Book Review: "Kingdom Keepers Inheritance-The Final Draw" Offers Ample Amounts of Pixie Dust Magic

It’s time to save Disney Parks once and for all in the magical conclusion to the Kingdom Keeper saga Kingdom Keepers Inheritance-The Final Draw. The Overtakers are up to no good. For years they have plotted a way to take control of Walt Disney’s magical worlds, and now they may have found the key to their success. It’s going to take the combined forces of the Kingdom Kids, the children of the legendary Kingdom Keepers, and the heroic characters who bring the Disney Parks alive to thwart the nefarious plans of the villains.

Eli Whitman and his fellow Kingdom Kids are celebrating their success from stopping the construction of the Villains Realm one year ago. While the Overtakers have been delayed, they are far from finished in their quest. and Eli’s group learns there is a serious problem in Disney Parks. The villains, or conflict characters, are all missing. It’s as if they have all disappeared. With the characters gone, the parks are closed and soon the life and light that inhabits these special places starts to fade. With the support of his father Finn Whitman, the leader of the Kingdom Keepers and a respected Disney employee, Eli and his band of Kingdom Kids once again take on the villains to save the magic.

Stopping Maleficent was important but now Eli learns that the success of Disney Parks is reliant on heroes and villains, those in conflict and those who are just. With the worldwide disappearance of the conflict characters the parks are forced to close. After only a couple of weeks, Eli and his fellow Kingdom Kids see how run down and abandoned the attractions and parks look. The longer they take to find and return the conflict characters the more damage the places of magic will incur.

Through magical portals, fairy travel with Fairy God Mother, and a fantastical trip to Neverland, Eli and his merry band of heroes will have help from a multitude of Disney characters who want to restore order and balance to the parks. To do this, Eli will face off against a deadly foe. Ursula, who can appear in the human form of Vanessa, is a particularly dangerous adversary. Ursula/Vanessa is a force to recon with both on land and sea, and the only question is, can Eli Whitman outsmart a magical sea witch?

The Kingdom Keepers books have brought me steady joy for the last fifteen years, and watching how Pearson has developed and evolved the series has kept the story fresh and exciting for almost two decades. The fact that author Ridley Pearson has taken such a well-known world that millions have experienced, and been able to put his own blend of magic to the magical world of Disney shows how talented and skillful Pearson is as a wizard of words.

Kingdom Keepers Inheritance-The Final Draw allows the readers the chance to see the growth of Eli, and how far he has come into his own as a character. Unlike in his first outing, Eli is confident and strong, and while much of what he experiences seems real and fantastical, it’s the support that he gets from his dad Finn that allows this young boy to grow into his abilities. The fact that the story is set in the future enables Pearson to craft a story that is familiar but gives the author the ability to be creative and take liberties that would prevent him in a modern setting. Pearson’s love of Disney Parks enables fans to see the worlds they love and imagine the possibilities of what to come. No Disney fan should be surprised to see “it’s a small world" is still going strong in the future. I wish I could say the same for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

The story is magical, the setting is personal to everyone who has ever entered the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disneyland, or Hollywood Studios, and the fantasy is what carries the narrative forward.

Eli Whitman is the dream that all kids have when they first walk down Main Street USA. He is the epitome of innocence and wonder, and his ability to grow up and take on a new role is what makes the story believable, even though we have supporting characters like Rafiki, Fairy God Mother, and Tinkerbell making an appearance in the story.

Beyond the battle with the Overtakers, I particularly enjoyed how Ridley Pearson has used Kingdom Keepers Inheritance – The Final Draw as an opportunity to remind readers that stories require villains. Great stories always have a hero and a villain, and for the Disney Parks, they need Captain Hook as much as they need Peter Pan. There is as much if not more magic in encountering Darth Vader and Kylo Ren in Galaxy’s Edge as there is to meeting Rey and C3-PO.

Pearson eloquently illustrates the value of these characters by showing the decay of the parks was quite ingenious. It is easy to forget how crucial a villain is to make a story noteworthy, and we often forget that without the conflict character there is no conflict, thus no story.

Kingdom Keepers Inheritance-The Final Draw is meant to be the last entry into the series from Pearson, and while he has wrapped up the saga with precision and skill there is ample room for more stories in this world, should another writer be willing to jump in. My only question is, why have these books not been adapted for Disney+? These would be a brilliant live action addition, or an even better animated series for the Disney streaming service.

No matter what happens to the books, Ridley Pearson has created his own brand of Disney magic through his tales of the Kingdom Keepers, and Kingdom Keepers Inheritance-The Final Draw is a fitting ending to this magic carpet ride of adventure.