James Riley

Except for reading his favorite magic adventure series, Owen's life is boring until he sees his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the school library and he learns that Bethany is half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, who is also a fictional character.

Story Thieves

In the village of Giant's Hand Jack's grandfather has been pushing him to find a princess and get married, so when a young lady falls out of the sky wearing a shirt that says "Punk Princess," and she tells Jack that her grandmother, who looks suspiciously like the long-missing Snow White, has been kidnapped, Jack decides to help her.

Half upon a time

Mysteries abound as memory-erased Owen Conners, boy magician Kiel Gnomenfoot, and their half-fictional friend Bethany confront secrets, stolen memories, hidden clues, surprising twists and endings, and some very familiar faces.

The Stolen Chapters

“This imaginative and exciting story feels like the start of something big. The brilliant premise unfolds into a thrilling first book that has me impatient for the next one.” —Brandon Mull, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fablehaven and Dragonwatch When long-dead magical creatures are discovered all around the world, each buried with a book of magic, only children can unlock the dangerous power of the books in this start to a thrilling new series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Story Thieves! Thirteen years ago, books of magic were discovered in various sites around the world alongside the bones of dragons. Only those born after “Discovery Day” have the power to use the magic. Now, on a vacation to Washington, DC, Fort Fitzgerald’s father is lost when a giant creature bursts through the earth, attacking the city. Fort is devastated, until an opportunity for justice arrives six months later, when a man named Dr. Opps invites Fort to a government run school, the Oppenheimer School, to learn magic from those same books. But life’s no easier at the school, where secrets abound. What does Jia, Fort’s tutor, know about the attacks? Why does Rachel, master of destructive magic, think Fort is out to destroy the school? And why is Fort seeing memories of an expelled girl every time he goes to sleep? If Fort doesn’t find out what’s hiding within the Oppenheimer School, more attacks will come, and this time, nothing will stop them!

The Revenge of Magic

Owen is trapped in a time travel plot-your-own-adventure book, controlled by the reader, and a bizarre fellow prisoner, Kara Dox, might be his only hope for escaping to save Bethany.

Pick the Plot

Owen and Bethany have sworn off jumping into books for good. But they didn t make any promises about not jumping through strange portals that lead to a comic book world.

Secret Origins

Jack, of the village of Giant's Hand, is now accompanied by a prince as he continues trying to help a reluctant princess find her family, while also attempting to save a city full of fairies from a nameless curse.

Twice Upon a Time

Owen and Bethany try to find their way back to each other after the fictional and nonfictional worlds are torn apart in this fifth and final book in the New York Times bestselling series, Story Thieves—which was called a “fast-paced, action-packed tale” by School Library Journal—from the author of the Half Upon a Time trilogy. Bethany and Owen have failed. The villain they have come to know as Nobody has ripped asunder the fictional and nonfictional worlds, destroying their connection. Bethany has been split in two, with her fictional and nonfictional selves living in the separate realms. But weirdly, no one seems to mind. Owen—and every other nonfictional person—have lost their imaginations, so they can’t picture their lives any differently. Then Owen gets trapped in a dark, dystopian reality five years in the future, where nothing is needed more desperately than the power to imagine. Fictional Bethany is thrilled to be training with her father as his new sidekick, Twilight Girl—until she realizes that the fictional reality will fade away completely without the nonfictional world to hold it together. In this final installment of the genre-bending Story Thieves series, Owen and Bethany will be forced to risk everything to defeat Nobody and save multiple realities.

Worlds Apart

Will there be happily ever after? Don’t miss the fractured-fairy tale conclusion to the action-packed and humor-filled Half Upon a Time trilogy! Jack and May have gone their separate ways, and each is now set on course to fulfill their destiny…or are they? Nothing is ever quite as it seems in the world of fairy tales, and the two friends are in for some huge surprises as they prepare to battle the Wicked Queen once and for all. Knights, fairy godmothers, giants, and beanstalks—all come together in this thrilling and hilarious conclusion to the Half Upon a Time trilogy!

Once Upon the End

Fort Fitzgerald is determined to uncover the truth, but a new student at school and the secrets he has to keep complicate matters in this second novel in a thrilling new series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Story Thieves! Fort Fitzgerald can’t stop having nightmares about the day his father was taken from him in an attack on Washington, DC. In these dreams, an Old One, an evil beyond comprehension, demands the location of the last dragon. But other than some dragon skeletons dug up with the books of magic on Discovery Day, Fort has never seen a dragon before. Could there still be one left alive? And weirdly, Fort’s not the only one at the Oppenheimer School having these nightmares. His new roommate, Gabriel, seems to know more than he’s letting on about this dragon as well. And why does everyone at the school seem to do whatever Gabriel says? What’s his secret? Fort’s going to need the help of his friends Cyrus, Jia, and Rachel, if he’s going to have any chance of keeping the Old Ones from returning to Earth. Unless, the Old Ones offer something Fort could never turn down…

The Last Dragon

Fort’s continued adventures take more surprising twists and turns in this third novel in a thrilling series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Story Thieves! Dealing with monster attacks and his missing father has been hard enough for Fort Fitzgerald in his first month at the Oppenheimer School. But there’s another school for magic, this one in the United Kingdom, that's about to create even bigger problems. Six of the Carmarthen Academy students found themselves lost in time when they first started learning magic. Now they’ve returned, with news of a coming war that the students claim only they can stop. But their new plan for the world might lead to an even worse future, one that Fort and his friends are destined to help bring about, no matter how much they might want to fight it. Can Fort change the future that the Time students have already seen play out? Or is he destined to pay for his past mistakes for all of time?

The Future King

Fort becomes entangled with legendary creatures and foes in this thrilling fourth novel in the fantastical series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Story Thieves! The future has been saved, but at a cost: Fort Fitzgerald has been expelled from the Oppenheimer School, and some of Fort’s friends have been lost in time. But time is the one thing Fort, Rachel, and Jia don’t have, as they’ll soon be facing one of the eternal Old Ones, the Timeless One, for the fate of the world. If they lose, the Old Ones will return, and humanity is doomed. If they win, the Old Ones will still return, and humanity is doomed. Because the Timeless One can see every possibility, and plan for it. How can Fort and his friends defeat a creature like that? And what does this all have to do with the real-life Merlin, from King Arthur’s days?

The Timeless One

Storybook characters collide in this first book in a new trilogy of twisted fairy tales from New York Times bestselling author James Riley, set in the world of his popular Half Upon a Time series—perfect for fans of Fablehaven and Chris Colfer’s A Tale of Magic series! Five and a half feet might seem pretty tall for a twelve-year-old, but it’s not when your parents are giants. Lena has kept the fact that she’s a tiny giant secret, using magic to grow when out in the giant village. But hiding who she is has always felt wrong, even though she knows the other giants might not accept her. Fortunately, Lena has friends down in the Cursed City who understand that looking different doesn’t make her less of a giant. Someone who knows not to judge by appearances is Jin, a young genie currently serving one thousand and thirty-eight years of genie training that requires him to fulfill the wish of whoever holds his magical ring. In Jin’s case, it’s the power-hungry Golden King. At least the king only has two wishes left, one of which is for Jin to go to the Cursed City and capture its protector, the Last Knight—one of Lena’s closest friends. What Lena and Jin don’t know is how close the Golden King’s plans are to coming together, between his dark magic and his horrible Faceless knights. If Jin does find the Last Knight and bring him to the Golden King, why, that could doom the entire fairy-tale world. ...This sounds like it’ll end badly, doesn’t it?

Once Upon Another Time

The Chosen One

When Owen finds himself stuck in a Pick Your Own Plot story, things get more complicated than ever in this fourth book in the New York Times bestselling series, Story Thieves—which was called a “fast-paced, action-packed tale” by School Library Journal—from the author of the Half Upon a Time trilogy. Being able to jump into books used to seem like the greatest thing in the world to Owen Conners. But now Owen’s trapped in a time travel book where readers—that would be you—decide how the story goes. As if that weren’t enough, Owen’s also stuck in a prison for time criminals in a prehistoric era. He’s surrounded by bizarre fellow prisoners, including Kara Dox. How does Kara recognize Owen if they’ve never met before? She seems to think they’re old friends, but that can’t be possible. Still, Kara might just be the only chance Owen has to escape. And he has to find a way out to save his friend Bethany, who’s still in grave danger. Because unless Owen can stop him, Nobody is going to split Bethany into two, separating the fictional and non-fictional worlds forever. Will Owen be able to convince you, the reader, to help him find his way back to Bethany? Or will you feed him to dinosaurs just to teach him a lesson? It’s all up to you when you Pick the Plot.

An intriguing, first-of-its-kind cultural history of the turn of the 1960s

Dark Omens, New Worlds and the End of the Sixties

The Bad Trip

Seth Adams is recently divorced, unemployed, and he's just become the parent group president at his kids' middle school in an attempt to remain relevant in their lives. He is also convinced that his body might be housing an alien mind. When Seth's ex leaves their kids on his doorstep on her way out of town, Seth realizes that there might be more to his story and inadvertently draws his middle-school-aged daughter Jessica into his struggle to understand the truth. Can they find the answers they seek before Seth loses the rest of his mind?

You're In My Head

It’s a fantasy come true: all three books in the hilarious fractured fairy tale trilogy by James Riley, available together in a box set! This complete boxed set of the Half Upon a Time trilogy tells the story of Jack, as in, son of the infamous Jack who stole the magic beans from the giant. He is working hard to restore his family’s reputation and finds the perfect opportunity when a “princess” lands in front of him, apparently from the land of Punk (as her sweatshirt implies). May is actually from our world and confused to find herself in the midst of the fairy tale characters she has read about. It soon turns out that May and Jack have more in common than they could have known—and together, they'll embark on a hilarious and wild adventure involving knights, fairy godmothers, giants, and—of course—beanstalks!

Half Upon a Time; Twice Upon a Time; Once Upon the End

The Half Upon a Time Trilogy

Fort and his friends face more perilous ancient magic as they race towards the final battle to save humanity in this fifth and final installment in the fantastical series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Story Thieves! Fort Fitzgerald is finally reunited with his father and wants nothing more than for life to return to normal, the way things were before magic burst back into the world. But normal isn’t an option anymore. Not when the Old Ones could still return to enslave humanity and Damian is dead set on making that happen. Convinced he’s the Chosen One the prophecy says will save the world, Damian has mastered all six books of magic and plans to summon the Old Ones to destroy them. Fort knows better though—Damian has no chance of defeating the Old Ones once they arrive. Maybe Fort could stop Damian if he could use the magic from the dragon dictionary, but he’s consumed with strange visions each time he tries. The only hope left is for Fort, Jia, and Rachel to recruit the help of old friends—and enemies. But how can they know who to trust? Because unless they can find the truth behind the web of secrets and lies surrounding the prophecy of the Chosen One, Fort’s visions, Arthurian legends, and even magic itself, they've already lost.

James Riley

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