No one, since original author L. Frank Baum, has taken the
stories of wonderful land known as "Oz" and transformed them
into an equally enchanting visit the way that author Gregory
Maguire has with his "The Wicked Years" series.
The first book, "Wicked," was adapted into a long-running,
Tony-winning Broadway musical and the next two books, "Son
Of A Witch," and "A Lion Among Men," both bestsellers,
advanced the story of the magical land of witches, wizards
and Munchkins.
But like with all good things, there comes a time for an
ending.
"Out of Oz" is the final book in the series, and in it we
meet little Rain, born as green as her grandmother Elphaba
aka "The Wicked Witch of the West." For her own protection,
she's been growing up in ignorance of her parentage and with
her skin under a disguise spell, serving as a member of
Glinda's household staff. Calling her an odd child is an
understatement, and one has to be really different in Oz to
qualify as "odd."
Liir, Elphaba's son and Rain's father, and Brrr, the
Cowardly Lion, play key roles in this book, and Dorothy
returns - this time deposited in Oz by the San Francisco
earthquake and finally facing trial in Munchkinland for the
murder of the Wicked Witch of the East.
Most of the story revolves around an impending war between
Oz and Munchkinland, and the ancient magical spell book, the
Grimmerie, which is passed about like a hot potato to keep
it from falling into the wrong hands. There is a lot of
action in this novel, and frankly, if you haven't read the
first three books in Maguire's "Oz" series, you'll be pretty
lost. (But it gives you a wonderful excuse to go out and get
the first three books!) Maguire weaves his plot lines in and
out with each other, but, finally converges them all to tie
up the entire series with a nice green bow.
The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy. Amid all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war.
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