Finally Finished

I finally finished Gregory Maguire's Out of Oz, the last book in the Wicked series.  I am counting this as book #9 on my summer reading expedition, even though I started it six months ago. First I should say this: I loved Wicked. I enjoyed reading the Wicked Witch's point of view.  It was a page turner. I have never read any of Baum's Wizard of Oz, so I didn't know anything about Oz other than what I'd seen in the 1939 movie.  Son of a Witch  and A Lion Among Men were not that interesting to me either, but I stuck with it because I wanted to know what happened. I was really hoping that Out of Oz would be a return to the page turning I enjoyed at the beginning of the series.  I was wrong.

Out of Oz centers around the Wicked Witch of the West's, Elphaba's, granddaughter, Rain.  Because she is Elphaba's granddaughter, it is thought that she can operate the witch's book, the Grimmerie, which means Rain is always in danger.  Oz is at war; the Munchkinlanders against Loyal Oz.  Both sides believe that they can "win" the war if they can obtain the Grimmerie and Rain.  Most of the book is about Rain escaping impending danger. 

One small side plot that could have been completely ignored is that Dorothy is back in Oz.  An earthquake brought her to Oz this time.  She is put on trial in Munchkinland for the murder of Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East, that occurred on her first trip to Oz.

The Ozma line that everyone thought died out resurfaces at the end of the book and Rain ends up alone. Whoop-tee-doo.

Seriously? Six months of my life on this book that I'll never get back. Sheesh.

Gregory Maguire isn't that bad a writer, really.  Check out Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and Mirror, Mirror.  I explained a bit about Wicked. Confessions is his take on Cinderella, and Mirror is Snow White but centers around Lucrezia Borgia.