrow and an M on it. If he believes it will the stone will show him where Molly is. But it vanishes. Tanger says that’s his answer. She’s no longer in that realm. Then he takes another stone, drows another arrow, and puts the initial C. He asks the stone to show him Crumple no matter where he is. Through a sphere, he sees Molly and Crimple in a pink hued world having tea in a dollhouse. Tangle says it’s the demon’s playground.
Tim uses the Opening Stone to transport him but finds that he’s lost Tanger in transition. He then sees a figure that tells him this isn’t the demon’s playground. When the fiture takes off his hood, he’s looking at…. Himself. This version of time calls himself Noone. Critisms fly back and forth and then a smaller-sized Tim appears in the air. Then another appears. And another. And another. And another until a cloud of Tims surround him. They kept telling him he doesn’t know who he is. This isn’t his place and he doesn’t know his place in it. He threatens one main one and says if he doesn’t help him find his friends he’ll be sorry. He intimates the other Tim to tell him which way to go by producing a fire (energy) ball.
Unfortunately, they follow him to the bridge, but he again produces the energy ball and zaps them away realizing as he does that his problem has always been listening to all the voices in his head. It’s only temporary tho. They’re right back when a green monster appears that calls himself Toll. Toll tells him his price is either to (give him?) his karma card or read him a sotry. Tim chooses the story but when he opens the book the pages are blank.
Molly tells Crimple they’re grooming her to marry a nasty magician. But she refuses and flings a teacup. So, they say they're going to send her to the governess who’ll make her mind ancient tall woman who specializes in just this thing-.Her name is Vuall but she says call her Miss. Vuall before she knows it takes out a pair of shears and slashes Crimple across the throat and he crumplues. This immediately makes Molly sing a new song. She concedes to Vuall’s lessons. The lessons are absurd and all aabout pretty princesses who don’t have any other qualities. Molly and Crimple are able to force Vuall to the floor by grabbing her long, chain, earrings. They threaten if she doesn’t take them home they’ll cut off her hair (it's in a bun). Eventually, the book forms words and pictures. The story is “The Boy Who Choose The Sea”.
The story’s moral is you’ve got to be where you belong. People that understand magic. For example demons. But Tim goes off on him and tells him he’s tired of people telling him what he ought to be and shoots a burst of energy at him. He tells him he wants to live his own life. The bridge snaps, The troll disappears. Only the troll was a demon. Tim sees another bridge (to Molly) and once and for all makes the other Tims go POOF!
Tim walks in on Vuall on the floor and Molly and Crimple holding her down. Molly goes off on Tim for involving her and breaks up with him. She starts to cry, he apologizes, they kiss and makeup. Everything starts to change and become all hearts and sunshine and softness and sparkles and swirls. Crimple is now a lot more leafy and sprouting wings. There’s now a coffin in the room with a beautiful woman inside who turns out to be Vuall. The Vuall she was before she got put on this path. Now on to finding Tanger. Away from the dollhouse he tries the stone trick again.
Barbados isn’t happy. If this keeps up Tim won’t become corrupted and power hungry bitter and twisted, He has to think of a way to separate the two. Molly, Tanger, Crumple, and Tim are reunited. Then they find the book that Toll had and the pages open. A fierce whirlwind starts to form and sweeps Tim into the book. Then Barbados sweeps in Molly but to a different page. Then he returns to where the beginning of the book starts with Tim all grown up worrying about the future they created becoming undone. He tells him he’s done what he can but the future is still unstable. For the next phase, he’ll need his help. He must go to Molly as a child but in disguise. She must see him as he truly is. Then he turns him into a dragon and sweeps him into the storybook.
Tim realizes he’s in a beautiful forest. Weirdly he has a canteen. He also has on an armor and and a helmet. But this quickly changes when he realizes the glasses are real. This world is trying to make him belong (thus forget). But as long as he remembers who he is. He takes a pen and writes on his hand “I am not prince anybody”. Then he sees a replica of YoYo. He decides to play along and see where this plot goes. He talks to YoYo to see what the next step is. But instead of helping him, the owl attacks him. After a bit, it flies away. It’s taken his glasses.
Molly is trapped by a cave with a dragon that wants to admire her. He’s trying to impress her with his treasure. She isn’t (and quickly lets him know). He produces a gorgeous dress even tho she tells him she’s fine with her clothes. Molly smacks the dress to the floor. The dragon says he’s worried about her and asks how they’ve grown so far apart. The dragon looks on the verge of tears so she puts the dress on, but then says he’ll have to tell her why he acts like he knows her. Now she’s talking as if she’s a princess. The dragon says he’s known many of her. The first was when she was 17 and he gave her to Vuall to train. The most recent one was 36 that he tried to train. He seems familiar. Tim finds a castle and heads toward it. It’s atop a mountain but the mountain is fake Still, Tim continues on (tho it seems like an impossible task). Eventually, he’s facing Molly and the dragon. Molly swoons and gasps (something she’d never do). So, Tim starts to tell a story about a boy knowing the difference between what’s real and what’s fake and this isn’t his girlfriend. The world then begins to fall apart in front of him. Then he sees Barbados and magically ropes him. Tim demands to know where Molly is. He says Isn’t it obvious. She’s under all the destruction of the landscape.
The roof of the cave has fallen in, bumped Molly’s head, and something heavy has fallen on her (metal). The entrance of the cave is blocked. The dragon is holding up the cave to protect them. He apologizes for not letting her go. He says call him by his real name Tim Hunter. She says already has a Tim. She’ll stick with dragon. She gives him something to help him hold up the cave. Tim tells her he’s a version of the Tim she knows. He’s the version that shows up Tim can be if he goes power mad. His form represents his soul. Molly realizes he’s the grown version she was being trained for. Molly realizes that in the future Tim creates a lot of different versions of her because he wants her to be someone different. He admits he should have left her like she is. Molly tries to find out what events got Tim to that point, but the dragon says he sold his memories to the demon Barbados in exchange for power. The dragon is about to do something to save Molly from getting crushed but Barbados appears. Molly recognizes him instantly. He tries to stop the dragon but he says it’s the only way. He starts to blast the cave with flames. He’s burned away the roof so she can climb down the roof but he incinerated himself in the process. Barbados tells her she’s ruined everything but this isn’t over. He then snaps his fingers and vanishes.
Tim finds Molly and tries to use the Opening Stone to take them home, but it doesn’t work. Molly makes him swear by his name that he won’t deal with demons anymore or they’re through. Tim wonders what could have happened, but Molly says she can’t tell. Regardless he swears by his name, Molly realizes the way to end the fairy tale is with a happily ever after. Barbados begs him not to but he does it. He kisses Molly. Now everything goes back. His glasses are back and so are Tanger and Crimple.
My Thoughts
So with this one, the biggest question I had was what happened.? It starts off with Tim going to a castle to meet the demon and he passed a hall of Molly’s. There’s a certain one that’s docile but Vuall says she’s not ready yet. Does Molly end up dying? Well duh, she MUST have ended up dying. But from what I’ve seen in all these books, Tim doesn’t seem to have any issues with who Molly is. Unless he doesn’t want the replacement too much like the real thing. Kinda like Synergy (in the Jem cartoon). Do you know what else comes to mind when I read the beginning? If you haven’t heard of Migel listen to his song “All I Want Is You” and watch the video. It took me a minute to catch on that the others were clones (or robots).
Just like in the previous book, there was something to think on. This time about people who don’t accept you for who you are and try to make you into what *they* want you to be. Even tho they might not literally stick you in a dollhouse (or marriage or house). I actually knew a guy that tried some crap like this. He wanted to train me (and yes he actually said the words train me) to be his second girlfriend. He kept talking about piercings and being more social and opening me up to being more social and (probably tho he didn’t quite say this out loud wanting me to be bi-actually he kept trying to get me to say I was bi because this is the kind of women he was used to). Needless to say, I ended up snapping on him and eventually letting our friendship slowly evaporate. If someone ever tells you they want to train you one word RUN!!! They are NOT FOR YOU! I am who I am. Love it or leave it. So, I guess I do have a little Molly in me. I tho would have liked the gown. Hey! I have a girly side. The combat books worked for me too tho. I love that Molly knows who she is and won’t compromise for ANYBODY! THAT’S RIGHT!
Rating: 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2016
Tim's adventures in magic now include Molly. This one starts with an older Tim, who has taken the path towards being evil. He starts to feel funny and turns to his Demon for help. The Demon tells this older Tim that someone has changed his past and he would fix it. Barbados realizes that Molly is the key to whether or not Tim turns out to be good or evil. Great story!
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