A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, Book 3) (original 2008; edition 2008)

This has to be the best in the series. It was raw, emotional and just a very sad book. It was also simpler than the first 2. It was more personal than political. I really felt for Brr. In whatever he choses he is always criticized. He always makes the wrong choice. He has a hard time trying to fit in with humans and even with Animals alike. He does not have any family. It was very relatable than the first two. ( )

I love Maguire's style and use of language. As he writes, I can hear his voice narrating and performing (which is why I won't spoil it with the audiobook, Maguire himself is a wonderful performer, and it was a delight to see him in person.) Lion is not as compelling as the previous two books, but gains momentum with the reappearance of Yackle, and the subsequent explanation of the character. ( )

A Lion Among Men revisits the Oz of Elphaba Thropp and [b:Wicked|24936|Wicked|Gregory Maguire|/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|1479280]. This time the political maneuverings in Oz are told through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion, otherwise known as Brrr. The story begins when Brrr has tracked down Sister Yackle to the mauntery where she is trying to die. There is a lot of back story from both of them and then a lot of resolution in the present in the last hundred pages or so.

Let me say right up front that I won this in a first reads giveaway. So I hate to say it, but I really didn't enjoy this book. I liked Wicked and [b:Son of a Witch|562233|Son of a Witch|Gregory Maguire|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175810518s/562233.jpg|845295], but A Lion Among Men just crawled along for me. I liked Yackle's parts of the story, but Brrr's just seemed to drag on and on. His story could practically have been summed up with "Wrong place, wrong time, story of my life."

Finally, around page 240 or so, the story caught up to the present and things got interesting. That far in, there was finally a synopsis of what had come before. It's been a while since I read Son of a Witch, so I'd been kind of lost throughout the book. It also probably didn't help that Brrr's purpose in visiting Yackle isn't revealed until around page 190. So it picked up and I enjoyed it--just in time to be left hanging, waiting for the next book.

Honestly, this felt like filler. I truly dislike reading books that don't serve much of a purpose other than to hook you into the next book, and that's how this felt to me.

The "witty dialog" between Yackle and Brrr mostly just fell flat. Here's an example:

"Is this germane to your investigation, or do I detect a particular interest in sexual jealousy? An uptick in your circulation? Some shallow breathing?"

"F**k you."

"If I'd only been so lucky."

That's about the way it goes.

I guess the upshot for me is that die-hard fans of the series will enjoy this latest installment. People who recall the storyline from the previous books better than I do will probably enjoy it also. But this is the end of the line for me and The Wicked Years. ( )

I don't know what the problem is with me and Mr. Maguire. His works are full of elements that would usually suck me in. They're always twisty retellings of classic children's stories, often dark and even cynical. I LOVE that sort of stuff, usually. But for some reason, I couldn't manage to feel invested in this one, let alone its two predecessors. It's like banging my head against a wall - "But... but... I should be loving this!" Sorry, but no.

To be honest, I didn't actually hate it either, which only adds to the general feeling of perplexity. There's no obvious reason why it should be bad. Well, maybe the aimlessness of the plot - most of the time, you have to look really hard to find any notion that the story is moving forward, or backward, or anywhere else. But outside of that, it's a mystery to me.

Anyway, I liked this one better than Son of a Witch, so I'm going to give it 3 stars, then promptly avoid eye contact with it for the rest of my life. Awkward.

edit: okay, 2 stars it is. ( )

I really love Gregory Maguire's writing style, and I love where he has gone with this story over the three novels. The structure of this book, however, felt somewhat scattered--it wasn't until the end, the last few chapters, where I started to feel that it had any coherency, unlike in Son of a Witch, where although it may not have always been clear what the connections where exactly, they always felt like connections. I suppose this is due to the fact that the protagonist in this story had little relation to characters I'd become attached to in the previous two novels--I still felt at odds at the end, and wishing a bit more to see the Point.

As always, however, Maguire's turn of phrase and ability to put complex thoughts into interesting prose did not disappoint, and whatever questions I had about the plot, I was carried through easily on the strength of the writing. ( )