The Enchanted Island of Yew

by L. Frank Baum

Before her eyes appears a handsome young knight: Prince Marvel. Setting out in search of adventure, he finds it aplenty on the enchanted isle, as he soon meets King of the Thieves Wul-Takim, and the fearsome giant, Red Rogue. An innocent among mortals though he is, Prince Marvel sets things right -- or maybe just topsy-turvy! The Island of Yew is set at some undisclosed place "in the middle of the sea." Later commentators have sometimes placed it in Baum's Nonestic Ocean with the landmass that contains the Land of Oz and its associated countries but the book itself does not reference this.

Genres: Fantasy, Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Audiobook, Fairy Tales, Young Adult

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

also wrote under the names:
* Edith van Dyne,
* Floyd Akers,
* Schuyler Staunton,
* John Estes Cooke,
* Suzanne Metcalf,
* Laura Bancroft,
* Louis F. Baum,
* Captain Hugh Fitzgerald

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels (not including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
Born and raised in Chittenango, New York, Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in South Dakota and he edited and published a newspaper. They then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a newspaper reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900. While continuing his writing, among his final projects he sought to establish a film studio focused on children's films in Los Angeles, California.
His works anticipated such later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high-risk and action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).

Reviews

[batuhan_a_kocak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liatened to the Librivox audiobook version of the book, narrated by Ted Delorme and oh my god, this was one the best audiobook narrations I listened to. They gave every character such a distinct voice and character you could follow conversations easier than written dialogs.

I loved the fairy tale. It felt like an authentic fairy tale in a medieval setting but the characters were more fleshed out. The characters visited different cities and kingdoms and we learnt much about the Enchanted Island of Yew, even more than an average person on Yew, but these bits of information did not feel like info dumps. The info dump-y, explanatory parts fit the story well since we were learning these alongside our character. There were some parts that happened too quickly for my taste, especially towards the end but it was a brilliant tale at the end of the day.

If you're an audiobook listener, visit librivox.org and find the free audiobook version of this book. Ted Delorme is one of the best audiobook narrators I've listened to. Even his introductions were fun.

[David Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book (in audiobook form via Librivox.org) in its entirety during third shift at work. It was really fun. A few oddities, and a creative story setup (from a writer's perspective) at the very beginning. The adventures were very entertaining and colorful. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. My only complaint, which is slight, is that the ending lacked a little where the rest of the book excelled. The ending was a bit disappointing, but I would still rate this as a suggested read to anyone looking for a fun read or quality fairytale fiction.

[Eleanor Toland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three young girls wander into an enchanted forest and encounter a fairy woman, who tells them she's bored with her perfect, immortal existence and wants to try life as a human. After some discussion, the fairy decides to become a prince, because boys get to have more adventures than girls, apparently, which is a rather odd justification considering the number of adventurous girls in Baum's other books. But then again Baum writes quite a few essentially female spirits who temporarily incarnate as male...

But anyway, the fairy decides to spend a year as Prince Marvel, the human knight, and quickly acquires a squire who's also dissatisfied with his life as a rich baron's son, and wants to experience the suffering of an authentic existence. The two of them soon run into all the adventure and trouble that could be desired, meeting a rich cast of monsters, thieves, tyrants and evil sorcerers.

Prince Marvel, being a fairy under a human skin, and a fairy in the gentle greeting-card sense rather than the amoral Tinker-bell sense meets every problem they encounter by being forgiving and generous, especially to those who don't deserve it. Baum's kindness to his own characters and magnanimity of spirit are apparent here, though the obsessive descriptions of beautiful fairies and angelic children may come across as unpalatably sentimental to a modern audience.

It's not exactly a melancholy and thoughtful exploration of an immortal creature becoming mortal. For something along those lines, check out The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. But apart from a brief moment of racism, The Enchanted Island of Yew is a true joy to read, a light-hearted, light-footed fairy tale.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A transgender fairy/prince (she tries out being male because they have better adventures) goes adventuring, picking up a peculiar entourage along the way. The plot has a lot of similarities to the Oz books. Baum had a great ability to dream up oddities, and I enjoyed the bizarre characters who fill this book.

[Adele Lostinaclassicworld · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'isola di Yew è "rotonda... come una tortina natalizia", si trova in mezzo al mare ed è divisa in cinque regni.
Nel regno di Heg, tre giovani ragazze di nome Seseley, Berna e Helda, incontrano una fata che stanca della sua vita,
desidera diventare umana per un anno. Seseley esaudisce il suo desiderio e la fata si trasforma in un ragazzo, prendendo il nome di Principe Meraviglia.
Insieme al suo cavallo intraprende così un viaggio pieno di avventure che lo porta a visitare gli altri regni dell'isola
e a conoscere tante altre creature.

Mi è piaciuta molto la caratterizzazione dei vari regni, così diversi tra loro e abitati da vari personaggi mai uno uguale
all'altro. È un viaggio che porta il Principe Meraviglia a conoscere una banda di ladri che nasconde un tesoro immenso o
un re che poi non vuole farlo andare via dal suo regno. Ma non aggiungo altro, per non rovinare la sorpresa!

Nel corso del suo viaggio, il Principe incontra Nerle, un ragazzo anche lui stanco della sua vita che vorrebbe più
avventure. Si unisce così al Principe Meraviglia.
I due spesso sembrano un duo comico, le loro battute e idee sono spassosissime, sembrano conoscersi da anni e non solo da poche settimane.
Le loro avventure sono bizzarre, spesso per uscire dai guai devono usare la loro astuzia o un pizzico di magia. Ogni
tappa del loro cammino è indimenticabile!

È un libro che tra un sorriso e l'altro mi ha fatto pensare a quanto sia bello viaggiare, conoscere nuove persone e esplorare luoghi sconosciuti. Credo che viaggiare sia un ottimo modo per scoprire nuove culture, nuovi modi di pensare e soprattutto aiuta ad aprire la mente e capire meglio se stessi.
E poi, chi non ha mai sognato di essere un'altra persona anche solo per alcune ore o viaggiare per un anno?

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn't mind adding a copy to my shelf, if I can find a decently-priced one at some point. The issue with a lot of Baum's works entering the public domain is that the market gets flooded with shoddily produced print-on-demand copies that I refuse to buy...but I also didn't want to shell out $40 for the nice hardcover edition I found online. This is a pretty decent book, but not a Must Have or a Favorite, although I probably would reread it on occasion. It starts out very strong and then unfortunately trails out a bit by the end.

The first few chapters are honestly some of my favorites in any of Baum's works. I like the unnamed fairy who, out of boredom with a centuries-long magical existence, decides to take on a (male) mortal form, dub himself Prince Marvel, and go in search of adventure. I like that from the moment he takes on this new form, he is a he, without question and without any particular fuss. It's interesting that while Baum tends to write all his female characters as beautiful, dainty, sweet, rosy-cheeked, etc, he also slides into such casual gender fluidity with characters like Prince Marvel, Chick the Cherub (likely agender), and Ozma (initially a boy named "Tip").

Since Prince Marvel only spends a year as a human male and is content to return to a female fairy form at the end of it, I wouldn't call this a groundbreaking depiction of different gender identities, but perhaps it was back in the early 1900s? Even now, I don't see a lot of this casual gender-bending in fiction. I like how Baum plays with the concept, and how simple and natural he makes it all seem. You want to take on a male form? the human girls ask the fairy, in some confusion. Why not? the fairy laughs, and that settles it.

I do wish Baum had been a little more daring in his depiction of the fairy-as-Prince-Marvel, because Marvel kept all his fairy powers in his "mortal" form, which really seems like a cheat. It means, despite his masochistic squire Nerle's hopes of being captured and tortured and perhaps even beheaded, they're never in any real danger at all - Marvel's powers protect them both and conquer even the slightest difficulties with ease. (Nerle is absolutely hilarious, by the way, and surprisingly nuanced - easily one of my favorite parts of the book.)

It's not that I wanted anything bad to happen to them - that wouldn't be a Baum story - but what's the point in taking on a mortal form if you're still skating through all your adventures as an all-powerful fairy? Marvel isn't required to employ any particular ingenuity or truly learn what it means to be human.

Each adventure is interesting, though, and I appreciated the assortment of different lands and quirky rulers. I could be nitpicky in places; for instance, I didn't understand why there was such secrecy around the High Ki of Twi - was it because the rulers were two pretty girls? But Baum writes plenty of queens and princesses and powerful sorceresses etc in his other works. I guess this fantasy land was more traditionally masculine, which is why Marvel had to be a Prince to travel around on horseback undisturbed.

Again, it felt like a cheat that he used his fairy powers to split the High Ki's personality in two so they'd argue with each other and save his life, although I did appreciate that he ultimately restored them to the form they wanted, even though he thought individual, singular personalities were Better because that's what he'd been used to. This sort of travel narrative, encountering other nations and other cultures, should be about expanding one's worldview, rather than trying to make everyone more like you, and Twi had some good lessons on that front.

I did find it annoying, though, that King Terribus of Spor was only evil because he was ugly. Yes, insecurity and discontentment can sour one's temper and lead to poor judgement and perhaps even cruelty if you've been ill-treated for too long, but wouldn't it have been better for Marvel to open Terribus's eyes to reasons why his appearance wasn't as hideous as he believed? Instead, Marvel just..."fixes" him by changing all his features to fit traditional ideas of (human) masculine beauty, which miraculously makes Terribus a sweet-tempered monarch who stops robbing other lands.

A few chapters later, in Twi, we have this paragraph:

"It is strange," said the prince, thoughtfully, "that the fierce-looking old Ki should be our friends and the gentle Ki-Ki our enemies. How little one can tell from appearances what sort of heart beats in a person's body!"

Where was this lesson just a tiny bit earlier?? Perhaps Baum should've rewritten his earlier chapters after reaching this point in his own narrative.

The chapters in Spor also have one quick but entirely unnecessary bit of racism, with a Black wrestler Marvel defeats. Baum treats him like another curiosity among many, including the giants of Spor, and a Royal Dragon (whose interaction with Marvel was genuinely funny and creative). When Baum sticks purely to fantasy lands, he's progressive in a lot of ways, but this just doesn't seem to hold true any time he introduces non-white human characters.

The creativity and appeal of the adventures slows to a bit of a trickle in later chapters. Marvel's adventures don't really feel like they last an entire year; he seems to have retired to a life of some luxury for at least the last half of it, with even his squire satisfied by the mild dangers he'd encountered.

The last villain is the Red Rogue of Dawna, a red-bearded giant who, weirdly for Baum!, kills off a Baron and most of his people and is punished by being trapped inside a magic mirror for a while. Meanwhile, the poor daughter of the Baron, who'd helped Prince Marvel to transform into his human form, gets no time to grieve.

The prince and his party rode gaily along toward the Kingdom of Heg, for Nerle had invited them all to visit his father's castle. They were very happy over their escape, and only the little Lady Seseley became sad at times, when she thought of her father's sad fate.

Everything gets wrapped up very quickly from here, like Baum was hitting a page limit or a deadline. It's an interesting adventure story with some thought-provoking parts - not Baum's best, but worth a read if you're a fan of his works and want to expand a little bit past the edges of Oz.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p49: That a fairy should have assumed a mortal form he never once considered, for such a thing was until then unheard of in the Enchanted Island of Yew.

This a solid fantastical tale for the young ones. It does have similarities with its predecessor, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and definitely not as grand.

[Janelle]

Dnf. I thought the description of the book was exaggerating when it said one of the characters was masochistic. Turns out it was spot on. Not a fan.

[Lydia Batchelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I gave this book four stars, it would be an insult to the four star books. If I gave this book three stars, it would be an insult to the book itself. So just pretend it's like a 3.5 or whatever.

The so-called "Enchanted Island of Yew" didn't show up until I was 87% done with the book, but other than that, I actually enjoyed this one, especially compared to the other Baum books I've read.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year is the 120th anniversary of this book, and I guess I first read it around thirty years ago. I have the edition Chris Dulabone published, a paperback with only black and white versions of Fanny Y. Cory's pictures, and Chris's own drawing of King Terribus on the cover. It also has the title seemingly randomly printed at the ends of some chapters. I thought maybe I also had the Books of Wonder edition, which has new illustrations, but it doesn't look like I do. It's a Baum fantasy that isn't directly related to Oz, although it does have some ties to The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, including the presence of Knooks and Ryls. It takes place on an island divided into four main parts and a smaller one in the middle, which is familiar. The story concerns a fairy who wants to become temporarily mortal so she can have adventures, but is unable to give herself that form, so she asks for help from a local baron's daughter. With the girl's assistance, she turns into a human boy. Under the name of Prince Marvel, he travels all over the island, although the main countries aren't explored in all that much detail. Indeed, the southern land of Plenta merits only a brief visit. Much of the story is set in the central Kingdom of Spor, and in the hidden country of Twi. He still seems to have access to his fairy powers, which he can use to get out of most situations without too much trouble, so there's not a whole lot of suspense. But it is noteworthy that he generally aims for peaceful solutions that help the places he visits. He forces a robber king and his band to reform while allowing them to keep the money they've already stolen, changes the ugly form of King Terribus of Spor to a more pleasant one, and uses a spell to convince the High Ki of Twi not to have intruders executed. You could even say he went a little too easy on some of these villains, as they're said to have done some horrific things in the past. The character Kwytoffle bears some similarity to the Wizard of Oz in that he becomes ruler of a country due to people believing he can do magic when he really can't, but he never even has to do the tricks the Wizard does, instead just relying on threats. He's also treated far less sympathetically, although Marvel refuses to have him killed. The final villain, the Red Rogue, is intriguing in that he ends up trapped in a mirror for a hundred years, and then finds himself on an island that's changed quite a bit. It's episodic, but characters do reappear in later parts. Prince Marvel is accompanied in all these adventures by Nerle, a boy who had such a pampered life that he's desperate to experience pain and hardship, with his masochism being treated in a generally light-hearted manner. What kind of bothered me is that Marvel says early on that he'll eventually tell Nerle who he really is, but the book never says whether he actually does this. It's a fun and inventive tale, with a good amount of humor. There are some of Baum's signature reversals of expectations: we learn that a mortal can enchant a fairy, the monstrous Terribus has a soft voice, a terrible dragon turns out to be quite ineffective, and the Red Rogue is gigantic but physically weak. And if you try to puzzle out exactly how Twi works, it will probably give you a double headache. I also appreciate how he makes the Gray Men of Spor seem threatening without really saying too much about them.

[James P. Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! You can definitely see the DNA between this and the OZ series with the twisting of logic (but not twisted logic) that makes this very entertaining. It would have been interesting if this series had continued as well. A number of reviews have complained that there's a sexist angle in the main character becomes a man rather than maintaining their feminine form, and I get where those complaints are coming from. But at least Baum tries to explain that it's too dangerous for a young girl wander around alone (plus they have too many choirs? Ouch). Yeah, it's dated by today's standard for sure, and if I was reading to kids I'd add a few of my own explanations as well, but let's be honest Frank Baum was NOT a perfect man and leave it to that. Still, very entertaining and I looked forward to reading it each evening.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book.
Nice witty tone that almost feels like Baum is trying to satirize the kind of fantasy novels he is known for.
Likable cast and the usual clever bits of fantasy you'd expect.

Wasn't thrilled with some jarring casual racism, as Baum was usually better than that.

And there's a massive plot hole, as Prince Marvel becomes mortal to learn what it's like, but retains all the powers he had as a fairy, which seems to undermine the whole point of the book!

Shame, as there are some moments, where Baum could have played around with the immortal fairy encountering some of the mundane inconveniences of being human, but instead, Prince Marvel does a hand wave and problem solved.

He also kind of copped out over the problem of the twin princesses.

Fun time waster, that wastes some of its potential.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

An fairy turns mortal and goes adventuring.

The premise is captivating, the narrative is charming and well executed. Baum's odd sentimental sexism is slightly more subtle here than in some of his other works.

On the other hand he allows a main character to be temporarily transgender as if it were the most natural strategy in the world with no romantic or sexual complications implied at all, I found that entirely refreshing.

[Adarsh Beckhm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indeed Ever since I heard of Frank .L.baum, his work wittingly draged me to enchanted island .
This has really preplexed me with sorcery,done with such sagacity that scarcely a man can reach upto his level...

Are you longing for fairy land🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️🧙 ????
One legend I must point with unfathomable reverence*****FRANK.L.Baum

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story from L Frank Baum with fairy becoming a Prince for a year and having adventures.
I see a lot of how Blyton was influenced by this when she wrote later on.
I've never heard that mentioned but it is pretty obvious, in particular her Faraway tree and wishing chair type adventures.
Baum by the way was better.

[Marilyn Smith Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great frank baum story

Full of magic, and fairies and evil hearted villains, this a good read for young adults with a love of gentle adventure stories.

[ѦѺ™ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful, magical adventure that could only come from the imagination of author L. Frank Baum.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtsTO...

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something for your inner Ozophile: a quick, breeezy read of another fantasy world (no, not Mo or Ix, still another) created by L. Frank Baum over a century ago: the enchanted island of Yew.

Our hero is an androgynous fairy, who, out of boredom at being immortal, decides on a lark to become a brave young knight for a year and seek adventure. Transformed, he is Prince Marvel, but he keeps his fairy powers, as they might prove handy in a world where you will quite likely encounter giants, dwarves, wizards, rowdy robber gangs, talking dragons, damsels in distress, and overgrown hedges. He takes as a sidekick a dedicated masochist, which is just one of the ways Baum keeps things interesting. There's plenty of magic here but also astute observations on common sense; prepare for several common fairy tale settings but expect a nice tone of wry tongue-in-cheek humor throughout.

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more of a classic fairy tale/adventure story from Baum. I think children and adults could get something from this book. I really like the conventions that Baum invokes, as well as the new twists he puts on old ones. With some decent illustrations, I could see this book out on children's bookshelves today. I can't believe how long ago it was written. Forget pre-internet or pre-Hitler. We're talking six years before the Wright Brothers' famous flight. There is a tone and craft here that show a different depth level of Baum than shown in his Oz books. The story and characters are well-crafted, and the perils felt more real in this world. Good book.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story - just as entertaining as the Oz Chronicles with some very interesting gender-bending elements. I loved the character of Prince Marvel, whose really a female fairy, and the way s/he succeeds at all her tasks, not by behaving in a typically masculine fashion (as you'd expect to find in a traditional fairy tale), but by using what might be perceived as feminine traits - cooperation, compassion, negotiation, kindness. I loved it!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grew on me. At first I didn't think I was going to like it but found it fun reading. It is real fantasy not Sci-Fi. It is "Wizard of Oz" type fantasy in which the author is really not trying to make you think it is reality and yet allows you to 'live' the adventures of fantasy. It is the type of book that is 'fun' to read and one in which one pretty much needs to find earlier writers find such a book. It has a rather interesting ending I didn't expect.

[Jake Yaniak · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story about a fairy who spends some time seeking adventures in the guise of a mortal prince. It reminded me a bit of the Wizard of Oz (for obvious enough reasons) - there was even a place where a charlatan wizard is exposed for his manipulations. In the end, though, I felt the story lacked direction.

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much a kid's book, but still surprisingly imaginative and fun. The main character is a sort of living Deus Ex Machina - I can do anything because I am magic! - but again, I think this is forgivable since it i a kid's story.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, just a jolly good read, and very funny. Also, no racist humor yay. Although it is not usually on the list of Oz-associated books, if American Fairy Tales counts for containing the same fairy species as The Life and Times of Santa Claus, then this one counts too.

[treva · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best non-Oz stories, with fairies, princes, fairies who are princes, and a masochist sidekick (no, really).

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far the only good chapters were 5 and 6 and I'm ready to quit the book after reading half of it unconsecutively. But it gets more than two stars because chapter 5 and 6 were really good.

[Batchyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kid book that will carry your mind in a fantasy world. And I enjoyed it too.

[Christina Gutke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book way more than his Oz books! if you have children, please read this to them, they will love it!

[Dan JK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute and fun! a comedy fantasy.