Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales, fast paced, quick mglit turns

What if The Princess Bride and Back to the Future Part II had a baby? Hear me out. The former has familiar fairy tale characters but is completely its own entity.  The latter is in a trilogy of films that build upon its created world and ends on a cliffhanger. Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales is the second in this series of mglit books by New York Times bestselling author James Riley. It’s a book that combines elements of those two things in middle-grade fiction that zip and zags with speed, humor, and aplomb.

Lena is a giant. She’s the daughter of massive giants, the kind that lives in the tops of bean stalks up in the clouds. However, Lena is a small giant, she’s a teen who felt like she was never accepted by her larger clan and is trying to figure out life. She and Jin, her genie friend, did help defeat the Golden King in the first book, but he’s looking for revenge. The Last Knight, one of the heroes from the first book, tells her a secret that makes her question if she’s been doing the correct thing all along. It’s a secret that upends her world, disrupts her life’s direction, and puts all of the human world in danger. The Golden King has also enacted a dark spell that infects people’s minds that’s spreading rapidly.

This makes her question if who she’s dealing with is really behaving like themselves, something akin to the ninth season finale of Dallas or a zombie who’s out to eat their brain. OK, two of those scenarios are not likely, but Tall Tales, much like the gentle stretching of the truth that it implies, makes the characters question everything. It’s a Fox Mulder kind of questioning, in more of an mglit vibe that makes readers approach each character with just a hint of mistrust, at least until they earn it. And even then, it’s important to keep your friends close, and your enemies just as close, just in case.

The plot to Tall Tales moves fast and there are many angles. It’s a big story that’s been culled down to make it quick and nimble, just like the kid who jumps over candlesticks. For us, Tall Tales is also more enjoyable than the first one in the titular Once Upon Another Time series. Again, for us, it’s because we’re used to the characters and the cobwebs have been shaken off of the fairy tale maze. The characters Tall Tales are familiar, but not identical to those ones that inhabited the stories we tell young children. Think of it as fan fiction for the fairy tale set, but amped up on the action in a way that would suit Doc Brown if it were being told by Peter Falk.

 It’s a book that fans of the first one will easily enjoy. The cover of Tall Tales alludes to the action and twisted fairy tale history that awaits readers who dig into it. If it’s your first Once Upon book then you’ll be able to catch on, just be sure to read carefully and don’t speed read. However, in this case, you’ll be rewarded with some very witty dialogue, plot twists, and enough action to keep those ages 10 and up hooked.

Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales is by James Riley and available on Simon Kids.

There are affiliate links in this post.