A Guided Walk Through the Sparkle Valley Series
- May 3
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
What happens to the worlds we build as children when we grow up?
Do they disappear — or wait for us in silence?
If you’re new to Sparkle Valley, here is how I think about it:
So I just talked about what Sparkle Valley is really about, and now I want to dig into the actual books a little bit more.
First of all, Sparkle Valley is a fantasy trilogy (with a prequel to come). And as I already said, it takes the question seriously - what happens to the worlds we build as children when we grow up? Do they disappear like most people think they do, or do they just wait for us there in silence?
It's such a fascinating question isn't it? Because you see it around you, you see people, artists maybe, or friends, or people in your family, or yourself if you're lucky, who managed to keep that childlike imagination and wonder. And they have something about them, an aura, an innocence. They recognize the beauty in the world, and they make the world a place that comes alive. We gravitate toward these people.
Anyway, let's talk about Book 1. This book is called simply Sparkle Valley, and it starts with, you guessed it, Abigail. Brave, loyal Abigail. She's been left behind by Emily, in her magic garden, and she gets swept away by a river. She lands in Sparkle Valley—a surreal dreamworld that's made up of broken toys, and caves, snow peaked mountains, jungles, musical tortoises, anything you can imagine— literally. Well, Abigail arrives there and her mission is simple: she has to find her friend, Ivana, and bring her home.
And here I need to touch again on what's going on below the surface. Because remember, Sparkle Valley is more than just a backdrop, it's the physical expression of Emily. Emily, the girl who once loved Abigail, and called her, her sister. But now Emily is drifting into this world of phones and screens and forgetting how to play. So as Abigail searches for her friend in Sparkle Valley, we start to get the idea that the story isn't just about some kind of rescue.
It's about survival, literally the survival of memory, belief, and most importantly of the love that Abigail feels for her sister.
So that’s Book 1. Let's move to Book 2, which is called Sparkle Valley: The Rise of the Troll. These books are chronological, so Emily is older now and Sparkle Valley is literally unraveling, kind of like her. The Smortzle, a tyrannical troll, has taken over and he's running everything, ruling by fear. The toys are all working for him – building these ridiculous blue statues of him. The world is totally fractured now and strange. But Abigail, of course, returns, because she continues to fight for Emily.
She faces a different Sparkle Valley where her former enemies are now her allies and some of her friends have changed. It's confusing and ambiguous. Memory itself has become unreliable. Is Ivana behind the valley's fall, or is she trying to save it?
There is a lot of emotional complexity in this book, which matches the raging emotions running through Emily. Remember each of these characters represent a part of her. Speaking of, a new character pops up—who you will love—a puppet by the name of Frank Needlenose. He arrives like a fever dream. He's a puppet, but he's also a poet and he's totally unpredictable. In this Book 2, the world becomes less defined, less about good and evil, and much more about the slow erosion of belief. This is a darker chapter, more allegorical. Again, it’s Emily.
Book 3 is called Sparkle Valley: Abigail's Quest, and it is deeply moving. By the time the story begins Abigail has been packed away in a closet. Emily has all but forgotten her, and she's overwhelmed by grief. (Spoiler alert - stop reading here if you don't want to know the ending.) The Inzo's, who I told you about, those terrible shadows of fear, they've returned. And the Powder of Life, Abigail's last chance to become real, has been stolen.
But all this isn't really the point anymore.
This final book is about sacrifice. It's about Abigail’s ultimate sacrifice. It's about her giving up what she wants more than anything in the world —to become real— so that Emily can grow up without losing wonder.
This final book is Abigail's final journey, and it becomes a reckoning, a reckoning with memory, mortality, and love. Ultimately, Abigail succeeds not by becoming real, but by choosing not to. It’s a quiet heroism of letting go.
Before I sign off on this, I want to tell you just a little bit more about why I think Sparkle Valley matters. Sparkle Valley isn't afraid of sadness. It doesn’t flinch at emotion. Because with joy, with true joy, there has to be sadness.
These books, they're built on feeling. It's never about rules in Sparkle Valley. The logic, whatever there is, is dream logic. The geography? The river that flows the wrong way? The butterflies that carry an elephant? The frog who thinks he's a prince? That's all emotional.
And it’s precisely these emotions that bring us to an ending that is luminous. We're left with something indescribable, not closure exactly, but possibility (the Blue Flower). Because what Abigail has done through her brave fight and ultimate sacrifice is take us on a trip through the strange beauty of growing up,
And in so doing, this little doll—who was animated through love—has given us a map for how to navigate change and loss, and given us hope that maybe just maybe, imagination will continue.
Continue Exploring
If you want to understand the characters driving the story
→ Emily
→ Abigail
→ Ivana
If you're interested in the symbolic world underneath the story
→ The Blue Flower — the inner spark of wonder
→ Inzos — fear with a memory
→ The Beast — the force that counterfeits meaning
→ Thin Places — where wonder breaks through
If you want the bigger philosophical framework
Field Guide Notes (Quick Reference)
Series arc: A fantasy about imagination, growing up, memory, and what survives change.
Book One — Sparkle Valley: Quest, wonder, loyalty, the defense of belief.
Book Two — Sparkle Valley and the Rise of the Troll: Fracture, ambiguity, fear, the erosion of belief.
Book Three — Sparkle Valley and Abigail’s Quest: Sacrifice, grace, memory, and love carried through loss.
Underlying conflict: Imagination versus fear; meaning versus disenchantment.
Recurring symbols: The Blue Flower, Inzos, the Beast, Powder of Life, Thin Places.
Central question: What, if anything, do we really have to leave behind when we grow up?
World logic: Dream logic — emotional rather than mechanical reality.
