Out of Oz audiobook

Out of Oz (The Wicked Years #4), Gregory Maguire, Douglas Smith (Illustrator)Out of Oz is the fourth and final novel in Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years and was released on November 1, 2011. Many years after Dorothy's departure, Oz has fallen into war. The Emerald City is now under the rule of Shell Thropp, the younger brother of Elphaba, while Munchkinland has seceded from the rest of Oz's union and the strife continues as Oz falls into a drought and Munchkinland has the only large body of water.Loyal Oz, preparing to attack Munchkinland with dragons. Munchkinland is also preparing to attack Loyal Oz, and is desperately seeking the Grimmerie, a large tome of spells capable of catastrophic results. ...تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز پانزدهم ماه فوریه سال 2018میلادیعنوان: بیرون از اُوز: کتاب چهارم از سری سالهای شریر؛ نویسنده: گریگوری (گرگوری) مگوایر؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21معنوان 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 ی «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 شمال) 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 هماره 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 «دروتی»، 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 «دروتی» و دوستانش، و شنیدن شایعات آنها درباره ی او استسالها پس از عزیمت «دروتی»، «اوز» دوباره به جنگ بازگشته است و شهر «زمرد» اکنون تحت حاکمیت «شل تروپ»، برادر کوچکتر «الفابا» قرار دارد، در حالی که «مونچکین لند» از اتحادیه «اوز» جدا شده است...؛تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Wicked is one of my favorite books of all time. Not only is Gregory Maguire's writing one of the great joys of modern literature, but the expertise with which he created Oz within the boundaries put out by L. Frank Baum before him was enchanting. However, when he decided to write Son of a Witch a decade later and then A Lion Among Men, some of the magic was lost. Maguire's writing was still top-notch and kept me enthralled throughout reading those novels, but I couldn't help noticing it seemed as though he wasn't entirely sure where to take his story after killing off the Wicked Witch of the West. The groundwork of where he wanted to take his story was there, but they, in my opinion, didn't really come to fruition due to - possibly - the short length of those two novels.Out of Oz is a monster. Clocking in at 563 pages, it's even longer than Wicked and tackles concepts much more grand. Oz is in complete disarray, with Munchkinland at war with the Emerald City, Glinda is under house arrest, Dorothy has returned and is being charged with the murders of both Wicked Witches, etc. To say the least, the land of Oz is not the one to which you were introduced in the 1939 film.To be frank, the first two hundred (or even three hundred?) pages of this novel are long and tedious. Even painfully so. Without giving too much away, it involves a lot of walking through landscapes and visiting different places of Oz that have little importance except for the fact that certain characters are hiding out from the persecution of the army. If you've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I think you have a sense of what I'm talking about. However, as tedious as they may be, these scenes seem to offer a final farewell to places throughout the Oz landscape that have been visited in previous novels in the series, so they were for the most part forgivable. It's just the getting through it that's hard. Once you pass those sections, however, it becomes much easier to appreciate the work as a whole. Maguire finally shows his vast talent at winding different, convoluted plotlines around each other, with twists that are both completely unexpected but make perfect sense. The characters introduced throughout this series that never really had a chance to be developed properly (Brr, Glinda, Candle, Nor, Trism, and of course, Rain and Liir) are all illustrated in this novel with great skill and care, making each character interesting. Needless to say, Out of Oz is the best Maguire novel since Wicked. In equal parts heartbreaking, funny, melancholic, and rewarding, it gave the series a conclusion that is fully deserved and left just enough unanswered questions to keep the reader guessing at to what truly happened within its pages. Elphaba would be proud.

The only thing I have against Out of Oz is that it's not Wicked.Elphaba kicked ass. She was such an amazing character, the kind of female character we almost never see in fiction, and in fantasy fiction even more rarely. She was an uncompromising, sharp-tongued, idealistic, ugly, morally flawed, brilliant, shy, political, complicated character. Maguire's other Oz books have been good, even excellent, but how could they live up to Elphaba? So it is with Out of Oz. Maguire competently and beautifully wraps up the main storylines into a pretty bow; he presents us with complicated, interesting characters facing complicated, difficult situations. It's just not Wicked.But to pan Out of Oz by this comparison would be unjust. Compare it to the general run of fantasy literature and it comes out looking very well indeed: look, most of them still have knights or soldiers on noble quests to rescue maidens from dragons/monsters/dungeons and rightfully assume the crown of the novel's generic Middle Earth knock-off. Alternatively, it may be a lowly servant, stableboy or schoolboy who learns he is the Chosen One and who, through cunning use of his wits, rescues the maiden from the dragon/dungeon/monster and rightfully assumes the crown of the novel's generic Middle Earth knock-off. Any female characters run the same range: the saucy barmaid, the frizzy-haired cackling witch, the dark-haired evil sorceress, the hapless and possibly obnoxious princess, etc.Compared to Raymond Feist, David Eddings, Piers Anthony, et al, Out of Oz is a work of genius. There are fully-realized, well-rounded, complicated female characters, good and bad parents, characters whose motivations and intentions you are never quite sure of, a very unusual and original romance (for fantasy--Yann Martel broke that ground in Self, so far as I know), an intriguing and well-paced plot ... just no Elphaba.

** spoiler alert ** "Out of Oz" is Maguire's fourth and final installment of the Wicked Years Series. Of course, I was thrilled to be sent a copy of this book to review on behalf of HarperCollins publishers, as I've been closely following these books over the past decade or so. Before reviewing the actual book, I'd like to give a brief synopsis of my thoughts on the first three books."Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West". This is by-and-large one of my most favorite books ever written. In my humble opinion, it's as near to perfection status as any novel can attain. This magnificent story sweeps a plethora of topics (philosophy, romance, infidelity, revenge, friendship, betrayal, racism (speciesism?), xenophobia, terrorism, love, courage, wisdom, etc, etc.) into an unforgettable saga that keeps the reader thinking long after the last page has been read. The discussion on the nature of evil could be pulled out the novel and published separately it is so thought-provoking. With that, I had high expectations for the following books."Son of a Witch". Unfortunately, not as captivating, witty or philosophical as "Wicked" but it was a great story, with a doozy of an ending that left you wanting more."A Lion Among Men". Frankly, I found this one a bit boring. Probably because it focused so much on Brr (the Lion) and didn't have Maguire's trademark multiple threads weaving their way throughout the novel. It was readable, just not as engrossing. While it gave a good backstory and filled in the gaps of Brr's activities after Elphaba dies in the first novel, a reader could take-it-or-leave-it without significant knowledge gaps coming into the final book.And now, "Out of Oz". Great story! Not as amazing as "Wicked" but a realistic synthesis of events and their ultimate conclusion. The war between the Emerald City and Munchkinland finally comes to a head. Rain, Liir and Candle's daughter (Elphaba's granddaughter), makes her initial appearance as a young servant in Glinda's household before Glinda's P.O.W. status forces Rain to flee. After finding her parents, she is sent to a boarding school in order to get an education, but mostly to hide her from the eyes of both the Munchkinlanders and the new Emperor, Shell (Elphaba's brother and Rain's great-uncle) who has fashioned himself a deity. Dorothy makes her way back to Oz, only to face trial for the "murders" of sisters Nessarose and Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witches of the East and West. Events culminate with Rain and Dorothy confronting Shell, nearly destroying the Emerald City and rediscovering the long-lost Goddess of Oz, Ozma. Of course, this is a uber simplification of an over 550 page novel. Along the way, Liir, Candle, Brr, Nor, Granny, the Tick Tock Clock, General Cherrystone, Iskinaary and Toto all make their reappearances, too. Parts of the story proceeded at a much slower pace than I would have liked, but on the whole the story flowed effortlessly between storylines and moved quicker as the climax approached. The end wasn't really an end, but then, life rarely has cookie-cutter endings.

I have just finished reading the final volume of the Wicked series and have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the finale of the saga. Mr Maguire really out did himself with the last installment by writing rich narratives, fascinating chareacters and even nodding towards updates of characters from the previous three volumes. War has transcended on Oz and everyone is torn between the two camps which lives are lost and destruction is rife. Rain, Glinda, Liir, Candle, Brr (The Cowardly Lion) and Dorothy must figure out their destination and sort out their roles to play in the scheme of things. The descriptions of all the characters are richly written though at times, it does sometimes feel to be overwritten but this is more down to Maquire's style than anything. The author's ability to interweve the mythos of Oz from Braum and spin it on its head while remaining true to the origins is admirable feat which is done extremely well. It should be warned that this is not a stand alone book and each of the volumes should be read in order. Wicked is brilliant, Son of the Witch suffers from (in my opinion) not a very likeable character and the emptiness of it but does serve a purpose in the series. Lion Amongst Men another interesting book that is another lead to book. It is also important to note that whilst reading Out of Oz, Lion Amongst Men and Son of the Witch become more clear and more important to the saga.The ending of the book is satisfying but as in life, there are no easy solutions and not everything is tied up with a fancy bow. Overall, this is a fantastic end to a truly wonderful saga of Oz. Highly recommended.

I have no words for how gorgeous this book is. Every word this man writes is perfect. You can't even quote him because you'd just end up reading the whole thing. It's the kind of prose you have to read out loud because it just sounds so GORGEOUS. Several times I squealed with happiness or shock, cheered loudly enough to embarrass myself in public, or had to put the book down until I stopped giggling. I cried twice. This is one of those few novels where there's no real "bad guys," just very human people (even when they're not human) making very real mistakes, but in a very magical setting.Really, honestly, I am so sad to see the end of this series. But if you HAVEN'T read it yet, you need to get on that. Like, yesterday.

Out of Oz is the last book in the Wicked series on which the incredibly successful musical was based. I began it with a strange mixture of excitement and reluctance, for a few reasons. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was absolutely mind-blowing, as was the sequel, Son of a Witch. They were the kind of books you read, thinking 'this is OK I guess' and then by the time you turn the final page you think 'that was the best thing I ever read.' The way that Maguire so cleverly worked with L. Frank Baum's tale of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was intensely satisfying, putting such a realistic and adult spin on an incredibly light-hearted and fanciful tale. The life of Elphaba and in the following book, Liir, was extremely captivating, especially when viewed in contrast to what we thought we knew about them from Baum's works.Book three, A Lion Among Men was not so successful for me. I felt the series started to lose it's way here and any kind of point to it all became extremely vague. Not to mention that the Lion, Sir Brrr, which the book follows is incredibly boring and un-noteworthy. The best part of Son of a Witch was the legacy of Elphaba and this was kind of side boarded. So while I really enjoyed the overall story and Maguire's unique writing style, I was a little worried Out of Oz would be further a let down a trip into further obscurity.To start with I want to talk about Maguire's writing style, which is by far the most outstanding thing about these books, and in fact most of his others. Even though he writes fantasy, Maguire does away with any and all notions of theatrics or romanticism, instead simply delivering the cold hard reality. In fiction and even non-fiction this is extremely rare. There are no miracles, no bizarre twists of fate, no demonstrations of incredible talent or power, no emotional reunions, no loves so deep you cannot swim to the bottom and in fact very little use of any kind of archetypal character. The characters make stupid decisions sometimes, they fail, they piss and they die without a fanfare of emotions and dramatic writing. It is really the closest writing to true reality that I have come across.This has its pros and cons. It is immensely gratifying to read something so raw and true which is also incredibly subtle and gives a huge amount of credit to the intelligence of the reader. But then again, sometimes, especially when reading fantasy, we all want a bit of drama and a bit of magic! Key moments that were walked through as if they were any other were sometimes a little dissatisfying ... but in this book I don't think I would have had it any other way.At times I found the story itself a little winding and laborious, but in hindsight it is easy to see how even the more dull parts are included for their authenticity, to bring back down to Earth the fanciful romantics of previous tales of Oz. This book after all dwarfs all of its predecessors. The best thing about Out of Oz was the enormity of the history and the legacy. For most of the time we follow Elphaba's son Liir, his wife Candle and their daughter, Elphaba's granddaughter, Rain - who was also born green. Coupled with the omnipresent tension of Elphaba's mysterious death/disappearance and the family's struggle to reconcile with their place in history and to continue Elphaba's legacy (or not), this gave an incredible depth the the world and characters that transcended any previous Oz literature and most other fantasies I have read. I think this was helped along by my incredible love of the Broadway musical and my attachment to Elphaba both in the musical and in the story. This is where Out of Oz succeeded for me where A Lion Among Men did not. Her life was really such a non-event and a tragedy from beginning to end, yet the repercussions of her actions and her life left a mark like none other. It's incredibly beautiful and touching.I loved how this book worked through the events of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' sequel, Return to Oz and featured Mombey and the return of Dorothy Gale. Rain was a real highlight for me. As a child with an incredible legacy and potential to change the events of Oz, she is presented as any other without any remarkable qualities or traits - incredibly refreshing after all the child prodigies out there these days. She struggles to grasp the enormity of the world and events unfolding around her and things such as her unenthusiastic yet realistic reunion with her family were appreciated when another author may have made it all about hugs and tears and the formation of an instant bond. None of this codswallop for Maguire thank you very much.The relationship of Rain and Tip was handled exquisitely, especially at the end when events take a bizarre turn. It's no story book romance where they instantly fall in love and cannot be parted. It's a gradual and unproclaimed love of fresh adults, which is told almost obliquely and beautiful to experience. It is during this period where we finally see Rain start to become a young adult and begin to interact with the world around her too.The ending is a little unresolved but could we really expect anything else? It's not as if Elphaba was going to suddenly reappear, or Rain was going to make some final flight over the Emerald City on her grandmother's broom - that would be far too romantic. The final pages however were a little too obscure for me and I did question some of the final moments and decisions of the author.For anyone that is frustrated by the blase nature of this narrative, I would suggest that you are putting expectations on it that don't belong there. Don't start reading Maguire thinking it's going to be a happy endings fantasy story like any other. I feel that when you start to appreciate the honesty the story gives and the overwhelming faith it has in its readers, you will appreciate the beauty in it.

An avid fan of the first book of The Wicked Years series, Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, I had pressed through the second and third installments with a mix of pleasure and tedium. Son of a Witch was intriguing if a little slow and A Lion Among Men was slow and a little intriguing. This book, the conclusion of the series explores the unfolding war between Loyal Oz (primarily the Emerald City) and the outlying provinces (primarily Munchkinland). At its heart is Rain, a little-girl-lost who's unsure of her past, uninterested in her present and blissfully ignorant of her future.The story is captivating and, for fear of giving away crucial plot points, I will simply say it is a must for anyone who has already completed its triplet siblings. I can say that you, fairly quickly, discover who Rain is and what significane she holds to the future of Oz. And her family, blood and makeshift, are critical to her safety and growth. Old friends return: Brr (the Cowardly Lion); Glinda; Liir; and Dorothy (who Maguire has crafted into a perfect literary embodiment of the character as played famously by Judy Garland). Along the way there are moments that fans of the series, the original Baum books and the Broadway musical will appreciate... Maguire's wink to those who are "in the know". Are there problems? Minor, maybe. It depends on what you want to get out of the story. Maguire is notorious for leaving some details to the reader to infer. I think it is a boon to have the chance to interpret certain outcomes on my own. The world in which the story is set is a magical one after all and what better way to impress that illusion upon us than to let us draft some conclusions on our own.

This is a review of the whole series.Always a fan of all things Oz, this series was perfect for me. This is the classic children’s story, rewritten and re-imagined for adults. This is the story of what probably really happened in OZ. This story has been around long enough for most people to know something about it, especially with the popularity of the musical Wicked, but unless you’ve read all the books, you don’t know the whole story. I read book one a long time ago and have read the other books over time, just recently finishing with Out of OZ.In the first book, we get to see who the “Wicked Witch”, Elphaba, really is. We follow her life from birth to death, with Dorothy showing up on the scene right at the end. This is actually a story of friendship and political unrest. Racism, discrimination, bullying, classism, sexual deviancy, social immorality, and so much more shadows Ephaba in her journey to find a place where she belongs, as she struggles to make a difference. Elphaba, with all her oddities, her green skin, and even her allergy to water is a likable person when you get to know her. As nice as she is capable of being, she does have a mean streak, and like all the other characters in this book, she follows no set moral compass. She decides for herself what is right and wrong. In the second book, political unrest turns to war. Elphaba’s estranged son, Liir, a technically bi-racial bastard (I really dislike that word) is left to figure out his path all on his own, while trying to understand his powers. All the noticeable characters from the children’s book are here, but they are nothing like what you’d expect them to be. The first book was an eye opener, but the second book is a shocker filled with innumerous taboos that only increase as the series continues.In the third book, the “Cowardly Lion”, Brrr returns to clean house and clarify a few things. He’s there all along with a brief appearance as a cub and then again near the end of the first book, in the second book getting to know Liir, and lastly in the third book proving time and again that he may not be a friend worth having. As in the first two books, the search for the Grimmeri is still on, but now more and more magic is coming into play. In the fourth and final book, Rain, Liir’s daughter and Ephaba’s, would be, green granddaughter shakes up the lives of all her estranged kin, brings them together, and asserts her independence as she brings the turmoil of war and unrest in Oz to an end. Of course, it isn’t as simple as it sounds. We get to follow Rain from her early childhood to her premature young adulthood. She spends her life constantly on the move and has no sense of self right until the very end. All the major characters of this series come back for final standoff between The Emerald City and Munchkinland, even Dorothy. I found the ultimate ending to be lacking, but in the scheme of things, it’s what I expected. I can’t deny that I really enjoyed this series. There were some parts liked more than others and some parts I didn’t care for at all, but when combined, the whole story is worth experiencing. I am no fan of vulgarity, which is a good thing this story isn’t vulgar, but it is intense, shocking, taboo, and more. If you are easily offended, this is not the series for you. In a world of absolute chaos and fantasy, I look at the Wicked Years as a realist approach to the Land of Oz This is just as magical as the children’s story, but darkened by the notation of reality. Fairies and princess sound nice, but what are they in “reality”? This is a difficult review for me to write only because I’m at a loss for words. This is such an amazing story.

As much as I love Maguire's Oz series, I highly recommend that you read all of them in order. Otherwise this book will make very little sense to you. It also helps if you are familiar with the original books by L. Frank Baum. Although, being familiar with the Oz books made one of the big surprises at the end of the book not a surprise for me because I knew what was going to happen.Basically, EC (Emerald City) led by Shell Thropp, the younger brother of Elphaba and Nessarose is at war with Munchkinland. Mombey is leading the Munchlanders with General Jinjuria (these characters are from the books) while Glinda has retired to play lady of the manor. When General Cherrystone takes over her house, she has to take drastic action - much of which involves Rain, the daughter of Liir, the son of a witch. Eventually we meet all our old friends - Brr, the Cowardly Lion, his wife, Nor,and the Clock of the Time Dragon. Dorothy herself even drops in. At school, Rain meets a new friend in the person of Tip, a young man on the run from Mombey.All of these lives intersect with each other in amazing ways. We are reminded of what happened and given speculation that maybe we don't really know what happened. Our characters are wrapped up at the end, although I had hoped for a more definitive ending. Maguire has done his research very thoroughly and even throws in a few sly references to other interpretations of Oz (songs and all). If you've followed the series this far, you will want to read the last book of the Oz years to see how it all comes out. It's a wonderful journey down the roads of Oz - regular roads and yellow brick roads.

Although it's too long and too full of ideas, the final novel of The Wicked Years is Maguire's best book since Wicked. It's full of magic again, chock full of characters we've met before and a handful of new ones. Plotlines are mostly resolved and Oz is left in relatively good shape. But I also can't believe the book to be truly great, I'm afraid. There's a longing for an epic scope here but a focus that is distinctly parochial and they never quite mesh, so the ending (as terrific a resolution as it might be) feels a bit rushed. I'm happy to see the series over and ended on such a beautiful note - but I'll always believe the thing to be ultimately a failure to achieve the full potential.Quite a bit more discussion about this at Raging Biblioholism: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-p3

Love the concept of the series- seeing it through the eyes of the people who are supposed to be the bad guys, but the are just misunderstood. The third book was long and drawn out and I wasn't going to read "Out of Oz" but amazon put the kindle version out for 1.99 so decided to read it and glad I did. The only thing I don't like about Maguire's writing is he uses a lot of obscure words to describe things - almost like the author is saying "I'm using big words to show you how smart I am" I had to check my kindle dictionary several times for meanings which made the book less enjoyable to read. I wish the ending was different, but I had to remind myself this is a Maguire fairy tale - no happily ever after.

ASFKFGMDKGMLKAMLDAASFSDFGSHGFMDHK -- That's what I think about it.For me it was a rollercoaster of mixed and strong feelings, the urge for clarification and the thrilling moments when I realised that there were only X pages left and I still wanted so many things to happen. I even succeeded in disliking a character less (like I really disliked that one from the start).So yes, the Wicked years are surely a serie I recommend and if anyone could be the author of my life I wish it would be Gregory Maguire. Thank you.

This is the perfect finish to his Oz series. The ending was sad, but I believe perfect. I also love that he didn’t end with Rain ending up with this extravagant happy ending. It befits her more to end in a rogue “I’m going to take on the rest of the world” way.

SOMETHING FINALLY HAPPENED!Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men suffered from lagging plots -- too much backstory, too much ground covered again from a different POV, but NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENING! Finally, the conclusion picked up some steam and moved the story along.The book opens with Dorothy, now 16 and considered unmarriageable because she can't stop talking about Oz, taking a trip to San Francisco with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. Getting caught in an elevator during the 1906 earthquake somehow sends her back to Oz, where she's eventually tried for her crimes. In the meantime, Glinda finds herself under house arrest as the Army of Oz commandeer her house due to its proximity to a crucial lake. She's forced to dismiss most of her staff, but keeps a few key people, including a strange little girl named Rain. Soon the Clock of the Time Dragon shows up, along with Brrr, Nor, and the dwarf known as Mr. Boss. The Grimmerie makes a reappearance, a family is eventually reunited, and some of Baum's original characters from The Marvelous Land of Oz (Mombi, Tip, and General Jinjur) show up, but with Maguire's spin on their stories. It's all very entertaining and ACTIVE! There's lots of traipsing around Oz, military intrigue, family drama, and even some romance. This last book had many cultural references -- to the original Oz series, to the musical Wicked, to American culture in the time Baum was writing -- and a sly sense of humor. I wasn't crazy about the final conclusion, which leaves as many ends loose as tied, but overall, it's been a fun series that dragged in the middle.

I totally missed that this book had come out, and then was delighted that it existed because I left "A Lion Among Men" pretty unsatisfied in thinking it was the final chapter - so this was nice to see that it wasn't. I'm going to re-read these with my son - but part of me wonders if you needed that third instalment now... This book is a real accomplishment and acts as a lovely and brilliant conclusion to the series. It makes good on all that's come before and sets an eye to the future of these characters without wrapping things up TOO nicely (which I'll admit was a little frustrating, though I respect the choice). Maguire has left enough clues for us to come to our own conclusions about the very few dangling threads... By chance I was reading this at the same time as I was reading 'The Marvellous Land of Oz" to my daughter and was shocked and delighted to realize that, in many ways, this is the retelling of that story in the way that Wicked was a retelling of Baum's original.If you're a fan of the others than this final instalment is a must-read. I can't say I'd recommend reading this book without having read the others, but it does do a good job of filling in the blanks... it's a tribute not only to the other books in this series, but also Baum's work and the stage musical itself. It's full of lots of winks and nudges for Oz nerds everywhere. I loved it.

Did I skim read this in order to finish it in 2018. Yup. Do I wish I'd started it earlier and just taken my time.. YUP.I truly enjoy Maguire's writing. I don't know what it is about it but I just get sucked in. Yes, it can be confusing and complex. Yes, it often feels like characters are on endless ambles around Oz with barely any action... but something about that just appeals to me. Maybe it's because it's Oz, I don't know. I'll find out when I pick up one of his non-oz works. I really enjoyed reading the Wicked Years books and I felt they all added to the original Wicked story without feeling like they were trying to cling to something that was dead and gone. I think any more than the four books we have would have been too much, mind you. But I love the way this book wraps up all the previous ones. It made it feel like a series again, having characters from previous books and events etc referenced or appear. Maybe it's because I don't read High Fantasy (or any fantasy, really) that I enjoy this as it seems to be the well read fantasy lovers that dislike this, or maybe I'm just bias and just really wanted to like this since Maguire is the reason the (albeit very adapted) musical exists but it is what it is.