Sukhinov’s concept of Magic Land is a
phenomenon in itself. His continuation uses "The Wizard of the Emerald City" as
a starting point, essentially disregarding the five later Volkov tales, but borrowing some
elements from them. He presents his story as a titanic conflict between Good and Evil, in
the manner of Tolkien. Over a millennium ago, the wizard Torn (as Hurricap is now called),
a survivor of Atlantis, created Magic Land, but he was obliged to battle an evil warlock
named Pakir, whom he ultimately defeated and banished to a huge underground cavern. He has
collected many powerful magic spells in three books, which he leaves in various spots
around the country, and he assigns a colony of Black Dragons to guard the Canyon from
which Pakir’s underground creatures might issue forth.
This book is a "prequel" to all of Sukhinov’s other stories,
and tells the familiar Oz/Magic Land story from the Wizard’s point of view.
Young Kansas actor James Goodwin dreams of becoming a
millionaire. But dreams are just that, dreams, and all his endeavors fail. And what lines
of work doesn’t he try after leaving the theater: carpenter, stevedore, retailer, even
publisher of a newspaper. Then he becomes a balloonist, going up in a balloon to entertain
visitors to fairs. One day, a windstorm carries him away to Magic Land. He finds himself
on a magical mountain, from which he glimpses an Emerald City, but when he comes down from
it, he finds that no such city exists. He passes himself off to the locals as a great
wizard, and together, they begin to build the Emerald City, starting with bricks taken
from the Yellow Brick Road and completing the job with stones from the Stonewood. He
manages to fool the real witches into thinking that he is a genuine wizard. But after a
disastrous campaign against Bastinda, Goodwin shuts himself away in his palace and comes
to be known as the Great and Terrible. Many years later, as we all know, Ellie and her
friends unmask him, and he departs back to Kansas. [download - zip, 83 KB]
THE EMERALD CITY series
The main showpiece of Sukhinov’s work is
the ten-part saga called "The Emerald City," in which the efforts of Pakir (who
has never died) to break out onto the surface and conquer Magic Land (and the world) grow
ever more ominous, and culminate in an all-out war. It begins as an ordinary fairy tale,
but by the time the climax comes, the struggle between Good and Evil has assumed a cosmic
dimension.
The following descriptions can give only a very basic idea of the extraordinary richness
of this saga.
Centuries ago, the four witches fly to Magic Land, arriving
there almost simultaneously. They draw lots and take over their respective territories,
with Gingema receiving Blue Land and rulership over the Munchkins.
Ages later, Corina, a beautiful but headstrong little Munchkin girl, turns up one day at
the cave of Gingema, who adopts her and instructs her in witchcraft. But their life
together is far from harmonious, and finally, in a fit of pique, the girl leaves Gingema.
She spends many years moving about from place to place, aging slowly and perfecting her
magic skills. (It is during this period that Goodwin arrives in Magic Land and builds the
Emerald City and, much later, Ellie’s house falls on and kills Gingema.) Returning to
the witch’s cave, Corina takes possession of one of Torn’s books that Gingema had
found.
Later, when she feels ready, she puts her own ambitious plans into action. She makes a
trip, calling on the ogre Midgety-Pidgety ("Lyudushka" in Russian), son of the
Ogre who tried to eat Ellie, as well as old Vesa, the Woodman’s former fiancee. She also
makes the acquaintance of Varag, leader of the Black Dragons who guard the Canyon, and
allies herself with him. Arriving in Violet Land, which the Woodman now rules, she gains
his favor by passing herself off as Vesa’s daughter, and she finds another of Torn’s
books in Bastinda’s old chambers. With their awesome power now at her command, she
replaces the Woodman’s loving silk heart with a rock, making him cold and ccruel, and
she convinces him that Strasheela, monarch of the Emerald City, is his bitter foe. At her
connivance, the Woodman marches an army to the Emerald City and easily conquers it.
Strasheela has a friend named Drom, a simple-minded iron giant of origin unknown even to
himself, but Corina tricks him and makes him tiny. Then she sends Strasheela into exile
and assumes the throne herself. Using spells in the two books, she begins to seek Ellie in
Kansas, hoping to take revenge on her for Gingema’s death – and eventually, Ellie does
return to her old homesite.
Ellie, now an elderly lady, has returned to her abandoned
Kansas farmhouse to spend her final days there. But she meets a trio of pixies, who
represent the "Storybook Folk" (giants, mermaids, genies, etc.). They want Ellie
to show them the way to Magic Land so that the Folk can settle there. They restore Ellie
to girlhood, with the warning that their magic can last only five days – she’ll have
to find Stella before then so that the latter can make it permanent.
They set out on their journey, picking up a plush little bear named Tom (brought to life
by Corina during one of her visits), a lame, homely boy named Donald; a dog, Polkan; and a
horse, Jerdan. Corina, in her lust for vengeance, bedevils them at every step, but Villina
does her best to assist them from a distance. Before long, thanks to Corina, the Storybook
Folk (except for a giant named Durban) are trapped in the desert at one of Gingema’s
treacherous Black Rocks, and when Ellie and her friends reach the edge of Magic Land, the
now hostile Woodman orders his army of Marrans to unleash a rockslide on them. They
survive, but must seek another route, via the Black Dragon Canyon. Donald finds Torn’s
third book in a tower there, and he, Ellie, and Tom finally make it into Magic Land.
In Violet Land, Corina catches Donald in the act as he attempts to help the Woodman.
Taking a liking to him, she promises to make him both strong and attractive if he will
turn against Ellie and draw her into a trap in the woods. He agrees, and does just that.
But as it turns out, the spell in Torn’s third book, which Ellie now has, nullifies all
the spells in the other books, so Corina is helpless against her. Meanwhile, Donald, in
atonement for his treachery, cures the Woodman, then summons Stella to Ellie’s aid
before the pixies’ magic wears off. With Villina’s help, Ellie defeats Corina in
single combat in the Emerald City. Corina withdraws to Black Dragon Canyon, taking Donald
with her, while Ellie is proclaimed the new ruler and Fairy of the Emerald City.
Strasheela rejoins her from his exile.
This story introduces young Almar ("Alarm" in
Russian), who is destined to become the leading protagonist on the side of Good. He is an
Ore-Digger youth, from the Underground Kingdom, who escaped when his father was taken
prisoner by their tyrannical ruler, and who eventually made it to the surface, where
Villina adopted him as her ward. With training, he has become a skilled fighter, and his
mission in life is some day to liberate his father. Now, accompanied by his live plant
friends Stumpsy ("Penyar") and Shrubsy ("Kustar"), he comes on a cloud
to the Emerald City and fetches Ellie, Strasheela, and Tom to Villina’s palace.
But the moment they arrive there, a fissure opens in the ground and splits the palace in
two, and hordes of Pakir’s underground creatures fly up and attack the half of the
building where Villina and her staff are holed up. The friends are cut off from her.
Villina’s magic can keep the monsters at bay for the moment, so Almar and company set
out to rescue the trapped Storybook Folk by taking them some magic raisins that nullify
the power of the Rocks. They follow an underground passage and river and cross the
Subterranean Sea, passing the island of Gorn, where Almar’s father is now a slave of
Pakir. They rescue the Folk. The Woodman and his troops join them there, and a
cantankerous old alchemist named Parcelius, who had been traveling with the Folk, flies
Ellie and Strasheela back to the Yellow Palace on the back of a basilisk named Vasil.
Vasil’s gaze immobilizes the creatures long enough for Ellie to get in to see Villina.
The sorceress tells Ellie that she is planning to retire to her native Greenland and to
transfer her magic power to Ellie, making her the new Protectress of Magic Land. (Her
Eskimo origin is covered in several chapters.) Then Corina comes to the rescue, mounted on
Varag the Dragon. The two of them make short work of the creatures, after which Corina
uses her magic to seal up the chasm and repair the dreadful damage that was done. The
trade-off for this is the throne of Violet Land, which the Woodman gladly hands over to
her after he and the Folk arrive on the scene. Villina departs for Greenland.
This book begins with the Storybook Folk electing a leader.
Some choose to follow Durban, while others (including little Drom) prefer Parcelius the
Alchemist. The two groups set off for different areas in uninhabited Yellow Land, to found
new cities.
Almar, Strasheela, the Woodman, and Tom depart on a quest to explore unknown parts of
Magic Land and to find Torn’s Sword, which will be essential in the upcoming war with
Pakir. They start their quest at Goodwin’s Peak, a mountain in another plane of
existence. After several further stops, Almar defeats the ghostly knight Farah on a Flying
Bridge above the Moonstream, and for that he receives the latter’s marvelous silver
armor.
Meanwhile, Donald falls under the spell of Pakir. He leaves the Canyon on his own quest
for the Sword, accompanied by Jerdan and Polkan, and along the way, he picks up Midgety
the ogre, Argut the Winkie smith, a malevolent live branch named Snagbough
("Karryaga"), and a half-reptilian youth named Elg, who joins Donald’s
so-called Dark Contingent for reasons of his own. Their path takes them to the cave of
Tamiz (Stella’s former gardener)who is developing blue plants in preparation for the
coming Darkness, and the City of Wraiths, ruled by King Sagarot.
Almar and his friends visit Targan, Sovereign of Shade, and one of his subjects, Yurgod
the Gryphon, joins their company. They come to an immense statue of Torn, and Almar is
confident that the Sword must be concealed there --but all he can find is the hilt!
Presently, both contingents meet on the shore of Red Lake, and their fighting is fierce.
But Almar acquires the sought-after sword’s blade, in the most unlikely place! The
forces of Good win the day, but the Woodman is seriously damaged, and Elg seizes
Strasheela and bears him off. Almar sees some golden clouds in the distance and, hoping
that Ellie is on them, he flies after them on Yurgod’s back.
Almar meets up with Corina, now on the side of Evil, and
she tries unsuccessfully to get his newly-acquired Sword away from him. Before Pakir,
furious at her failure, opens the ground and takes her in, she reveals to him that Stella
and Ellie are captives in the City of Wraiths. Almar and Yurgod set out to rescue them.
The story backtracks now, describing Rose Land and its unique magic, and Stella’s
intrigue-ridden court. When Stella goes off to bestow eternal youth upon Ellie, lovely but
ambitious lady-in-waiting Agnet (manipulated, of course, by Pakir) finds the Golden Cap
that the Winged Monkeys are subject to. Later, when Stella receives Corina and Ellie at
her palace for a "summit conference," Agnet orders the Monkeys to kill them; but
instead, the creatures bear them away to the City of Wraiths.
Stella and Ellie are imprisoned in the Eagle Tower, as is Strasheela when Elg brings him
there. Corina, however, succumbs to Sagarot’s blandishments and switches her allegiance
to Evil, and it is then that she sets out to attempt to grab Almar’s Sword. Elg, for his
part, goes over to the side of Good, and he helps the captives to fend off the creatures
that Pakir has sent to bring them to him.
When Agnet proclaims herself the new queen of Rose Land and claims that the sorceresses
have departed for the Outer World, most of the courtiers and palace residents fawn over
her. But the townspeople and other Quadlings, who have always loved Stella, are not so
easily fooled. Danor, the city mayor, sets out to recruit help, and presently two armies
(one made up of Quadlings, the other, of Marrans) come to take on Agnet’s protectors,
the Winged Monkeys.
Ellie is finally able to use some of her new magic to hold off Pakir’s creatures, and
Almar and Yurgod rescue them, just in time – but Almar is killed as Yurgod flies them
away. Stella can revitalize him only to a robot-like state. She heads back to Rose Land.
The two armies are in fierce combat there with the Monkeys, but the sight of Stella causes
them all to break it off. Ellie comes to help set things right, and she exiles the
unrepentant Agnet to Tamiz’s cave.
Parcelius and his followers settle down and begin
work on his proposed City of Universal Happiness. After the others build him a fortified
palace, he unpacks his books and equipment and sets up a laboratory. But all his efforts
to restore magically the old-time powers of his Storybook Folk misfire, and they flee to
Durban’s city. He tries to pursue them on Vasil’s back, and instead, he finds himself
face to face with the sorceress Langa, Princess of Darkness. She is Vesa’s daughter,
abducted by Pakir as a child and now the latter’s "gal Friday." She assigns
him the task of producing the devastating Black Flame for Pakir within a month, and the
sinister Koshchey the Immortal will be watching his every move. Under the watchful
surveillance of Langa and Koshchey, he creates a small army of brainless golems in his
laboratory.
Ellie and Strasheela call on him, with the request that he use his elixir of life to
restore the Woodman and Almar. He agrees, on condition that Ellie make him King of Yellow
Land, and that she marry him in a year’s time. She reluctantly agrees, and he
accompanies them back to the Emerald City, his head filled with grandiose plans. Langa
lets him use some of her magic to save the Woodman and Almar, but she reminds him of his
deadline for producing the Black Flame.
Koshchey and Snagbough, clearly in charge now, insist that the Alchemist and his golems
set out on a quest to a certain underground cavern, where is reputed that, ages ago, a
dragon brought a Black Flame from the stars and has been guarding it ever since. They
hope, of course, to seize it for Pakir. Eventually, Parcelius reaches the cavern and meets
Creig, the Star Dragon. Creig refuses to involve himself in the local intrigue, and he
departs at once, taking the Black Flame with him. Parcelius has failed! Their path takes
them to the edge of the Subterranean Sea, where they witness a terrific sea battle taking
place in the distance!.
Magdar, ruler of the Marrans, comes to the Emerald City and
has Ellie call a council of war. He feels that since Pakir is becoming ever more
aggressive, the time has come for a preemptive invasion of the Underground Kingdom. Ellie
somewhat reluctantly agrees, and she and Almar go out to recruit allies. The Storybook
Folk agree to construct the needed warships but decline to participate, as do the Black
Dragons.
Ellie, however, falls into a trap set up by Princess Langa, whom Pakir has left her in
charge while he is absent on a campaign. Langa needs Ellie’s help in getting rid of her
new rival, Corina, who, despite her failure, has ingratiated herself with Pakir and aims
to replace Langa as Princess of Darkness. Langa takes Ellie down to the Underground
Kingdom. Corina wants to use her new exalted position to help Donald escape from the
dungeon where he has been confined since his fiasco, but the remorseful youth prefers to
stay and await his fate. Langa and Ellie confront Corina and transform her into -- a
mouse! The little animal escapes, and Langa leaves Ellie in order to take care of
Parcelius after his failure to seize the Black Flame.
Meanwhile, Ellie’s disappearance causes her friends to accelerate their preparations,
and a hastily-built flotilla of warships shoves off down the Underground River. After some
skirmishes, they reach the Subterranean Sea, and they head for Gorn, helped by their
laser-like weapons (designed by Goodwin) and by the dragon Changar (who has come there
seeking his friend Donald). They eventually they make a landing.
The invaders agree that Almar will take a detachment of troops through a secret entrance
leading into Pakir’s palace, while the main force awaits his signal to attack from the
outside. But once inside, Almar impulsively leaves his companions to seek his father in
the dungeon, and they are slaughtered -- Almar escapes back to his companions only because
Langa lets him go. Then Langa opens a floodgate, and chilling Darkness envelops the island
and freezes the advancing Marrans, including Magdar, to statues. The invaders withdraw in
defeat. Elg, now firmly on the side of Good, finds Ellie and flies her to the ships, and
they begin their long retreat. Almar, however, goes ashore by himself and sets off on some
personal business.
Pakir, outraged at the attempted invasion by the Magic Land
forces, causes the impenetrable Infinite Wall to cut off all of Blue Land from the rest of
the country, and he makes Midgety its king. After the Ogre installs himself and the Gray
Castle in the capital town of Cogida, he orders that the Munchkins destroy all plant life
in Blue Land within three months and replace them with Tamiz’s dark-blue flora, even as
Darkness begins to pour out of a nearby volcano. Langa brings Tamiz and his new assistant
Agnet to Cogida, and imparts a little of her magic to Midgety. In an effort to force the
Munchkins to work harder at felling their trees, etc, Midgety and Agnet make an excursion
around Blue Land. But his efforts generally misfire, and eventually he calls it a day and
returns to Cogida.
Argut, meanwhile, returns home after the defeat at Red Lake, repentant and eager to redeem
himself. The two live plants turn up near his castle. Unable to help Shrubsy heal his
seriously wounded friend Stumpsy, he takes them to Cogida so that Tamiz can try his hand
at curing him. Midgety serves Argut some drugged wine and imprisons him.
Corina, now a mouse, has taken up residence in the castle. With difficulty, she gets it
across to Midgety that if he finds a certain ring that she has lost, he’ll be able to
restore her to human form. He dupes Shrubsy into taking the mouse to retrieve it, and when
they come back, Midgety reneges and imprisons Corina the mouse in a little cage – only
to be drugged in turn by the sly Agnet, who grabs the ring.
The defeated invaders make it safely back to Magic Land, and Ellie restores Magdar. Later,
in the Emerald City, the friends must decide on how to circumvent the Infinite Wall and
rescue the Munchkins. The Woodman, the Lion, and Elg dupe the Infinite Wall and enter Blue
Land. Meanwhile, Agnet has proclaimed herself queen of Blue Land and put Midgety in the
dungeon. But her reign is a short one. Midgety escapes and, after taking the ring back
from Agnet as she sleeps, he flees with Argut. They catch up with the Woodman and his
friends just as their pursuers are on them. Both are now firmly on the side of Good, and
all of them team up to rout the pursuers. The Woodman goes to fetch Vesa, now a young
lovely again thanks to her daughter’s spells, and Midgety uses some magic of his own to
cause the volcano to erupt, thereby destroying the Darkness.
After leaving his friends, Almar makes a perilous excursion
around the Underground Kingdom. He gains allies there, including Changar the Dragon, whom
he finds on an island resembling a solidified cloud, and some human warriors who have been
exiled to the Isle of Death after their failure to stop the landing of the invaders. Then
he gets into the slave-labor camp where his father Oldar has been imprisoned, and the two
are reunited briefly at the top of the immense Stairway that Pakir has been building,
supposedly to use to ascend to the surface after he has acquired the Black Flame. But it
comes out that Pakir’s true use of the Flame will be to burn the Portal of Darkness and
allow the monstrous Star Legionaries to come in from the stars and conquer the earth.
Almar is obliged to leave Oldar there for now, and the next ally he makes is the Whale, a
bitter foe of Pakir’s, who takes him to the Haven of Hope in order for him to learn the
secret of the sinister Portal.
Meanwhile, Ellie, Strasheela, Tom, and Polkan travel to Goodwin’s Peak (as in Book 4),
and Pakir contrives to seal off their way back. They are reunited with Goodwin (solid
again after the demise of his other self in the Outer World), and they make a fabulous
journey now through this alternate universe to see Torn. Their path leads them to a
Phantom Village, where a Druid priest exposes Polkan as a spy and detains him there. Then
they go through Torn’s Sanctuary, where they are obliged to resist great temptations,
and the Maze of Mirrors, which turns into a replica of the Emerald City, though made up of
multicolored stars. At last they meet the great Torn himself, who receives them
splendidly. After some consultation and granting of wishes (among which Tom the plush Bear
becomes a human), Torn invites Goodwin to stay there with him and sends the others back to
the real world via another route.
Almar finds himself sharing a body with Prince Backar of
the Cloud World, ages before. Pakir threatens to destroy the Cloud World if the emperor
Morefey, Backar’s father, does not turn over to him the Portal of Darkness, which is in
Morefey’s custody and which Pakir needs in his war on Torn of Atlantis. Morefey refuses,
and Pakir makes good on his threat, but not before Morefey has transferred half his power
to his daughter-in-law Irinia, who becomes – Stella! Atlantis is destroyed, and the
survivors of the Cloud people become the People of Shade.
Ellie directs the various military maneuvers from the Emerald City, using Stella’s magic
mirror. Almar and Changar go to the City of Eternal Happiness to pick up Drom, and they
help the Folk fend off an attack. In Blue Land, the Munchkins, aided by Argut and Shrubsy,
rise up and depose Agnet. Almar arrives there in time to rescue Corina the mouse, Ellie
restores her to human form from afar, and they set out for the Underground Kingdom.
Parcelius has finally produced the Black Flame, and Pakir takes it with him on a boat to
the island where the Portal of Darkness is now located. Langa, for reasons of her own,
contrives to get Donald on board the ship to block Pakir from using the Flame as he
intends. Once Pakir is gone, the slaves rise up in rebellion and occupy the palace.
Attacks on Rose Land and Black Dragon Canyon are fended off, and the Woodman and his army
go to the Dead Forest to stave off an attack there. The fighting is unusually ferocious,
and Tom, now human, holds off the enemy long enough to give the others time to regroup and
win victory; but, sadly, he is killed. The Atlanteans take the fallen back to their land.
Pakir uses the Black Flame to burn part of the Portal of Darkness, releasing some of the
Star Legionaries. Donald fails to stop him, but Drom, whom Corina has made a giant again,
arrives in time to face him. Himself on fire, he closes the Portal and fuses himself with
it, so that it can never open again. The final battle takes place at Three Brothers
Mountain, with every major character (even Villina, back from Greenland) taking part. The
forces of Light eventually have the upper hand, and Almar and Ellie face Pakir in single
combat -- but the issue is decided when Irinia-Stella faces Pakir, forcing him to flee
Earth forever! Good has triumphed over Evil!
In a short epilogue, we learn that Almar and Ellie are married and have two small
children, and that all the surviving protagonists are due to come to the Emerald City to
celebrate the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary.
TALES OF THE EMERALD CITY series
Far, far away,
beyond the vast Atlantic Ocean, lies the American continent. In the very center of it, on
the unbounded Kansas prairie, lies Magic Land. It is hidden away from the rest of the
world by the lofty World-Encompassing Mountains. This marvelous land was created by the
giant Torn, a great wizard from Atlantis, and he enchanted it in such a manner that no
ordinary people would be able to find their way there.
Torn the magician wanted all the Storybook Folk who lived
in the world — gnomes, giants, trolls, genies, forest-goblins, mermaids, dragons, and
many others — to come to his domain and remain there to live permanently. But imagine
Torn’s surprise when he observed that droll little people were already living in his
land — the Munchkins, the Winkies, the Quadlings, and the Marrans!
Many, many years passed after Torn died, and then one day
four sorceresses arrived in Magic Land at the same time. The two good sorceresses were
named Stella and Villina, while the two wicked witches were Gingema and Bastinda. Then,
somewhat later, Goodwin the Great and Terrible arrived in Torn’s Domain. In Green Land,
he constructed the amazing Emerald City — the most splendid city in the world.
After that, the most incredible events began to occur in
Torn’s Domain. Thousands of wonderful tales and legends have been put down about them.
It was Stella the Sorceress who recorded these captivating stories. Any young Munchkin,
Winkie, Quadling, or Marran can easily proceed to the library in the Rose Palace and read
one of the many thousands of fascinating little books that Stella has called "Tales
of the Emerald City."
Boys and girls, would you like to visit the wizard Torn’s
Domain? Then let us join hands and set out on a journey to the most remarkable country in
the world!
Thus begins each of these delightful tales. They are short,
self-contained episodes set within the framework of the ten-part series described above.
Many of them tell of the childhood and early years of one of the main characters in the
saga, and they often supply additional details not covered in the other ten books. Thus,
they’re not only highly enjoyable in their own right, but they can add to the reader’s
appreciation of the entire saga.
The Russian texts of these books may be downloaded.
Click on the tab for the book that you want.
Long, long ago, a little girl named Corina is born
in Blue Land. From her early childhood, she dreams of becoming a sorceress. Then one day,
after losing her way in the forest, Corina finds herself at the cave of Gingema the witch.
The old crone begins to teach her witchcraft, but the little girl proves to be quite lazy
and makes no effort to learn anything. Then one fine day, a dreadful Saber-Toothed Tiger
attacks the Munchkins. Only then does the girl feel sorry that she has been so lax in her
witchcraft lessons. Will Corina be able to use her magic to save herself and her friends
from the dreadful beast?
In Blue Land, deep in the forest, there stands an
old castle. In this castle lives a young ogre named Midgety-Pidgety. In his early
childhood, he’s fat, clumsy, and unusually stupid. Bastinda the witch feels sorry for
Midgety, and she makes him very cunning and sly. One day, the young enchantress Corina
shows up at the old castle. Not suspecting that this little girl has learned witchcraft
from Gingema herself, the ogre resolves to eat her up. Which of them will gain the upper
hand – Midgety or Corina? Who will outfox whom?
In the northern part of Torn’s Domain lies Yellow
Land, which is ruled by the elderly enchantress Villina. One day, a young Ore-Digger named
Almar comes to her palace. The boy has fled from the Underground Cavern, saving himself
from pursuit by the soldiers of wicked King Tognar. The sorceress decides to make Almar
into a mighty warrior. But the lad is very boastful and self-assured. And he almost pays
the price for this when he finds himself in the enchanted Goldenwood...
In the western part of Blue Land lies an immense
Canyon. For hundreds of years, it has been the home of the tribe of Black Dragons, who
guard Magic Land from underground creatures. These Canyon Guards are very proud and
haughty and do not wish to associate with the other inhabitants of Magic Land. Then one
day, a little dragon is born at the Canyon, and he receives the comical name Waunchy
("Pupik" in Russian). His contemporaries often tease him, and Waunchy resolves
to flee the Canyon. He dreams of being transformed into a human being and receiving
another, more attractive name. Waunchy does not suspect that the most amazing adventures
are awaiting him... (He later becomes Varag, the leader of the whole tribe.) [Download – ZIP 56 KB]
In the Underground Kingdom, the domain of Pakir,
Lord of Darkness, there is born one day an unusual winged being named Elg. He is the
(hybrid) son of a prisoner, Marshal Loot, and a winged female creature named Hidara.
Pakir’s underlings intend to kill Elg, but Hidara conceals her son on the far-off
Crystal Island. The lad lives for many long years in solitude, but then he makes friends
with the mighty Whale and a dolphin named Zack. When Elg grows older, he acquires the
Shadow Sword, hoping to use it to liberate his father. But the forces of Darkness have
laid a cunning trap for him. Will Elg and his friends be able to oppose Pakir’s
monstrous servants?...
Corina the enchantress has conquered the Emerald
City. She has ousted Strasheela the Wise and declared herself the Queen of Green Land. And
the first thing that Corina does is to order all her subjects to remove their green
spectacles. What the citizens see horrifies them! In order to forestall a rebellion,
Corina decides to invite old Vardal, Goodwin’s one-time Prime Minister, to her palace.
But the old man refuses to help the queen, and finds himself in a dungeon. And who should
then come to his rescue but his granddaughter Lily, a girl who is not very beautiful, but
who is very talented. Will Lily be able to outwit the powerful sorceress and free Vardal
from the dungeon?
One day, Bastinda the witch orders Astarkh the
craftsman to carve many dreadful monsters out of wood, so that she may use them to terrify
all the residents of Violet Land. He refuses to do so, and the witch determines to exact
revenge on Astarkh. Bastinda transforms his wife into an old hag, and she entices his son
into the Enchanted Forest. Young Danor’s friends fall into the trap along with him. Will
Danor, Rong, and Naya be able to defeat Swarg, minion of Darkness? Will they succeed in
getting out of the Enchanted Forest and breaking Bastinda’s wicked spells? (Later, Danor
marries Naya and becomes mayor of Stellaria, Stella’s capital city.)
In the fishing village of Weeping Willows, located on
the bank of the Great River, lives the little girl Lily. She has entered into conflict
with Corina the sorceress and triumphed. But the sorceress thirsts for revenge. So one
day, there is a dreadful flood. Lily’s house is torn from the bank and carried
downstream by the river. Lily and her friends live through many amazing adventures and
ultimately find themselves in a deserted village by a gloomy swamp. Dreadful creatures
surround the village, and a horrible Black Fog emanates from the swamp... Will Lily and
her friends be able to withstand the forces of Evil?
Long, long ago in Violet Land, there is born an
unusual Winkie named Magrab. He is unable to do anything, but he has dreams of becoming
rich and famous. He is very fortunate: he finds Torn’s magic staff, and then he acquires
the Golden Cap, which gives him power over the Winged Monkeys. Magrab wants to become king
of Rose Land, which is ruled by young Princess Darina. Will the newly-made enchanter bring
the Quadlings happiness and prosperity, or will he cause them considerable misfortune?...
(There is an additional unpublished story in this series called "Bastinda and the
Winged Lion," which may be found on our sister website, on the "Other Stories" page. It deals with
the early years of Yurgod the Gryphon, and tells exactly how Bastinda was able to get hold
of Torn’s first book.)
Â
îôîðìëåíèè ñàéòà èñïîëüçîâàíû èëëþñòðàöèè Ë.
Âëàäèìèðñêîãî.
BOOKS
BY SERGEI SUKHINOV
