Book III: The Land of Summer's Twilight is the third issue in the limited series The Books of Magic.
Summary[]
Dr. Occult takes Timothy Hunter to the plane of Fairies, teaching him the many rules a mortal has to follow in that world, the main of which is to never stray from the path, wherever it leads. The Doctor takes the form of his female alter-ego, Rose Psychic, and they arrive at the fairy market, where a local trickster Snout tries to set them up as thieves. The attempt is thwarted by the owl Yo-Yo, after which lord Glory, the warden of the market, rules that they are allowed to take three items from Snout's barrow. The party chooses a mirror, an egg, and a chain.
After crossing a river of blood and defeating a giant in a game of riddles with the help of the mirror, they arrive beneath the hill, where a king (who is simultaneously Arthur and all other great kings of the past) sleeps until the promised day. Losing Dr Occult in the darkness, Timothy continues on his own, and soon he's tricked by Baba Yaga into leaving the path. Yo-Yo comes to his rescue, hobbling Yaga's hut with the magic chain and allowing Timothy to escape and reunite with Rose. She fends Baba Yaga off, threatening to reveal her true name to all the creatures in the forest.
Further along the path they encounter queen Titania, who invites them to her palace, where Hamnet can be seen serving her wine. While in the palace, Timothy is shown different planes beyond various doors: Skartaris, Myrra, Pytharia, Gemworld, Hell, and other fantasy lands, culminating with The Dreaming, where they are greeted by Cain, Abel and Morpheus.
However, Titania tricks Timothy into catching a silver key that unlocks worlds, and by the rules he must stay in the land of Fairies unless he offers a gift of equal value. He offers Titania the egg which turns out to be "a mundane egg" from which a world would once hatch, and this allows them to safely return to the material plane.
Appearances[]
Featured Characters[]
- Doctor Occult/Rose Psychic
- Tim Hunter
Supporting Characters[]
- Dream
- Glory
- Master Leveret
- Master Redlaw
- Rhyming Thomas
- Yo-Yo the Owl
Antagonists[]
- Baba Yaga
- Maugys the Giant
- Snout
- Queen Titania
- The Unseelie Court
Other Characters[]
- Amethyst
- Boggarts
- Damned souls
- Etrigan
- Elves
- Fairies
- Giants
- Tark
- Goblins
- Hamnet Shakespeare
- King Arthur
- Nightmaster
- Ogres
- Duke Spearo
- Armies of the Dead
- Trolls
- The Warlord
- Archmage (Mentioned)
- Brian Boru (Mentioned)
- Charlemagne (Mentioned)
- Claw the Unconquered (Mentioned)
- Dinosaurs (Mentioned)
- Empusa (Mentioned)
- The Endless (Mentioned)
- God (Mentioned)
- Gods (Mentioned)
- The Guardians of the Gate (Mentioned)
- The Heavenly Host (Mentioned)
- Michael Demiurgos (Mentioned)
- Jennifer Morgan (Mentioned)
- Knez Lazar (Mentioned)
- Lucifer Morningstar (Mentioned)
- Merlin (Mentioned)
- Nixies (Mentioned)
- Stalker the Soulless (Mentioned)
- Tooth Fairy (Mentioned)
- The Trenchcoat Brigade (Mentioned)
- John Constantine (Mentioned)
- Mister E (Mentioned)
- The Phantom Stranger (Mentioned)
- Rumpelstiltskin (Mentioned)
- The Wandering Jew (Mentioned)
- Frederick Barbarossa (Mentioned)
Objects[]
- Excalibur (Mentioned)
- Drum Unescapable (Mentioned)
- Heliotrope Gamahaean Union (Mentioned)
- Mundane Egg
- Snout's Bracelet
- Snout's Mirror
- Sword of Night
- The Silver Key to Worlds
- Totoro Dolls
- Warlord's Sword
Locations[]
- The Dreaming
- The Far Realms
- Faerie
- Avalon
- Tomb of King Arthur
- Baba Yaga's Hut
- The Market
- Sea of Blood
- Titania's Palace
- The Wooden Gate
- Avalon
- Gemworld
- Myrra
- Pytharia
- Hell
- Faerie
- Earth
- England
- Sussex
- Skartaris
- Shamballah
- Germany (Mentioned)
- Scotland
- Erceldoun (Mentioned)
- Eildon Hills (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- New York City
- Bewitched (Mentioned)
- New York City
- England
- The Mansions of Madness (Mentioned)
Spin-offs by Neil Gaiman | |
---|---|
Overture | Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 |
The Sandman: The Dream Hunters | Chapters 1 & 2 • Chapter 3 & 4 Chapter 5 & 6 • Conclusion |
One-shots | Sandman Midnight Theatre • Endless Nights |
Short stories | Death: A Winter's Tale • Fear of Falling • How They Met Themselves • The Castle • The Flowers of Romance • The Wheel |
Death: The High Cost of Living | The Spirit of the Stairway • A Night to Remember • The High Cost of Living |
Death: The Time of Your Life | Things You Just Do When You're Bored • Imaginary Solutions • The Time of Your Life |
The Books of Magic | The Invisible Labyrinth • The Shadow World • The Land of Summer's Twilight • The Road to Nowhere |
Navigation | |
Core Series • Spin-offs by Neil Gaiman • The Sandman Presents & Other stories • Sandman Universe |