Magic Kingdom of Landover
#5943.88 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 6 books Status Complete 1986–2009 Reading commitment Medium Terry Brooks Last reviewed 2026-08-12
Overview
Terry Brooks's second major fantasy universe: a cynical lawyer answers a classified ad to buy a magic kingdom and becomes its unlikely king, a distinct continuity from Brooks's Shannara, same author, no shared setting. Ben Holiday, disillusioned after his wife's death and burned out on his legal career, spends his life savings on the ad's promise of Landover's throne, only to discover the kingdom he has bought is fractured, nearly bankrupt, and defended mostly by a self-doubting court wizard and a talking dog who insists he is really a knight. The six novels, beginning with Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold! (1986) and running through A Princess of Landover (2009), follow Ben's growing competence as a genuinely capable king across decades of in-world time, later widening to include his adopted daughter Mistaya's own coming-of-age in the final volume. The series is notably lighter and more comic in tone than Brooks's Shannara books.
Comic fantasy, Portal fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (6 works) counts toward ranking
Magic Kingdom of Landover Terry Brooks
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold! | 1986 | 1 | core | 3.92 (39,950 ratings) |
 | The Black Unicorn | 1987 | 2 | core | 3.80 (19,520 ratings) |
 | Wizard at Large | 1988 | 3 | core | 3.86 (17,200 ratings) |
 | The Tangle Box | 1994 | 4 | core | 3.89 (13,633 ratings) |
 | Witches' Brew | 1995 | 5 | core | 3.93 (11,286 ratings) |
 | A Princess of Landover | 2009 | 6 | core | 3.90 (6,965 ratings) |
Distinct continuity from Terry Brooks's Shannara -- a lawyer buys a fictional magic kingdom advertised for sale and becomes its king.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Magic Kingdom of Landover? Magic Kingdom of Landover's Core Canon is 6 books.
- What is the reading order for Magic Kingdom of Landover? Publication order, starting with Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold!. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Magic Kingdom of Landover finished? Complete (1986–2009).
- How much reading does Magic Kingdom of Landover take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 6 Core Canon books · ~1,594 pages).
- How is Magic Kingdom of Landover ranked? #594 in this site's official ranking, based on 108,554 reader ratings across 6 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #594?
Ranked #594 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.88 across 6 core books.
- Backed by 109k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 6 rated core books rate within 0.13 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #593, The Dragon Knight (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 6 books · Complete · 109k ratings · Ranks #594 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (6 Core Canon books)
- Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold! (1986)
- The Black Unicorn (1987)
- Wizard at Large (1988)
- The Tangle Box (1994)
- Witches' Brew (1995)
- A Princess of Landover (2009)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Magic Kingdom of Landover and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Mordant's Need Portal fantasy / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
- The Seventh Sword Portal fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
- GameWorld Trilogy Epic fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.97
- The Harold Shea Series Portal fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.97
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.88 across 108,554 ratings on 6 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Magic Kingdom of Landover admitted; Core Canon = all 6 novels accepted 2026-08-12
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Rating-platform listing: Magic Kingdom of Landover series Tier 1
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Brooks
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12
Rule: Core = all 6 novels published to date (1986-2009): Magic Kingdom for Sale-Sold!, The Black Unicorn, Wizard at Large, The Tangle Box, Witches' Brew, A Princess of Landover.