Mia Larkin’s Letter-Essay #4: The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide

Recently, I finished the reading the exhilarating, 434-page fantasy book, The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide, by Chris Colfer. Chris Colfer is the author of Chris Colfer is also the author of the following books, Struck by Lightning, The Carson Phillips, and Stranger Than Fanfiction. He is also a #1 New York Times bestselling author. He was very honored to be part of TIME 100, which is an annual list of 100 most influential people. Having read the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth book, I had to read the sixth magical and wonderful concluding book. It was full of fantasy,  humor, craziness, and magical things that kept my imagination roaming.   

In the book Worlds Collide, Conner and his twin sister Alex have to save the earth (called in the book, the Otherworld). The Otherworld is being attacked by an army of evil villains from fantasy literature, who want to take over the Otherworld.  When it appears nothing else can go wrong, Alex goes missing. Conner and his friends find out that Alex is under a magical evil curse that makes her do bad things with her power. For example, trying to destroy the Otherworld.  So Conner and his friends go on two adventures. One to find Alex and save her and the other, to save the Otherworld. Just minor things for two 16-year-olds. Conner wants to go save his sister but he has bigger things on his plate, so he saves the world with the help of his friends, but finds out that after killing the witch that cursed Alex, she is still under the curse and trying to destroy the Otherworld. He takes Alex back to their dead Dad by writing a story about him and putting the Portal Potion on it. Conner can only hope that this will free his sister from the terrible curse, but to find out you have to read the book.

I liked the way the author included multiple points of view. This allowed the reader to know more about what was going on than the characters themselves. Though sometimes I would’ve liked to stay in a certain point of view for a while longer, it allowed for more variety, which I feel made the book more exciting. In the end, all the views were put together to make one big fitting puzzle. You’d be at one point of view and then the next chapter comes and your left thinking what’s going on with that character’s story? Then your focus is on what’s in front of you (the other point of view). Every chapter would be a different point of view that would leave you hanging, wondering what was happening. In a way, this added more suspense to the book.

(SPOILERS, if you want to read the book.) The resolution of the main character’s problem(s) was when Conner and his friends defeated the witches/ other evil fantasy villains. The main villain was Morina the witch, who concocted the great scheme. Red saved the day by killing the witch without really thinking right. “Morina was hit by her own magic and burst into millions of pieces” (pg.369). That was when one of their problems were solved. Then they had to deal with Alex. As I mentioned in the summary, Conner takes Alex to a story that he wrote himself. The story was basically about meeting their dead Dad again. The way the portal potion works is that you put a drop of it on a piece of literature and a beam comes forth. When you step into the beam it transports you into the story. When writing the story Conner made it a curse-free story, meaning the dust of the evil magic mirror in Alex’s eyes wouldn’t “work”. When finally seeing their Dad in more than four years Alex cried which washed out the evil dust in her eyes lifting the curse. “ The tear of joy washed away all the specks of magic dust in her eyes, the warmth in her heart disintegrated all the magic dust in her lungs, and every trace of the witches’ curse was erased from her body (pg. 393). That was when the last problem was resolved. This was very close to the end of the book when the main character’s problem(s) were resolved.

Throughout the whole book, I was also pondering something. Why did Chris Colfer have this mini entrance at the beginning of the book? He could have just gone straight into the action of the story. It confused me at first until I realized it was an entrance. It was also interesting too. Like I stated, he could’ve just gone straight into the action of the story and skip the entrance but he didn’t. It was a new way of starting off a book. The thing I liked the most about it was that he portrayed Conner as the author of the series that Chris Colfer himself wrote and that it was in the “future”. He started it off with a book signing/ question asking of the author and lead it off to go to the main part of the adventure. He also ended the story in the “future” as well. I thought it was an interesting technique to use.

Finally, I was caught off guard by this passage. This is when the twins are in the short story talking to their Dad. Chris Colfer writes: “’Sweetheart, happily ever after does exist, it’s just not what you think,” he said. “Happily ever after isn’t a solution to life’s problems or a guarantee that life will be easy; it’s a promise we make ourselves to always live our best lives, despite whatever circumstance comes our way. When we focus on joy in times of heartbreak, when we choose to laugh on the days it’s hard to smile, and when we count our blessings over our losses-that’s what a true happily ever after is all about. You don’t get there by being perfect; on the contrary, it’s our humanity that guides us. And that’s what fairy tales have been trying to teach us all along’”(pg. 396).

What really caught me off guard was that I didn’t realize they were words of the wiser until I reread it. It also caught me off guard because, in Chris Colfer’s writing, he doesn’t include words of the wiser frequently. I also really loved this passage because it’s true. To live life, we first need to be happy. It shows that as an author he is able to throw things at the reader that they don’t expect. There are few examples of words of the wiser in the book which makes it unique and interesting. The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide is a 7 out 0f 10 for me.

 

Sincerely,

 Mia Larkin

A video if you want to learn more about Chris Colfer and his books.

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6 thoughts on “Mia Larkin’s Letter-Essay #4: The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide

  1. Hello,
    I really hope that what Conner did saved his sister from the curse.
    Your summary is very interesting and it really make me want to read this book. Good job on your letter essay! I liked how you added a small video at the end and I actually watched it. And to be honest I didn’t even know he was on Glee until I hear the lady in the video say it. Anyways, great letter essay!

    Sincerely,
    Syrine.

  2. Mia,
    I like how you took note of the type of writing techniques the author used. It is very interesting how the author changes his writing, making the story more exciting and suspenseful. I enjoyed reading your letter essay, and you did a great job. I could tell that you are a close reader and that you really like the authors writing.

    Sincerely,
    Elizabeth

  3. Dear Mia,
    I really enjoyed your letter essay. You provided a great summary, and I liked the amount of detail you had throughout your entire letter essay. Great job!
    Sincerely,
    Marissa

  4. Mia-

    I bought this book at the Book Fair, but I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet. I’m really looking forward to reading it since the previous books are so good! Your summary was short, but full of details and didn’t contain many spoilers. I really liked that you also included an overall recap of the previous books so the reader has some sort of understanding of what’s going on in the story. Thanks for sharing your letter essay with me!

    Sincerely,
    Renee K.

  5. Dear Mia,

    I really liked reading your letter essay. It was full of details about the book and author. good job!

    Sincerely,

    Rita.

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