What happened in OZ before there was a house blown in from Kansas?
Review
Maguire's imagination is out of this world, he has created an OZ that is on the brink of civil war with the humans and the animals struggling to come to terms with each-other. In the first book Elphaba (the future Wicked Witch of the West) is a young woman and an activist for animal equality, this leads to a lot of trouble for her. The second book follows her son, Liir, as he searches for his half sister, Nor, and also struggles for the "human rights" campaign his mother started. In the third book we follow the cowardly lion as he grows up, this overlaps the time lines of the first two novels and beyond. The final book follows Liir's daughter... I have not read it yet. Maguire is another author whose series get better with each passing book (at least I think so). I enjoyed A Lion Among Men much more than I enjoyed Wicked, though both are really well written. All of the characters are very strongly fleshed out and the setting and descriptors are really well done. The plot is fast passed and the novels are easy to get lost in. I recommend this to anyone who thinks they might enjoy them.
7/10
I have not read Out of Oz yet but assume it will be good also
Memorable quotes:
"People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us... It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of." - Book 1
"Where I'm from, we believe in all sorts of things that aren't true... we call it history." - Book 1
"Remember this: Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny." - Book 1
"Happy endings are still endings." - Book 2
"Not everyone is born a witch or a saint. Not everyone is born talented, or crooked, or blessed; some are born definite in no particular at all. We are a fountain of shimmering contradictions, most of us. Beautiful in the concept, if we're lucky, but frequently tedious or regrettable as we flesh ourselves out." - Book 2
"A male usually had made up his mind before you began to talk to him -so why bother?- but a female, because her mind was more supple, was always prepared to become more disappointed in you than she had yet suspected possible." - Book 3
"He knew about being alone. The weather was always cold there." - Book 3
If you enjoyed these read:
Gregory Maguire's other works
The original Oz Series - L Frank Baum
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