Alright guys, Iâve got something to talk about cuz the dream I had last night reminded me of it and made me nostalgic for being a kid
When I was little, around 9-14-ish, I was really, really obsessed with this cute little book series written by the Geronimo Stilton author, the Chronicles of the Kingdom of Fantasy, and as you guys know, Iâm very Dutch, so I read all of the books plus the sequel series in Dutch. And let me tell you, it shaped so much of my early teenage years personality and my love for fantasy and I never even dared to talk about that part of my life cuz it seemed âcringeâ.
Iâll give a summary of the series here, cuz I donât really think any of my followers have read it due to it not being translated to their language or just... not knowing it existed.
The Chronicles of the Kingdom of Fantasy (de Kronieken van Fantasia in Dutch and Cronache del Regno Della Fantasia in its original language, which is Italian) is a sweet, Lord of the Rings-escue series about a young elf, Ombroso (which is his Italian name, heâs called Saturno in the Dutch version), a 15-year-old refugee from the Land of the Woodelves who had been stranded in the Land of the Star-elves when he was just four years old after a devastating war in his own country. He has grown up as the adoptive son of astrologist Eridanus, who himself had two kids with his now-deceased wife, Mizram - currently 16-year-old Regulus and 13-year-old Spica.
In an effort to save his people and find the birth parents he canât remember, Ombroso, after receiving a few items from Eridanus which had been stowed away for years until the boy was ready, travels into the Land of the Woodelves through a magical gate linking the two countries together (itâs a whole thing), taking Regulus with him cuz the power of bros is vast enough to do anything. Spica wanted to come, but apparently misogyny is still a thing in this medieval fantasy kingdom (and sheâs. literally 13), so the boys leave her at home.
Pretty scarring shenanigans ensue, Ombroso and Reg find the Land of the Woodelves rotten, overtaken by evil creatures serving the Queen of Witches, who, unbeknownst to them, is currently trying to overtake the entire Kingdom of Fantasy. Ombroso learns his mother, Acacia, died while giving birth to him and his father, a mysterious man named Cuortenace (Sterkhart in Dutch, I honestly donât know if they reveal his past right away in the first book. Every detail from this has melted together in my brain), hasnât been seen for years. Few think heâs actually still alive. Ombroso also learns (or remembers, I donât know) his real name is Audace (Dappart in Dutch) and that the name he usually goes by is just a nickname.
The boys meet Robinia, the former princess of the Woodelves whose older brother had actually sold her and her people to the Queen of Witches for a reason I canât remember. Probably cuz of money or power. Sheâs 14 years old and really salty her people are suffering, so she doesnât really like Ombroso and Regulus, but eventually warms up to them.
In the meantime, Spica also does shenanigans. She does a dreamily lovesick dreaming about Ombroso cuz she like-likes him and decides to go against his wishes and help him, cuz heâs totally lost without her. Girlboss, I actually looked up to Spica so much as a kid. Now I just think, âwho let a 13 year old kid do war crimes???â.
She meets Stellarius, a grumpy old Gandalf-y wizard who goes by many names. He had actually come for Ombroso, to guide him through his journey, but takes one look at this kid and decides she probably has more braincells than a 15-year-old boy heâs never met before, so he decides sheâll come with him to the Land of the Woodelves to assist Ombroso in his heroâs journey. He informs her that, before they can go, they first need to do their own little thing and defeat the evil bats that have come through the magical gate into the Land of the Star elves - he enchants Spicaâs bow and they go do the murder of bats.
I honestly donât really... remember what happens next. I know Ombroso gets an enchanted sword and finds out about a prophesy in which a Sword, a Bow, a Goose and a Dragon would defeat the Evil Witch and do things, which is super obvious to everyone, even the main characters. He also meets a Hunter, who calls himself Hunter, cuz heâs a Hunter. I donât think heâs really that creative as we meet him again later and he changes his name to Knight, cuz heâs... a Knight. Um. Yeah.
Ombroso nearly dies at some point, but donât worry, he does that a lot. He and his new and old friends get the Land of Woodelves back and Ombroso and Spica, reunited and all, decide to fulfill the prophecy and journey through the realms to find a magic Goose and a Dragon to complete the quartet and defeat the Queen of Witches. Regulus and Robinia join them, same with Stellarius and Robiniaâs little pet dragon(?), whose name I unfortunately forgot.
They travel to the kingdom of dwarfs through another magical gate in the second book, where they do a liberation of the people and need to find the next magical gate. Also, Ombroso had this really hot moment in this book which was kinda Little Monaâs first introduction to dominant fictional characters ever, which, um. Yeah. You see where Iâm going with this. They also find the Goose in this one, a dwarf girl named Favilla (Spranka in Dutch) who got enchanted into a goose after escaping the Queen of Witches, who thought she was to bring her doom because of another prophesy. They take her with them through the gate!
In the third book, they go to a sorta swamp realm, which isnât really fun for anyone. This one is my favorite, but apparently I donât own the book, which absolutely sucks. They also get seperated from Stellarius in this one and for the first time ever, the teens have to rely on themselves. This one has a lot of inner conflict and some character development, mainly for Ombroso and Spica, and completes the prophecy quartet in the form on Codamozza (Halvestaart in Dutch, which means Half-Tail), a locked up Dragon Ombroso frees and befriends. At the end, Spica, Regulus, and Robinia get captured by the evil minions of the Queen of Witches and brought to her, seperating them from from Ombroso, Codamozza and Favilla. I donât remember what Stellarius is doing, ngl.
The fourth book features the wrap up of the series, in which the prophecy comes to life and this part of the adventure ends. Spica, who is a storyteller and inspires herself and the other captured creatures in the Land of the Witches, gets taken before the Queen and drugged (um, yeah, they drug a 13-year-old. It gets really dark in this part) for them to tell them her stories, I donât remember why. Robinia and Regulus lead a rebellion and meet up with the Hunter/the Knight and Stellarius, while Ombroso and Favilla go into the castle, where they reunite with Spica (who had been saved by a mysterious woman named Anguilla (Aaltje in Dutch), who Favilla had grown up with and lost contact with. Sheâs distant, however, and only interested in taking the Queen down.
In the final battle the Hunter/the Knight steps into the scene, breaking into the throneroom through the glass window on Codamozzaâs back. He reveals himself to be a Knight of the Old Order of Knights of the Rose and Ombrosoâs long lost father, Cuortenace. However, he sacrifices himself to save Spica and gets turned to stone by the Queen.
I donât remember how, but the quartet defeats the Queen in one last effort to succeed. The kingdom celebrates and Ombroso, upset about the loss of his father, asks the Fairy Queen, the one who had chosen him to defeat the Queen of Witches so many years ago, his patron, to please turn him back to flesh and blood. The Fairy Queen doesnât have that power however, and tells him he has to go to his fatherâs place of origin, the abandoned Island of the Knights, to restore it in its honor and place its crest back in its right place. Only then, his father and all the other people who had been turned to stone on the Island itself (cuz that happened but I totally forgot about it) would return to their former selves.
This brings us to the last two books of the series, 5 and 6, which shows how Ombroso, Spica and Codamozza, one year after the events of the final book, travel to the Island of the Knights and restore it in its former glory. Itâs a bit weaker than the first four books, but it wraps the series up well enough so almost no loose ends are left around.
It does have a sequel series made up of four books, in which a new set of characters, who are the next generation of Knights from the new order Ombroso had build after the events of the first series. We see some small snippets of the old characters, who are around ten to fifteen years older than they were in the original, but it doesnât tell us much about what happened to them except from what type of job they did. Itâs a fun series, but I really wouldâve preferred the older characters to be a bit more inserted into the plot.
As I said before, I read this series as a kid, from when I was around 9, up until I was around 14. The first book had been published in 2008, when I was 5, which - holy shit. Thatâs 15 years ago. This book is old. I mean, no wonder it meant so much to me as a kid. By the time I had started reading them, the final one had just been released and it was one of my first introductions into my beloved fantasy-heroâs journey type of story.
Ombroso was a great hero for something like this and kinda defied the odds of the usual âchosen onesâ in other media. He was a bit broody, shy, couldnât act well around people for a good portion of his life, and moody, so, so moody. His nickname by the Star Elves had been chosen because he just. Refused to smile as a kid. And it just concerned the other elves he lived with. He had his badass moments, really, and his personality made for a great dynamic with the siblings Regulus and Spica. They were so bubbly, so friendly, and while Ombroso wasnât actively the voice of reason between them, he was the one who strutted behind them with his hands in his pockets and head in the clouds.
Regulus was more of a voice of reason, in typical older brother behaviour. He and Ombroso had this really sweet understanding with each other, and Ombroso viewed him more as a sibling, while viewing Spica as more of a friend, despite growing up with her. The three of them got along so well and looking back on it as an adult, I just feel so protective over these three. Theyâre so dear to my heart, partly due to them being so young and due to them being the characters who Iâve literally aged out of after having had them be older than me for years. They go through so much and honestly, if this series had been marketed differently, it wouldâve passed as a YA-fantasy series. Donât tell me Iâm wrong, cuz I know Iâm not.
When I was a kid, Spica had always been my favorite character, with her being so spunky, a storyteller, and someone who actively stood up for themselves. She had a huge impact on my development as a young teen, but as I got older and reviewed the series having grown past her age, Regulus became much more dear to my heart. He was a bookworm, so, so friendly, if not a bit loud and outspoken, not having a great filter, and he just felt so... real. Like a real older brother, a real 16-17 year old finding his way in the world and growing away from his home, venturing out into the world. His character was always so grounded and as a more reserved older sister to a rambunctious twin brother, I felt so connected to that. Also, heâs a himbo. Heâs such a himbo.
Iâm not really gonna focus on Robinia, I didnât really connect with her character a whole lot during the series as she was pushed into the background most often during the main series and just,,, completely cut out of the last books, save for a bit in the start and end of the fifth and sixth respectively.
However, what really kept me into this series, was the way my friends from that time reacted to it. Most of us were little girls with a little too much imagination, and my best friend at the time got just as obsessed with it as I did. We played out the books with playmobile figures, talked about everything in it, made original characters and thought about fanfictions we didnât even know was fanfiction. We made an oc who was Ombroso and Spicaâs daughter, gave them all families, fantasized about all the wacky things they would get into as adults. It was just fun, thatâs all I can say about it. Iâve lost contact with that friend, we grew apart, but sometimes I see her give a like to my posts on instagram, which reminds me of the fun we used to have as kids.
When I went into middle school, I had another friend who was into the series. We wrote down fanfiction and I sometimes wrote stories on the playmobile plays me and my other friend had made a year prior. I made a full-fledged character out of the kid we gave Ombroso and Spica, whom I named Acacia. She was one heck of a fun character and I absolutely loved writing about her, her siblings, her love interest, and of course, her parents. In total, over the years, I wrote around 100,000 words of fanfiction for this series. These books shaped me so heavily, but as it was so unknown and the author behind Geronimo Stilton is known for their more... childish stories, I wasnât taken seriously when I talked about it in school. I remember having done a presentation about the first book in my first year of middle school, totally enthusiastic, and hearing how the Dutch teacher had banned Geronimo Stilton books from being presented from the next year and on. I already was the âweird kidâ in my class, ahead on the curve, having a bit too much knowledge for my little brain to contain.
Of course a little fantasy series about elves, dragons, a chosen one who was just as much of an outcast as I was and another character I aspired to be more like was gonna be my escape, but as the years passed and I grew up bit by bit, it felt... strange, to be so invested in something that everyone deemed so childish. At the tender age of 14, you do mostly what others expect of you - so I put the books down, stowed them away in a corner of my room where I still knew they were close and could grab onto them any minute, but still far away enough to not realize they were there.
And now Iâm 19. Itâs been ten years since I first picked up one of the books. Theyâre still in that little corner in my room and I feel like Iâm finally in a place where I wonât be ashamed or embarrassed if I picked them up again. And really, what harm can it do? What harm can liking a book series made for kids really do me? All it can do, is bring me the joy it brought me when I was a kid myself and take me back to the time where I didnât have college to worry about, where I had a more functional family, where I didnât worry about who I would offend if I spoke too loudly or what my place in the world would be as a woman and an artist.
Iâm at the point in my life where I no longer cringe at my former self and her interests; in fact, she was probably a lot bolder than me for liking something that was so dear to her heart so openly.
Maybe itâs time I start doing that again.
