Book Review: ‘Once Upon a Time – Behind the Magic’

Published by Titan Books | Format: Paperback, 176pp | RRP £14.99

Before the proliferation of the internet, and more importantly before I ever had access to my own PC, companion books to TV shows were my bread-and-butter. I had loads (mainly bought through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club – what ever happened to them?): The X-Files, Buffy, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and more; and they were, at the time, besides the awesome TV Zone magazine, the only way to get official episode guides to your favourite television shows. But now, some twenty-odd years later, we have instant access to the kinds of information that we never thought possible – including episodes guides sites, fan sites and even the official web pages of whichever happens to be your TV show of choice.

So how do official companion book stack up now, in the face of such an information overload online? Well it helps when they’re packed with exclusive production sketches and information…

Once Upon a Time: Behind the Magic is the official companion to the award-winning show produced for ABC Television (which airs on Channel 5 here in the UK to great ratings), featuring interviews with all the key cast and crew, and goes behind-the-scenes on the show from creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (Lost) – covering everything from characters and story to props and production design. The book also contains episode guides for the shows first two seasons, walking through the story and highlighting key plot points and characters, including who and what is introduced in each episode; breaking down the flashback scenes; and pointing out interesting info on links to the original fairytales, the Disney fairy tale flicks and the show “in jokes” (there’s a number of nods to Tron and Lost in the show).

There’s plenty for hardcore fans of the series to sink their teeth into here and Once Upon a Time: Behind the Magic would make an ideal festive gift for the Once Upon a Time fan in your family. Even the casual fan will get a kick out of the fantastic behind-the-scenes information and the fab photographs of the cast and the costumes. Check out a preview of the book below:

NOTE: For those fans who bought the two Once Upon a Time Collector’s Edition magazines earlier this year, this new companion may be a little familiar – it has [apparently] been compiled from those books by the folks at Titan, with the addition of the aforementioned episode guides. So buyer beware.

Once Upon a Time: Behind the Magic is a definite must-have for fans of the series, the paperback is available now from Titan Books.