Book Review of The Magic Maze Trilogy
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The Children’s Book Review
The Magic Maze Trilogy
Written by Samuel Warren Joseph & Phil Proctor
Ages: 9-12 | 244 Pages
Publisher: Sam/Phil Books (2025) | ISBN: 979-8-9927464-6-4
What to Expect: Family, sibling rivalry, problem-solving, adventure.
In this rollercoaster adventure trilogy, readers will test their deduction skills alongside Tess and Taylor as they scramble to find and assemble three fragments of a magical amulet—a task that, if achieved, will both enable them to go home and save their new friends from the power-hungry Queen Zebra.
Tyler and Tess are twins, but they are anything but identical. Where Tyler loves to joke and rarely takes anything seriously, Tess strives to do everything right—she is clever, driven, and very, VERY serious. Together, they balance each other out—and that’s lucky because when the siblings are magically transported to the baffling world of the Magic Maze, it will take their full range of talents and strengths to solve the increasingly complex puzzles that stand in the way of them returning home. It’s only when tested by danger and the fight for survival that these two bickering siblings will learn just how much they depend on one another.
Tess and Taylor’s bickering and fighting will feel wryly familiar to any reader with a sibling, but so will their determination to stand up for one another no matter what. Their quest takes place against an immersive backdrop of characters and settings every bit as quirky and fascinating as those of The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, except that unlike those surreal quest stories, Tyler and Tess’ mission has a heroic purpose.
Imaginative, exciting, and uplifting, this trilogy is sure to become a fantasy favorite.
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About the Author
Samuel Warren Joseph’s credits include the movie Off Your Rocker, a comedy-drama about a revolution in an old folks’ home starring Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Dorothy Malone, and Lou Jacobi.
He has written animation episodes for such shows as Duck Tales, Dennis the Menace, Batman and Beast Wars.
Sam’s stage play, Window of Opportunity, a suspenseful dark comedy about corporate corruption, premiered at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles in the spring of 2006 to rave reviews. It has been turned into a feature film, which he wrote and directed, and was released in 2015. The film was produced and co-scored by John Densmore, the drummer of The Doors.
Sam wrote the book and co-wrote the songs for the stage musical Campaign, which premiered in October 2010 to excellent reviews.
His couple’s comedy, Two Times Two, also had its world premiere in 2010 in New Orleans to great reviews.
In 2016, his musical, Psychosexual: A Love Story, for which he wrote the book and lyrics, premiered at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles. The same year, his play, Moral Imperative, had its world premiere at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills.
With Phil Proctor, Sam co-wrote God Help Us!… a political comedy that toured the United States starring the late Ed Asner. Sam also co-wrote Ed’s autobiography, Son of a Junkman.
With Phil Proctor, Sam also co-wrote The Magic Maze Trilogy.
Sam has also been a special education teacher in inner city Los Angeles and currently is a community college Assistant Professor of English.
About the Author
Phil Proctor was born of Amish/Irish ancestry in Goshen, Indiana, and is a founding member of the thrice-Grammy-nominated Firesign Theatre (one of the “Thirty Greatest Acts of All Time”), whose archives were purchased by the Library of Congress. He’s appeared on and off-Broadway, toured the USSR with the Yale Russian Chorus, and also toured the US and Canada with the L.A. Guitar Quartet as Don Quixote.
He has appeared in scores of commercials, audiobooks, video games, radio and TV shows, and films, including Window of Opportunity, written and directed by his partner, Samuel Joseph. Phil received Theatre World, LA Weekly, LA Free Press and Drama Critics’ awards over his long career.
His voice credits include memorable characters in Academy Award-winning films for Pixar and Disney, the Drunken French Monkey in Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Vidic in Assassin’s Creed, Simon Stagg in Batman: Arkham Knight, and Howard in the multi-Emmy winning Rugrats, which has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He recently appeared in the world premiere of Dan Castellaneta’s For Piano and Harpo at the Gary Marshall Theatre, is a 20-year member of The Antaeus Theater company, and has written several new books, including his autobiography, Where’s My Fortune Cookie? co-authored by Brad Schreiber. With Samuel Joseph, he co-wrote a political comedy, God Help Us!, which toured the country starring the late Ed Asner to rave reviews.
To learn more about Phil, visit PlanetProctor.com.
To learn more about the series, visit MagicMaze.com.
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