The Books of Magic

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Partly the Faerie storyline in Bindings was written to appease DC's desire for a "big" story to launch the new series with: Rieber's original starting point was to be the Summonings storyline instead, [6] introducing Tim's first girlfriend Molly O'Reilly and demonstrating the writer's desire that the stories should be about "a realm that has never been mapped by the Royal Geographic Society and never will be. People who've lost touch with the place call it 'Adolescence'". [16] As well as an abandoned The Books of Faerie ongoing series, Vertigo planned a prestige-format one shot called The Books of Magic: A Day, a Night and a Dream. The comic was to be written by Peter Gross and illustrated by Charles Vess, set during Tim's stay at one of the Inns Between the Worlds. The issue was intended to be an introduction to the ongoing series and the wider world of Vertigo, [47] but was eventually incorporated into the main comic's storyline instead. [37] [48] The Names of Magic [ edit ] Changeling Fantasy: Tim is apparently the illegitimate son of Queen Titania and her human falconer Tamlin , raised by mortal parents. At least at first. Then Auberon says that Tim has no faerie blood and it seems he's the illegitimate son of Tamlin and Mary Hunter, and the changeling son of Titania and Tamlin is his half-brother whose fate is unknown. But it's never completely certain. A third possibility raised is that Mary Hunter was a faerie nursemaid under a glamour who smuggled Tim out of Faerie at Titania's request to hide the fact that Her Majesty was a human sorceress under a glamour and the baby, having been fathered by Tamlin, was fully human. So the only thing really certain is that Tamlin is Tim's biological father and William Hunter isn't.

Tim is 13 years old. He has the potential to be one of the greatest mages of his age. Set in the DC/Vertigo universe, Tim is accosted by four major magical characters. John Constantine, Mr. E, Dr. Occult and Phantom Stranger. Each one takes Tim through a journey to see if magic is something he wishes to pursue. They also teach him that magic has a price and a steep price at that. Due to his potential, he is being sought after by some evil mages who wish to either convert or kill him. The four aforementioned mages seek to keep him alive.

Gaiman is a deft enough storyteller that Tim isn't just a blank presence—he's more of a snot than Rowling's young wizard, and he has a low-key but ominous taste for power. As a useful stand-in for the reader, Tim is a tourist through eldritch realms of fandom detritus and continuity porn (a comic-geek term that refers to excessive attention to narrative integrity at the expense of the story itself). The books span characters like Zatanna, Zatara, Dr. Fate, and Dr. Occult, organizing all the accumulated layers of DC's corporate property into a solemn wiki-before-there-were-wikis. The Books of Magic functions as more of an encyclopedia than a story. Martyn attempts to seduce Tim into becoming his servant using a succubus called Leah, using magic to make Tim's father spontaneously combust so that the boy is alone and vulnerable. Tim is saved once from Leah by the arrival of Molly, as the succubus is touched by the genuine love between the two... but in his grief and anger, Tim manages to push Molly away and cause Leah to think he is "just like all other men" and needs punishing. Tim's salvation from Martyn comes in an unlikely form when Sir Timothy and Barbatos kill the magician to protect their own interests in the boy. This leaves Leah without a master, a position that she attempts to make Tim fill before the young magician proves his worth by setting her free. She leaves England to see where her new freedom - and Martyn's car - will take her. [16]

The depiction of Tim Hunter's life continued in a five-issue mini-series called The Names of Magic, in which Tim learnt his true name (Timothy Hunter; Tamar, son of Tamlin; the Opener; the Merlin; Magic) and was accepted into the school of magic, known simply as White School, which exists across the Multiverse of Worlds in DC. Arc Symbol: Books. Books in this series are always a symbol of power and nearly always a source of magic. Most of Tim's lessons come from books.

Despite being relatively short, this series has probably the largest timespan among the Sandman stories, showing both the dawn of the Universe and its destruction. The Fair Folk: Dealing with them is a major chapter of the original four-part story, and a major part of the series proper once it began. I Know Your True Name: To be accepted into the White School, you have to present your true name. Tim's true name turns out to be "Merlin". Deity of Human Origin: Queen Titania was originally a human peasant girl during the Middle Ages. She is such a powerful sorceress that to all practical intents and purposes she is a Physical God and appears to be The Ageless. Titania easily outmatches most mythological gods in the modern age, as she does not depend on worship for power. The supernatural community in general simply regards her as the godlike Queen of Faerie.

Evil Matriarch: Titania, Queen of Faerie and Tim's real mother. Subverted because Tim is fully human, but confirmed because Titania is human as well.Peter Gross explained in his 25 issue run on the book as being the story of Tim's "boy time", commenting that previously the book had often presented benevolent female characters but had been less successful at their benevolent male counterparts. His story was partly designed, then, to show Tim accepting his male side and learning how to be a boy - one of Gross' reasons for not using the character of Molly during his run. He did comment that if he had stayed on the book, Gross' next story would have shown Tim similarly exploring his feminine side and would therefore have reintroduced some of the established female characters such as Molly or Gwen. [9] With the creator of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, being publicly transphobic, many fans of the beloved franchise are looking for other media that can fill the gap left by Harry Potter. Tim Hunter and the Books of Magic series are a wonderful way to continue enjoying the story of a young boy on a quest to learn magic, and his place in the world, without the painful connections to such a harmful and polarizing creator. At Los Angeles airport, he meets the succubus Leah who has moved to the city to become a model. She convinces Tim to travel with her, and accompanies him out into the desert on a camping trip. In the night, Leah disguises herself as Molly and tries to sleep with Tim: he sees through the deception but tells her that if she had come to him as herself, he wasn't sure what he would have done. Tim kisses Leah, and the two continue where they left off. In the morning, the two become trapped in the world of a dying mermaid and Leah has to take the mermaid's place to save Tim. Tim wakes in the real world and continues on his journey, without realizing what has happened to Leah. [22] Rieber, John Ney( w)."Tearing Off Their Wings" The Books of Faerie: Molly's Story,no.3(November 1999).DC Comics. I Just Want to Be Normal: After being cursed by Titania, and a long time of being a Weirdness Magnet, Molly goes through periods of this. In Age of Magic, she has (largely thanks to being put on medication by her patrents) managed to convince herself that she is normal and that none of the supernatural things she experienced were real, though she eventually admits that they were.

Laser-Guided Amnesia: In Life During Wartime, Tim has imposed this on himself in his created world. It doesn't last.I must say, I'm used to top-notch writing from Gaiman but the story he conjured up here as well as certain revelations throughout the four issues defy description! They touch so many themes and not just on the surface, but delve deep into these realms in such an eloquent and intelligent way. We also get a few cameos, namely Dream and Death; and Stranger turns out to be their brother Destiny which made this loads of fun.