The Land of Now and Then

“Magic Islands: The Land of Now and Then”

Author: Irene Edwards

Word count: 39,000

SYNOPSIS

The “Magic Islands” fantasy-adventure series offers younger children a poignant yet elementary approach to environmental issues and our natural world, with its fun, exciting, fictional narratives.  In this, the third instalment, the mischievous PURPLE WIZARDS are exiled once again, this time to a mysterious land where time has stood still and ancient beasts roam free.  But they are not sent there alone, for good wizard AMBROSIOUS needs the help of a certain group of children to save his magical land once again – and both they and the reader will learn much about the extinct creatures of Earth along the way…

Still held captive in the Red Vortex for their crimes, the evil RED WIZARDS continue to prove too much of a handful, so CHIEF RED WIZARD makes the decision to trick them once more into exile.  They are sent on beams from the red moon, during a lunar eclipse, to a mystical land – a place not on any map, where extinct and ancient beasts, both real and mythical, live freely, and which can only be reached on this most magical of all nights.

But the lunar eclipse does something else, for time has now stopped in The Land of Now and Then, and legend says that only the Box of Secrets holds the magic to start it up again – but gatekeeper MACSEN has no idea where the box and its Golden Key have disappeared to!  Until they are found and their magic used to resume time, half the land will be plunged into perpetual darkness, the other perpetual light, and nothing will grow or thrive.

Meanwhile, though, Ambrosious has a plan to find the box and its key: he has sent witches MOGUL and DROT to bring back his friends STEFAN and MEGAN, along with their friend TREVOR and his mischievous puppy OSMO.  After being duped by the witches, the three arrive at the gate soon after the PURPLE WIZARDS, who have themselves been sent to fearsome giant ape CLAW, the last of extinct species the GIGANTOPITHECUS, to report for work duty in the gardens and library at The Mountain of Learning; there, they will learn general manners and respect for nature, after the environmental crimes they have committed.  The children, on the other hand, are asked by Ambrosious to help find the magical box and key. 

And so their adventure takes them across the magical land which shouldn’t exist, where they meet a host of characters, many belonging to species long since extinct, saved centuries ago by Ambrosious and brought here: the friendly DODO, PHILLYS the very naughty PARASAULOPHUS, and the fearsome beasts in Dinosaur Country: the PTERODACTYL, the helpful IGUANODON and, of course, the terrifying king of all beasts: the TYRANNOSAURUS REX.  Prime suspect in their search, though, is the troublesome MARTIN THE MUSKRAT, who tells them exactly where the key can be found; he knows who took the box, too, but he’s not telling – the answer is in the riddles that Macsen has found, scrawled on ancient scrolls and in his mysterious red-velvet book.

The Purple Wizards, though, are having a wonderful time, making lots of new friends amongst the fictional beasts in The Cave of Curiosity, the vast library where they are supposed to be learning – amongst them TRI-TOP, the fearsome GREAT CHIMERA BEAST of Greek mythology.  They don’t want to work; they want to stay here and live with their new friends; in return, they promise to learn and be good forevermore.

Finally, all will gather in Claw’s shack once again, where the Purple Wizards make their plea to remain and live in The Cave of Curiosity, and the children, now armed with the key, can help to solve the riddles and find the box.  Then, finally, all to call upon Ambrosious, to grant the Purple Wizards’ wish, to use the box’s magic to start time up once again, and to bring day and night back to the Land of Now and Then…