Thank you for stepping into a world of riddles and wild adventures as we feature The Magic Maze Trilogy by Samuel Warren Joseph & Phil Proctor Book Tour hosted by The Children’s Book Review. 

About the Book

When a founding member of the legendary Firesign Theatre and an award-winning playwright join forces, magic happens—literally.

The Magic Maze Trilogy includes three books: Tyler and Tess in the Magic Maze; Madness in the Magic Maze; and Escape from the Magic Maze. It is about eleven-year-old fraternal twins, Tyler and Tess Porter, who accidentally get sucked up into the bizarre world of the Magic Maze. 

Geared to appeal to children from seven to thirteen and older fantasy fans as well, the story propels the twins into an “Alice in Wonderland – Wizard of Oz” world. To return home, they must conquer twelve parts of the maze. Each is its own world with strange rules, riddles, and puzzles that the twins must solve using their wits, knowledge, and athletic prowess. 

Tyler and Tess learn how much they mean to each other as they evade the evil Queen Zebra and her Zentaurian Guard of two-faced Polinerds, and a duplicitous wizard, Simon Percival. They form alliances with the rebel Tridgets (tiny trolls with Mohawk hairdos) led by the feisty Belkin, and an assortment of other bizarre and funny characters. At the end, they must track down and put back together three parts of a magic amulet before they can be finally transported home, safe and sound.

Review of The Magic Maze Trilogy

The Magic Maze Trilogy is one wild, magical ride you don’t want to miss. Packed with action, mystery, and plenty of heart, this middle-grade fantasy series hooks you right from page one. Tess and Tyler start out worlds apart, but their journey through mazes, magical realms, and rebellions against an evil queen forges a sibling bond that’s as real and relatable as it is magical. Between the Tridgets, the richly imagined mythology, and the sword-and-sorcery style adventure, the world-building is top-notch and full of wonder. What really shines, though, is the way the authors weave together fast-paced storytelling with genuine character growth. The trilogy’s open-ended finale leaves you thinking long after the last page, making it a perfect pick for young readers—and honestly, anyone who loves stories of magic, family, and a good old-fashioned fight against the forces of evil.

I received a copy of this book to share my opinion.

About Samuel Warren Joseph

Samuel Warren Joseph’s credits include Off Your Rocker, a comedy 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 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 2010 to excellent reviews. His couple’s comedy, Two Times Two, also had its world premiere 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. He is currently a community college Assistant Professor of English.

About Phil Proctor

Phil Proctor was born of Amish/Irish ancestry in 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 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 & Drama Critics’ awards over his 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.

Planet Proctor Website – Magic Maze Website

Giveaway for The Magic Maze Trilogy

One lucky winner will receive a classroom set of The Magic Maze Trilogy in paperback!

  The Magic Maze Trilogy: Book Giveaway

Click here for the entry form.

The Magic Maze Trilogy Book Tour

Follow along on the book tour hosted by The Children’s Book Review to see what others are saying!

Email – Website

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Monday, October 20, 2025 Froggy Read Teach Instagram Post

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Thursday, October 23, 2025 Country Mamas With Kids Book Review

Friday, October 24, 2025 Sybrina’s Book Blog Guest Article

Saturday, October 25, 2025 My Reading Getaway Book Review

Monday, October 27, 2025 Me Two Books Author Interview

Tuesday, October 28, 2025 Deliciously Savvy Book Review

Thursday, October 30, 2025 Q&As with Deborah Kalb Author Interview

Thursday, November 6, 2025 Crafty Moms Share Book Review

Friday, November 7, 2025 Confessions of a Book Addict Book Spotlight

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