A Lion Among Men audiobook

A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, #3), Gregory MaguireThe Wicked Years is a series of novels by Gregory Maguire that present a revisionist take on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its 1939 film adaptation, and related books. A Lion Among Men is the third novel in Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years.The story opens with an impending battle between the Munchkinlanders and the Emerald City (EC) troops. In the middle of the warzone is the Mauntery which has been a haven for Elphaba, Yackle, Liir, and Candle. Yackle still lives despite losing her eyesight, and longs for death. At her request, the Maunts bury her in their crypt alive with only a few candles and some wine. She's eventually forgotten, but not by all. ...تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دهم ماه فوریه سال 2018میلادیعنوان: شیر در میان مردان: کتاب سوم از سری سالهای شرور؛ نویسنده: گریگوری (گرگوری) مگوایر؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21مسالهای شرور، یک سری از رمانهای «گریگوری مگوایر»، با برداشتی از جادوگر شگفت انگیز «اوز» هستند، کتاب «شیر در میان مردان» سومین رمان؛ از سری «سالهای شرور» است؛ داستان این کتاب، با نبرد زود هنگام بین «مونچکینلندرها»، و نیروهای «شهر زمرد»، آغاز میشود؛ و ...؛عنوان جلد نخست از سری سالهای شرور: «جادوگر شرور (جادوگر خبیث غرب)»؛ و عنوان جلد دوم «پسر یک جادوگر»، و عنوان جلد سوم «شیر در میان مردان» و ... از همین سری «سالهای شرور» هستند؛جادوگر خبیث غرب، یا «جاوگر منفور غرب» شخصیتی ساختگی، و منفی اصلی، در سری داستانهای «جادوگر شهر اوز»؛ نوشته «ال فرانک باوم» است، این شخصیت همچنین در دیگر کتاب‌های این سری نیز، وجود دارد؛ با اینکه در داستان نخست می‌میرد؛ در داستان، دوم ساحره ی خوب (جادوگرهای جنوب و شما) و دو ساحره بد (جادوگرهای غرب و شرق) وجود دارند؛ شخصیت اصلی داستان «دروتی»، پس از اینکه مدتی به عنوان برده، برای او کار می‌کند، با ریختن یک سطل آب، بر روی او، وی را می‌کشد؛ «جادوگر غرب» از آب همواره وحشت داشته، و آب دشمن وی بوده است؛ یک تفسیر سیاسی، اجتماعی و اخلاقی، درباره ماهیت خیر و شر است، که در سرزمین «اوز»، در سالهای منتهی به ورود «دوروتی»، رخ میدهند؛ داستان در مورد «الفابا»، دختر سبز پوستی است، که به «جادوگر بدنام غرب» نامدار میشود، «مکگوایر» نام «الفابا» را، از حروف نخست «لیمن فرانک باوم (نویسنده ی جادوگر شهر اوز»، «ال.اف.بی») برگزیدند؛ داستان کتاب نخست بر اساس موقعیت، به پنج بخش گوناگون تقسیم شده است؛ در یک پیشگفتار «الفابا» در حال جاسوسی از «دوروتی» و دوستانش، و شنیدن شایعات آنها درباره ی او استتاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

After the rushed feeling of "Son of a Witch", MacGuire redeems himself with this novel... it made me feel as if some wounds were healed for both the reader and the characters.

It has been three long years since we last traveled to OZ. And much has changed.The land, once joined together, is now separated into two parties: those that support the current Wizard of OZ and the Munchkinlanders who long to be free and their own people.It is not the OZ we’ve come to know. It is an OZ on the brink of war and on the cusp of social change. Whether it is change for the better remains to be seen.Heedless of the turmoil of OZ that surrounds him, Brr, The Cowardly Lion, is on a mission. He must find Yackle, Oracle and Seer, and find out why her name was mentioned in the papers of the deceased Miss Morrible. Miss Morrible used to teach Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West.He has other questions too: what really happened to Elphaba? Where is Liir, Elphaba’s son? And, though he is loathe to admit it, The Cowardly Lion has questions about himself too. Does Yackle know where he came from? Was he really freed by Elphaba from a cage?Brr will get the answers he seeks. But first, Yackle wants to know where his life has taken him, what paths have brought him to her. Yackle asks him to tell her of his life before she goes to the life beyond death.Brr concedes, thinking to tell her a few details to please her so that she will answer his questions. But Brr does not count on the power of the past. Once it is glanced at, it cries out to be examined, to be searched for clues, to be experienced all over again.Memories, after all, are a powerful magic all their own…. A Lion Among Men is the third book in Maguire’s Wicked Years series and it’s the best one by far. Where Wicked was good, Son of a Witch was great, A Lion Among Men is amazing!Where Wicked suffered from being too long and Son of a Witch suffered from not having enough to do with the characters we know and love from The Wizard of Oz, A Lion Among Men has us once again following the yellow brick road. And boy what a trip.They say that the third time is a charm and that is certainly the case with Maguire’s A Lion Among Men. He’s clearly found his stride and it’s the best book in the series. What’s lovely about the novel is getting to know The Cowardly Lion from a different perspective. We only briefly glimpsed him in Wicked and Son of a Witch.Now we get to know him intimately. This is his book after all.And, much like Elphaba who had wickedness thrust upon her, I wonder if Brrr The Cowardly Lion is really cowardly after all.A Lion Among Men is a very intimate book. As well as getting to know Brrr, we get to know Yackle and how she came to know the two women who would become the Wicked Witches of Oz. Some of the answers we learn in A Lion Among Men were from questions or mysteries first posed in Wicked, so the book should please fans of the series.But even better than that, A Lion Among men is a wonderful parable and parallel of one lion among men who, though surrounded by people, is incredibly alone.A Lion Among Men is one portrait of a lonely lion haunted by a need to belong. It’s at once funny, charming, harrowing, bleak and incredibly beautiful. If you haven’t read A Lion Among Men yet, do yourself a favour and visit OZ again.We’re not in Kansas anymore.

LOVING this book. Every other page I want to mark a quote. Thought Wicked was intriguing, Son of a Witch, fabulous. This is even better.Maguire is either an Asperger's person or intimately knows someone who is, as he so perfectly describes the journey of a character who grew up with no social interaction abandoned in a forest (King of the Forest?), and slowly learns the art of conversation and dealing with people and relationships through eventual painful life experience. Beautifully and brilliantly done.I have a son with Asperger's...how interesting to view him as a "lion among men," not quite fitting in despite his ability to speak the same language. And how very interesting to view "cowardice" as inaction based on the inability to feel empathy or a connection with others. But this is a smart lion who carries a tin symbol of courage, because he does somehow sense this is something he lacks...and by having the physical medal, he therefore has corrected the problem, right? So literal, so Asperger's.I also love the encounter with Cubbins, the child bear who is in charge of the Northern Bear clan. Whoever is youngest is "in charge" (ain't that the truth in real life! and what a pithy observation about toddlers in general, or the pull between parents and children) because as the bears get older, they forget...particularly poignant for me as my real grandfather's Alzheimer's progresses and we hold circular conversations over and over, stuck in a never ending loop, exactly like a nonsensical verbal exchange in Alice in Wonderland.Did I mention how intellectually satisfying Maguire is?! It seems that every moment I spend with one of his novels is time spent well. I will no doubt owe the stupid library five bucks by the time I'm done with this one._____Some readers of Son of a Witch complained that Liir moped and groused and whined and laid in a figurative and literal coma for pages and pages before taking action, fulfilling his destiny, reaching his potential. I could see them really tearing their hair out over this poor "cowardly" Lion.I happen to really enjoy the intellectual exercise of reading Maguire. He's been called a "wordsmith," but he's an "ideasmith" just as surely. I think he's fascinating.In this 3rd Wicked novel, Maguire further explores perspective. What if the Wicked Witch, seen from a different angle, was really a misperceived freedom fighter, an intellectual hothead radical, and the Wizard an evil suspicious fraud. Now let's reexamine the Lion as a nursing cub ripped from his mother to become subject to laboratory experiments then thrown back into the forest, alone. He has no family, no social system, no language. We easily understand how hard it must be to master language (or the ability to be understood or truly communicate) without all the social context. But, there is so much more that goes with it such as the ability to feel empathy, and create bonds, real relationships. It is this lack of bonds and the resulting persecution from others that leads this Lion to being labeled "cowardly."Some people choose to not enter true relationships with others, fear holds them back. Fortunately our Lion is more like an Asperger's person, who did not choose this condition or his lacking natural reactions. He is capable of learning how to relate, through lots of hard, confusing, real-life experience, giving him one piece of the puzzle at a time. Love the poignant ending. He finally learns how to be a friend, how to truly care about another. Maguire is able to turn well-known children's fantasy upside down as an exercise in perspective and motive because he gives the story a realism that allows us to suspend our disbelief and go along with him on his ride. What an interesting journey -- the dialogue, wry humor, the surprises, and the deep philosophical observations.The Lion is so socially awkward! I can't help but cheer for him as he struggles to connect with his humanity.

Arg! Just finished this last night, and it has the same curse as "Son of a Witch," in that it reveals just so much, but leaves you with so many more questions. I'd really hoped, for the satement of my curiosity, that this would be the last book, in which all is revealed. But, no. Which some day will be magnificent, when we sit down with the many books in this series, a cup of coffee, a warm blanket, and days and days ahead to gorge on this delightful brain candy. For now, I am agonized over the several years it's likely to take before I get another smidgen of insight into what the freak went on in Oz and beyond.I took away a star because it left me hanging, again.The development is a little slow - less action takes place - most in the present is in one building, over one day. But you get a lot of the backstory from the other two books. And are left really wanting to know more. Here's to Gregory Maguire's swift completion of the *next* book in this series.

Like the previous two novels in this series, Maguire presents a familiar character in a totally new, imaginative light, all the while commenting on society. What would happen if a very young, sentient creature was left alone, with no parent, no guardian, no community to guide him through his growing up? How might such a creature pick up language? How would he relate to others? The next time you consider someone thoughtless, abrupt, rude, or even cowardly, think twice - you never know what circumstances brought about their behavior.

Talking animals have always been a fascination for people of all ages. Imagining a lion or even your dog talking would be amazing and everyone has wanted that to happen, to experience that wonder for one second. In A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire, many characters in the book are animals that are able to talk. A Lion Among Men is the third book in the Wicked Years series. The first book in the series, Wicked, is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's perspective. This book is also set in Oz and tells the story of Brrr, the cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz and tells his story and why he was considered the ‘cowardly’ lion. The book is filled with lots of figurative language, like symbolism, and it is written in olden English. The book starts out Yackle, who is just so old and ready to die. Brrr goes in search of information about Elphaba and finds Yackle, all by herself and blind. He tries to find out what happened to Elphaba, but the only way is to tell Yackle about his life. So he agrees. He tells her about being abandoned and alone and his experiences. This book is very captivating and really makes you feel how the characters are feeling, and puts the beloved Cowardly Lion into a new light. It’s a long book, with over 300 words, but if you love fantasy and Wicked this book would interest you.

As the Cowardly Lion was my favorite character from The Wizard of Oz—well, along with Toto, of course—I was especially looking forward to reading this volume in Gregory Maguire’s Wicked series. The first book, Wicked, which became a phenomenon when it was made into a musical, was stunning in its language (both beautifully written English and a fantastical made-up language) and the imagination displayed in taking a well-known story to places that we had never considered.But here we are, learning the story of Brrr, the Cowardly Lion, as part of a bargain he has made in order to pull a story from the memory of another character who, it appears, has lived long enough to tell him what he needs to know.I made several notes as I read this book—beautiful phrases, references to the original book and movie that made me laugh, stories that made me weepy—but nothing can compare to reading this fantasy, this fairy tale, this adventure. It’s a treat.

Re-read this one for the first time in about 10 years, I think. Appreciated it a bit more. Think I rushed through it, initially, and was disappointed that it seemed like a "concept" novel and not so much fantasy as the first two.Yeah, it gets a little wordy here and there, what with the obsession of duty and cowardice (like the previous books' preoccupation with evil and identity) but it's still enjoyable and fills in the story where it needs to.There's resolution with certain storylines, and the beginnings of other ones that need to unravel, so I need to re-read the fourth book now, which, from what I remember, got *really* weird.

A beautiful portrayal of a lost, broken, and powerless soul through a whimsical and hopeful lense. Loved hearing the Cowardly Lions origin story (Brrr is the perfect name for him) and it has a bearing on the rest of the series! We learn more about the Grimmerie and the secrets of Oz! Also love the glass cat! Could have done without the animal sex scenes though, lol. Otherwise loved loved loved it!

Out of the series so far this was the best one and the one I enjoyed the most. I love the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz and he's my favourite character in the film so I think that's probably why I liked this book so much. I found it was alot easier to read than the other two and was easier to get into because of that. Definitely recommend reading the series even just so you can read this one as it's so good

enjoyed this one alot more than the others! looking forward to the ending, but i still find myself so lost in his writing having no idea whats going on and then all of a sudden it clicks!

Continuing the saga of The Wicked Years, A Lion Among Men is the story of Sir Brrr, a.k.a. the Cowardly Lion of Oz, and his quest to find out his own origins. Also tasked by the throne of Oz with acquiring any information he can find about the late Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, he comes to the mauntery known as the Cloister of Saint Glinda to interrogate an ancient oracle known as Yackle on what she might know about the dead witch. In return, Yackle wants some ansers of her own, and in payment for the intelligence which Brrr gains from her, he gives her his own life-story.Abandoned as a small cub, Brrr's memories are at best vague and smeared. His life from toddlerhood in the Great Gillikin Forest, where he had been abandoned or to which he had wandered after being rescued by Elphaba and her lover, Fiyero, from an experiment conducted by the Wizard of Oz, was filled with hardship, disappointment, and terror. Out of repentance for having betrayed the hopes of rescue of a young, dying soldier caught in a Bear-trap, Brrr stumbled through a haunted swamp, was implicated in a massacre of trolls, and fell in love with an emotionally disturbed Leopard princess, which last left him unable ever again to visit her people's part of Oz. Now, in order to avoid a prison sentence -- the oppressive laws against talking Animals are still in force in many parts of Oz -- he has agreed to serve the war-mongering Emperor of Oz, Shell Thropp, younger brother of the late Elphaba.A Lion Among Men describes a battle of wits between Brrr and Yackle made urgent by the approach of the Emerald City's armies. Yackle wants to know the whereabouts of Liir, the son of Elphaba Thropp. Brrr demands Yackle tell him about the prophecies of the Clock of the Time Dragon, and the location of the Grimmerie, the book of Magick that vanished with Elphaba.Brrr's life has been one long parade of cowardice, betrayal, and lethal blunders. Can he take control of his own destiny? Can he even hope to redeem himself? And what of Yackle, the ancient prophetess who, at death's door, has recovered enough to return to the living world to get answers of her own? Who is she, and what is her true purpose in life?In a world gone mad with war-fever, these two survivors contend with each other for knowledge, Brrr, to find some sort of redemption, Yackle, to discover the purpose of her life so that she may fulfill it. A Lion Among Men, like its predecessors, Wicked and Son of a Witch, chronicles the corruption and destruction that has followed in the wake of the late Wizard of Oz, former sovereign of Oz, which have tainted everything he has touched -- and the attempts of those crippled by that taint to seek out hope, forgiveness, and better lives.Gregory Maguire is a superb storyteller. His revisionist, dystopian storybook histories are already considered to be classics, and rightly so. While they will not please purists, especially those who do not want the nakedness of their beloved Oz uncovered, the chronicles of the Wicked Years are among the best novels of a generation.

I have read a lot of Gregory Maguire’s books and some I’ve enjoyed and some have been really terrible. He’s one of those authors that is really hit or miss. Luckily, A Lion Among Men was a hit and one of the first of this series.The first book of Maguire’s that I ever read was Wicked and, while it started out very promising, ended on a more sour note. I had also heard negative reviews about the sequel to Wicked and never ended up reading it. So when I picked this book up, the story of the Cowardly Lion, I did so with a lot of trepidation. It would be the fourth book of his that I read and out of the previous three, I liked one and a half of them.The story of Brr (or the Cowardly Lion as we all know him) was actually everything I was hoping his other retellings would be like. It took a story I knew well and just told me WHY it ended up that way. Brr wasn’t cowardly because he was born that was but more because society and life made him that way. He was taken from him mother at birth and hid in the woods all his life, trying to survive.It wasn’t much better when he was integrated into society. He lived in the world with humans but was always looked upon suspiciously. He was and Animal and therefore he had no rights, no say, no anything because he wasn’t a human being. There was war all around him because of the fight for Animals.When he went and stayed with the Tigers, found someone he liked, possibly even loved, it turns out she might have been using him all along. She didn’t want to rule her people, didn’t want to have to be the one to take her father’s place. And so, by mating with Brr, she made it so that she wouldn’t be able to have children because the two of them were incompatible. He was a lion that took blows like that all of his life until his only option was to do what the state told him. It was ironic that this Animal that had run from everything his entire life, his only option in the end was to not run. He had to meet things head on and get the whole story or he would have no freedom to do anything.The execution of the book was wonderful, just the right pace, which was nice because sometimes Maguire’s pace can drag. I love that he pulled all of Oz’s history and current politics into and added just the right amount of mystery and magic. I recommend this to all who love fairy tales and any who have be doubtful of Maguire’s work in the past; this is easily his best.

The beginning was a little slow but I liked the Lion's story. Yackle is also an interesting character and I admit I was happy to read about her again. They bring the book to a cool end.