The Brides of Maracoor audiobook

**UPDATE ON OCTOBER 13 – THERE IS A MAP! Haha!**If you liked THE WICKED YEARS series by Gregory Maguire, you will enjoy this new book that picks up where OUT OF OZ left off. Thank Lurline we’re back in this world! Or should I be thanking Mara? 🤔The book shines best at world building - the culture is fascinating! I loved reading about the customs, architecture, religion, temples and more. Maguire does a fantastic job at placing you right there in the world with his characters. I can still smell the sea salted air, and with a brisk breeze, inhale the temple incense mixed with sparkling green grass and tart apple.No spoilers from me, but I do enjoy the pacing of events, and the few plot twists that I didn’t see coming - from my point of view, it kept me reading and wanting more.I would read again, and I would recommend. The book comes out in October 2021 and I have an advanced reader’s copy. I would like to own this in hardback and plan on buying upon release. I hope the published retail version has maps, but if not, no biggie.

Maguire takes us back to the land of Oz…or at least to an adjacent continent. Elphaba’s granddaughter Rain finds herself marooned on an island of women practicing obscure religious rituals while guarding a precious relic. Her appearance causes problems for a mid level civil servant just trying to get home to his family. Maguire’s excellent world building skills are on full display. The setting feels rich, inhabited, and plausible. I’m very excited to be back in the land of talking Animals, green-skinned women, and harrowing bureaucracy.NetGalley provided me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I keep thinking one of these days I'm going to get tired of Gregory Maguire, having read almost all of his books. It has yet to happen. I got sucked into Maracoor as easily as I was sucked into Oz, if not more; the island occupied by the brides is such a weird little insulated world and I loved living in it. I do think this works pretty well as a standalone but it's worth reading at least "Wicked" and "Out of Oz" for context.

This is not my usual read but i won this on goodreads and happily jumped in. Very curious mythical and fantastical book ,i was in the mood for imaginary life for a bit. The setting reminds me of greek myths the stony windswept islands. ,the talking goose and strange apparitions some very scary. I love the sea as the background and the tides and moon controlling it all especially love the green girl Rain with her cool calm head and bravery.

*I was provided with an ebook copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in Exchange for an honest review*When I first heard that Gregory Maguire was going to once again return to Oz for a new trilogy, I was thrilled! Wicked has been one of my favorite books since I read it a few years after it was published, and I cherish my signed first-edition copies of all four books in the Wicked Years saga. I even had the honor of meeting Mr. Maguire on his tour for the final book in that series, “Out of Oz”. But with this news came a bit of curiosity and a few reservations: how would he be able to return us to the world? After all, Rain had snuck away and left Oz for destinations unknown at the end of “Out of Oz”. When I read the description of “The Brides of Maracoor”, I felt my reservations peak out. This book doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Oz… is it going to be connected or satisfying? Thankfully the answer is a full-throated “Yes!”. “The Brides of Maracoor” finds Rain washed up on an unknown shore with her Goose companion Iskinaary. She has lost all memories of who she is, what she was doing, and where she is from. All she can remember is being tossed out of the skies by a vicious storm and landing on the shores of Maracoor Spot. It is here that she meets the Brides of Maracoor, seven women who spend their lives in seclusion on the island, piously stringing together nets that represent time. They rub their feet raw until they bleed each morning in a sign of piety and discipline. Their whole world is rocked to its core by Rains arrival. Some embrace her and seek to help. Others are wary and distrustful and want her gone. A power struggle ensues and ends in tragedy. Meanwhile, the women receive their annual visit from Lucikles, a member of the Maracoor mainland who is charged with ensuring that there are still 7 brides on Maracoor and that they have all of the supplies they need. He arrives to chaos and confusion due to Rain and the power struggle. He leaves and promises to return to solve this issue. Yet when he arrives home, he finds a country in distress after a massive attack from a foreign army. He travels across the country to find his family but is eventually called back to make his report on his trip. The leadership deem the attack the fault of Rain and her appearance and they send Lucikles back to Maracoor Spot to retrieve Rain and one of the brides to face charges. More chaos ensues after the trial, resulting in the rescue of Rain and the bride by the flying monkeys and the return of Rains memories. That’s a very oversimplified recap but it the story. However, it was incredible! Do not go into looking for another Wicked or Out of Oz - this book is not that. This novel is a fresh story about memory and power and grief. It is about the power of misinformation and gossip. It is deep and makes you think but doesn’t get too stuck in the weeds to become overwhelming. Gregory Maguire is an amazing world builder, and you can tell how much he really enjoyed doing that with this novel. It’s the first time he can wholly invent a brand new world on this book series as it is the first to not have basis in Oz or other fairy tales. The governing ideals of Maracoor are fascinating, and the Brides and their job are too. Give this book a shot - you’ll be glad you did! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one!

I loved the earlier books in this universe from Maguire and was so excited when I saw this in my local bookstore. Maguire did a great job in the way he separated each character we hear from. There's no confusion about who's perspective we're reading from. And that's really refreshing because often it can be overwhelming to read a book that's from multiple perspectives. This book felt very Gregory Maguire with his normal whimsical prose and his incredible use of descriptive language. This is definitely a book that sets up the rest of the series. Know that going in will help set expectations. The first part of the book was a little difficult and slow, but it picked up and didn't disappoint.audiobookThe audiobook was decently narrated. It's not my favorite narrator by any means and there were points where I felt like her voice was soothing enough to put me to sleep, which is not what I'm looking for in audiobooks.

This was a good follow up to the Wicked series for me. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the ending of that series, which would have helped me understand a bit better at least part of the story. But I always enjoy Maguire's writing, and this was no exception.Elphaba's grandaughter, Rain, finds herself with amnesia on an island populated only by 7 women, in addition to goats, birds, etc. The Goose, Iskinaary, has accompanied her, but isn't giving her clues about her past. The 7 women are the titular Brides of Maracoor, who are tasked with weaving time and guarding The Vessel.Their life is overturned by the appearance of Rain on the island, the murder of one of the Brides, and the invasion of the mother island.All in all, a good read. I look forward to #2.

I didn't quite know what to expect going into this book; although I've read several of Gregory Maguire's books, the only Oz-related one I'd read was Wicked several years back. However, The Brides of Maracoor really drew me in despite my lack of background knowledge. The setting is sparse and at times haunting; the characters come across as very real as they struggle with life events outside of their control and towards self-discovery. To me, the book reads like a journey rather than doing anything too surprising plot-wise. All in all, I think this might actually be one of my favorites by Macguire so far.(Note: I received an ARC of this book via a Goodreads Giveaway)

There are times that I feel like I am the only person left who has not read this popular series so I was happy to begin a spinoff series that can stand alone. The brides are a very devout order with strong ties to nature and the sea. They lead a quiet life spending their whole lives on the island doing sea related offerings and self flagellation with almost no interaction with the outside world. When Rain washes up on their shores and is taken in by the brides her presence shakes up the order along with the realization that the outside world may be closing in. Quiet magic with an emphasis on nature makes me think that fans of Alice Hoffman will also enjoy this. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

An interesting start…Clearly Gregory Maguire knows how to build a world. But is it a world worth exploring this time? Continuing to follow Rain’s story is rewarding in the end, or, at least it promises to be before the last page leaves you waiting for fulfillment. I found the other storyline, following Lucikles and Leorix to be…frustrating and at times boring. I’m still not sure why Maguire had us following them when there was so little about them to like and his other characters seemed far more interesting. But I’m willing to go with him on this new journey, even with it’s apparent flaws. We all know he weaves a thrilling ending. It just so,etc,es takes him 3 or 4 books to get there.

It has been a long time since I read Wicked by this same author, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy his storytelling, told from the perspective of the main characters. I found myself enjoying his descriptive writing and collected several quotes such as these and more:“Childhood, which seems endless to children, is the most finitespan of moments in the history of a life.”“Regret could disguise itself in a thousand veils; you could perish beforehaving the strength to drag the last one away.”“Her flyaway blond hair a nimbus, suggestive of that sanctity of childhood when childhood wasn’t in its demonic mode.”

Just 25 years after Maguire turned the Wicked Witch of the West into a hermaphrodite born out of rape by The Wizard of Oz himself, the first book of the new series featuring Elphaba’s granddaughter does not disappoint.

A fun book to read!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.The publisher's summary pretty much tells the entirety of this novel. There is no hidden storyline that wasn't included in order to keep the summary spoiler-free. As the first installment of new trilogy, the majority of this book is world-building and what I can only guess is the build up to the real action. To tell the truth, I was pretty bored by the lack of action but Maguire's talented storytelling kept me invested. While I was a bit let down by this book on its own, I have high hopes for the next releases. I absolutely LOVED and recommend this to anyone who loved the WHOLE Wicked series, not just the first book, because the later books have heavier ethical and political storylines which is where I see this series (Another Day) going.Come chat with me about books here, too: Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest