Arachna Phobia

The Yellow Fog, by Alexander Volkov, translated by Peter Blystone – The fifth book in the Magic Land series involves a giant sorceress named Arachna, who had been put into an enchanted sleep 5000 years previously by Hurricap, the guy who put the magic in Magic Land. She wakes up and tries to conquer the country, and when her attempts at direct attacks fail, she resorts to placing a poisonous yellow fog over the land. In order to combat Arachna and her magic, the people of Magic Land once again enlist the help of Annie, Tim, and Charlie Black. It’s the sailor’s idea to build a giant iron paladin to fight the giantess, and the naive personality of the enormous creation makes him a successful character in his own right. Also helping out in the struggle are the field-mice, the giant eagle Carfax, the doctors from Underground Land, and even the now-reformed Urfin Jus. I appreciated that the book shows the inhabitants of Magic Land as competent even before their American helpers arrive, and once the outsiders do get there we see most of them assisting in their own ways to bring down the latest threat to the land.

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