Ages of Oz: A Fiery Friendship

A Fiery Friendship takes place during the eighteenth century, during the time where Oz was divided into four quadrants, each ruled by one of the wicked witches, who had deposed the rightful king of Oz (here called "King Oz," not Pastoria, as he was in Marvelous Land and Lost King, though this is consistent with what we were told in Dorothy and the Wizard). Glinda is a young girl, living with her mother, about to come of age; what she doesn't know is that her mother is a sorceress and a member of the resistance against the wicked witches, nor does she know that she herself is in possession of magical powers.

The book is apparently the brainchild of "Gabriel Gale" (this is a pseudonym for George Makrinos), but actually written by show more children's author Lisa Fiedler; unlike most canon-consistent Oz continuations, it was published by a major publisher (Simon & Schuster). Its target age seemingly skews a bit older than the original books; it's more at the level of the early Harry Potters. It was plainly intended as a longer series than it ended up being (I'll discuss that more when I review the next one), and I wonder if it would have fared better if it had been published now, not 2017, when it could ride Wicked fever. (Seems to me someone should have republished it last year.)

Prequels are, of course, always a tricky business. If the prequel shows you everything you expected to see in the way you expected to see it, what's the point? But if the prequel doesn't fit what you learned, then why bother? There's a tightrope you need to walk. (I've been showing the Star Wars films to my kids, and it's been interesting to note how the references to Anakin and the Clone Wars don't always exactly work out in retrospect.) In particular, a prequel by other hands can be even more fraught, because it can feel less like an organic extension of what you read before and more like a later author "imposing" their vision on the canon of the earlier one. (I think this happens a lot in, say, Asimov fiction, where people who write prequels like to pin down things Asimov left vague and probably were better left vague.)

Sometimes I think what this book does works, sometimes it does not. I liked the concept, for example, that the Silver Shoes were one of four magical instruments, each originally owned by King Oz but later taken by the wicked witches: Silver Mask, Silver Gauntlets, and Silver Chainmail. I like that Gale/Fiedler delve into what Oz was actually like under the wicked witches, something we've never seen in any other Oz books, and that they give each one a distinct approach and personality. I liked the addition of a "Road of Red Cobbles" as a counterpoint to the "Road of Yellow Bricks"; there's a cute prophecy about a "gale" being the key to restoring normalcy to Oz.

On the other hand, instead of being the Wicked Witch of the North, Mombi is the "krumbic one" (a krumbic witch appeared in Glinda, but what this meant was not really explained), a powerful disembodied spirit that controls the other witches—how we might get from here to Marvelous Land is not really obvious, though I suppose the books might have gotten there eventually had there been more of them. I think what bothered me most was Gale's attempt to impose his own cosmology on the Oz universe, such as calling the land "Lurlia." A young Nick Chopper, half-tin, turns up here, and this felt like somewhat overegging the prequel pudding.

In terms of the actual happenings, the book is okay. Glinda finds out she has a magical destiny, her mother is kidnapped, so she must go on a quest with some other kids to save her: Locasta, a sparky Gillikin; Ben, an American colonist transported to Oz; and Shade, a mysterious sneak. As the title suggests, a focus of the book is supposed to be the friendship between Glinda and Locasta (Locasta is the name Baum used for the Good Witch of the North in the first Oz stageplay but not the actual books), but I didn't find this very effectively handled. Basically they argue a lot but then at the end they are best friends. I don't think either Locasta's sarcastic streak or the eventual "friendship" (by book two, they are supposedly best friends) came across strongly.

I liked the idea of Ben, but to be honest, it's not very clear why he gets so invested in the fate of Oz; I think including a visitor from the "real" world is a classic Oz trope that I wouldn't expect to see in a prequel book, and paralleling the American colonists' fight for independence to that of the Ozites is an eat idea, but we never get scenes from his perspective. Shade is incredibly underdeveloped, and in a weird way; the characters walk back and forth across Oz with her but never just ask her what her deal is!

There are some arresting sequences, especially the "trapestry," which is pretty creepy. I really like the idea of "Illumina," the sword of smarts that Glinda wields. On the other hand, the book is a bit overly reliant on riddles as a plot device; too many times the characters come up with seemingly arbitrary answers to weird problems. I would have liked to have seen a greater emphasis on genuine bravery and courage when it comes to the difficulty of doing what's right. (It seems to me that Glinda throws off an entire childhood of propaganda far too easily.)

There's also too much "lore." In addition to the four silver artifacts, there's four spirits, four gifts, a slew of heroes from Oz past and present, some mild time travel, and lots of visions of the past. It's too much to keep track of, it bogs the story down too often, and most of it is not really relevant to the story we're reading about. I felt like this lost my kids when reading it aloud, even my seven-year-old, who is good about tracking this kind of thing and typically very into it. Overall, they both seemed to enjoy it well enough (they love anything with gems, and there are some magical ones here), though my five-year-old did moan about halfway through it, "Dad, when are we going to read a book where Glinda is a grown up!?" show less

If you are someone who has frequently travelled to Oz and back through L. Frank Baum’s many works or the various adaptations and stories set there then you’ll like this chance to return again and see it through Lisa Fiedler’s eyes. You’ll once again meet the good and the villains; Mombi, Glinda, the Tin Woodsman and more.

Although you should be more than familiar with Oz, how it looks, feels and works as a society this author still managed to put her own spin on it letting you walk through this magical land as if it’s brand new to you. You’ll meet exciting characters and go on an incredulous journey with new adventures Baum hadn’t covered. It’s something of a prequel in a way telling the story of Oz before Dorothy finds show more it with Glinda as the Good Witch of the South; here Glinda isn’t a witch or in charge of anything so it’s something of a coming of age story for her.

The only negative I found, and it was a small one, it didn’t feel like all the characters – Glinda in particular – was fully developed or the story taken to full fruition. That could be because this is only the first book in a series so it’s only a negative in the sense I want more which means the author has done her job in making me want to get her next book.

There’s been lots of authors spinning their own tales and versions of Oz history since Baum first opened a window to this world decades ago. It’s always interesting to see what perspective of Oz and its people we will be treated to next so you should give Fiedler a chance to wow you with her witchy smashing talent. show less