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The sequel to Wicked returns to the land of Oz to tell the story of Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really show more Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape, but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up? show lessTags
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Have to say, I almost gave up about a third of the way through. Nevertheless, I persisted...and gladly so. Maguire can ramble, undoubtedly, but then one runs across passages like this:
The Emperor has hijacked the great force of faith and diverted it to further the prosperity and dominance of the City. Who can argue with a man who has the voice of the Unnamed God speaking exclusively in his ear? Not I. I have never heard such a voice. I have only heard the echo that still reverberates, once the Unnamed God stopped speaking and the world took up with itself.
And here's one for our time and place (and probably every time and place):
The colossal might of wickedness, he thought: how we love to locate it massively elsewhere. But so much of it show more comes down to what each one of us does between breakfast and bedtime.
I admire Maguire's books for all the stuff that does not fit within tidy summaries of the plot. show less
The Emperor has hijacked the great force of faith and diverted it to further the prosperity and dominance of the City. Who can argue with a man who has the voice of the Unnamed God speaking exclusively in his ear? Not I. I have never heard such a voice. I have only heard the echo that still reverberates, once the Unnamed God stopped speaking and the world took up with itself.
And here's one for our time and place (and probably every time and place):
The colossal might of wickedness, he thought: how we love to locate it massively elsewhere. But so much of it show more comes down to what each one of us does between breakfast and bedtime.
I admire Maguire's books for all the stuff that does not fit within tidy summaries of the plot. show less
The wall read:
ELPHIE LIVES
OZMA LIVES
THE WIZARD LIVES
and then
EVERYONE LIVES BUT US.
Reading this book and [b:The Marvelous Land of Oz|179565|The Marvelous Land of Oz (Oz, #2)|L. Frank Baum|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172470286s/179565.jpg|21430714] simultaneously was an interesting experience. Oh, there's little Tip and Mombi! Nice nod, Mr. Maguire. But this Oz? It's quite different from the one Mr. Baum imagined. Unlike the Scarecrow-run original, where the Army of Oz was a single soldier, the illegitimate, unrecognized son of Elphaba finds himself in an unstable nation where the Scarecrow is both a literal and figurative straw man. The people (and Animals, especially the Animals!) of Oz are no more free than they were under the show more Wizard's rule and things just keep getting worse.
The novel opens with a nearly-dead Liir (son of Elphaba) being found and taken back to the same Cloister of St. Glinda where he was born. As Liir is nursed back to health, his life up to this point is revealed in flashbacks. Some is a rehash: accompanying Elphaba to his father's former home of Kiamo Ko and growing up alongside his half-siblings until their assumed deaths, and then his lonely adolescence alongside Elphaba and Nanny, until the disastrous arrival of Dorothy. Then there's the aftermath of the witch's death: joining Dorothy's ragtag entourage in their return to the Emerald City (where the few laughs of the novel are to be found), chasing rumors of his half-sister Nor into the prison known as Southstairs, where he meets his alleged uncle Shell, and then a military career in the Army of Oz that leads to more tragedies. Eventually, we catch up to Liir's present and see some action in the second half. Although there are glimpses of Baum's original characters (Dorothy & co., Glinda, the Wizard, etc.), most of main characters are Maguire's creations.
“Not everyone is born a witch or a saint. Not everyone is born talented, or crooked, or blessed; some are born definite in no particular at all. We are a fountain of shimmering contradictions, most of us. Beautiful in the concept, if we're lucky, but frequently tedious or regrettable as we flesh ourselves out.”
While Wicked featured the struggle between good and evil, this sequel focuses on Liir's search for identity. How does one know who one is, when one doesn't even know who one is? I'm rounding up a 3.5 star rating, because Liir's story was intriguing, even if he's not always a very sympathetic character. But that ending... Major cliffhanger. show less
ELPHIE LIVES
OZMA LIVES
THE WIZARD LIVES
and then
EVERYONE LIVES BUT US.
Reading this book and [b:The Marvelous Land of Oz|179565|The Marvelous Land of Oz (Oz, #2)|L. Frank Baum|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172470286s/179565.jpg|21430714] simultaneously was an interesting experience. Oh, there's little Tip and Mombi! Nice nod, Mr. Maguire. But this Oz? It's quite different from the one Mr. Baum imagined. Unlike the Scarecrow-run original, where the Army of Oz was a single soldier, the illegitimate, unrecognized son of Elphaba finds himself in an unstable nation where the Scarecrow is both a literal and figurative straw man. The people (and Animals, especially the Animals!) of Oz are no more free than they were under the show more Wizard's rule and things just keep getting worse.
The novel opens with a nearly-dead Liir (son of Elphaba) being found and taken back to the same Cloister of St. Glinda where he was born. As Liir is nursed back to health, his life up to this point is revealed in flashbacks. Some is a rehash: accompanying Elphaba to his father's former home of Kiamo Ko and growing up alongside his half-siblings until their assumed deaths, and then his lonely adolescence alongside Elphaba and Nanny, until the disastrous arrival of Dorothy. Then there's the aftermath of the witch's death: joining Dorothy's ragtag entourage in their return to the Emerald City (where the few laughs of the novel are to be found), chasing rumors of his half-sister Nor into the prison known as Southstairs, where he meets his alleged uncle Shell, and then a military career in the Army of Oz that leads to more tragedies. Eventually, we catch up to Liir's present and see some action in the second half. Although there are glimpses of Baum's original characters (Dorothy & co., Glinda, the Wizard, etc.), most of main characters are Maguire's creations.
“Not everyone is born a witch or a saint. Not everyone is born talented, or crooked, or blessed; some are born definite in no particular at all. We are a fountain of shimmering contradictions, most of us. Beautiful in the concept, if we're lucky, but frequently tedious or regrettable as we flesh ourselves out.”
While Wicked featured the struggle between good and evil, this sequel focuses on Liir's search for identity. How does one know who one is, when one doesn't even know who one is? I'm rounding up a 3.5 star rating, because Liir's story was intriguing, even if he's not always a very sympathetic character. But that ending... Major cliffhanger. show less
This was a superbly written sequel to "Wicked," telling the story of
Liir who was last seen cowering in a doorway while Dorothy did in the
Witch. He's never known who his parents were and no one has ever
enlightened him about that, but he suspects that Elphaba was his mother,
though why he thinks that he really can't say. He sets off with Dorothy
to the Emerald City, mostly because there is nothing at Kiamo Ko to keep
him there but the flying monkeys bred by the Witch. He gets the witch's
broom back from the Scarecrow and sets off to find the young girl who
might be his half-sister, Nor. From the depths of the worst prison in
Oz, Southstairs, to serving in the Home Guard army in the Emerald City,
to learning to fly on the broom, Liir show more has one adventure after another,
maturing as he goes. When he is attacked and left for dead by a flock
of dragons, he is taken in by the maunts at the Cloister of Saint Glinda
and nursed back to health from a certain death by the young mute novice
named Candle, who coaxes his spirit back with the magic of music.
Throughout this book, he continues his search for Nor, believing somehow
that she holds the secret to who he really is. The question is, will he
survive long enough to mature into the man he was meant to be?
This book was splendidly well written, a tale spun of pure gold. I read
this one slowly, to savor every word and I was very sorry to come to the
end of it. Gregory Maguire has become one of my favorite story tellers
and I cannot recommend this book too highly. A very high 5. show less
Liir who was last seen cowering in a doorway while Dorothy did in the
Witch. He's never known who his parents were and no one has ever
enlightened him about that, but he suspects that Elphaba was his mother,
though why he thinks that he really can't say. He sets off with Dorothy
to the Emerald City, mostly because there is nothing at Kiamo Ko to keep
him there but the flying monkeys bred by the Witch. He gets the witch's
broom back from the Scarecrow and sets off to find the young girl who
might be his half-sister, Nor. From the depths of the worst prison in
Oz, Southstairs, to serving in the Home Guard army in the Emerald City,
to learning to fly on the broom, Liir show more has one adventure after another,
maturing as he goes. When he is attacked and left for dead by a flock
of dragons, he is taken in by the maunts at the Cloister of Saint Glinda
and nursed back to health from a certain death by the young mute novice
named Candle, who coaxes his spirit back with the magic of music.
Throughout this book, he continues his search for Nor, believing somehow
that she holds the secret to who he really is. The question is, will he
survive long enough to mature into the man he was meant to be?
This book was splendidly well written, a tale spun of pure gold. I read
this one slowly, to savor every word and I was very sorry to come to the
end of it. Gregory Maguire has become one of my favorite story tellers
and I cannot recommend this book too highly. A very high 5. show less
After being completely wowed by 'Wicked' I was inevitable disappointed with this sequel which was plagued by poor, unfinished characterization, an annoying level of angst-filled introspection on the part of our protagonist, and a plot that really struggled to go anywhere. A shame, because the level of intricacy in Maguire's development of the sociopolitical aspects of OZ is truly stunning.
I really wanted to like this novel. I loved Oz as a child, am always glad to see someone take it up as a subject, and a prequel, Wicked, was pretty good. This one, though, is terrible.
Liir, the main character, is so thinly drawn he seems almost disembodied, spending most of his time alone wondering who he is and what his place in the world might be. Frankly, it was almost impossible to care, particularly given irritating authorial idiosyncrasies such as Liir's incessant internal monologues concerning his feelings about situation X. Does he feel revulsion? Attraction? Or simply...self recognition? It's breathtaking how dull this becomes after a hundred pages.
The supporting characters are utterly two dimensional props intended to prompt show more yet another cascade of self-doubt and identity-confusion in Liir. The one character Maguire really should have fleshed out, the Quadling girl Candle, is left a complete cipher, little more than a human bandaid for Liir in his darkest hours. Later, there is a gay subplot that managed to come across as both gratuitous and drearily inevitable. Liir and his soldier friend Trism (rhymes with...) have at each other in a frigid garret above a little countryside B&B, and the next morning Liir actually complains about his sore bottom as they mount their horses. Despite the fact that Maguire creates no real emotional link between the two, and in fact Trism rejects further advances, Liir spends the rest of the novel wondering whether it might work out after all, if things with Candle go sour. You begin to think that Liir is not merely confused, but possibly not all that bright either.
There are a handful of excellent scenes, but in a way they only make the novel more disappointing by highlighting the contrast between Maguire's ability to generate atmosphere and his failure to populate his novel with interesting characters.
Finally, the story is so unresolved that the book has no legs of its own to stand on. It simply hangs forlornly between the crutches of Wicked and whatever book comes next. Unfortunately, having followed the Son of the Witch this far, the prospect of going any farther is completely unappealing. show less
Liir, the main character, is so thinly drawn he seems almost disembodied, spending most of his time alone wondering who he is and what his place in the world might be. Frankly, it was almost impossible to care, particularly given irritating authorial idiosyncrasies such as Liir's incessant internal monologues concerning his feelings about situation X. Does he feel revulsion? Attraction? Or simply...self recognition? It's breathtaking how dull this becomes after a hundred pages.
The supporting characters are utterly two dimensional props intended to prompt show more yet another cascade of self-doubt and identity-confusion in Liir. The one character Maguire really should have fleshed out, the Quadling girl Candle, is left a complete cipher, little more than a human bandaid for Liir in his darkest hours. Later, there is a gay subplot that managed to come across as both gratuitous and drearily inevitable. Liir and his soldier friend Trism (rhymes with...) have at each other in a frigid garret above a little countryside B&B, and the next morning Liir actually complains about his sore bottom as they mount their horses. Despite the fact that Maguire creates no real emotional link between the two, and in fact Trism rejects further advances, Liir spends the rest of the novel wondering whether it might work out after all, if things with Candle go sour. You begin to think that Liir is not merely confused, but possibly not all that bright either.
There are a handful of excellent scenes, but in a way they only make the novel more disappointing by highlighting the contrast between Maguire's ability to generate atmosphere and his failure to populate his novel with interesting characters.
Finally, the story is so unresolved that the book has no legs of its own to stand on. It simply hangs forlornly between the crutches of Wicked and whatever book comes next. Unfortunately, having followed the Son of the Witch this far, the prospect of going any farther is completely unappealing. show less
My first thought after reaching the end of Son Of A Witch was "wait...that's really the end?" I flipped forward a few pages, sure there had to be more. It took about 15 minutes of reflection to realize that it's actually the perfect ending. As much as I don't like loose ends and always want to see everything resolved, the truth is the only important loose end was the one that WAS tied up. Everything else was circumstantial.
I'm not to proud to say I'm biased. Maguire is one of my favorite authors and has been since I first picked up Wicked. That was nearly eight years ago (and I haven't actually returned to it since). I could probably cast a positive light on anything he writes. Except for maybe Lost.
I'm not to proud to say I'm biased. Maguire is one of my favorite authors and has been since I first picked up Wicked. That was nearly eight years ago (and I haven't actually returned to it since). I could probably cast a positive light on anything he writes. Except for maybe Lost.
Carrying passengers as quickly and as safely across the the Thousand Year Grasslands and the Disappointments, dreading every turn which might bring them closer to the warring tribes, Oatsie Manglehand and her Grassland Train come across the body of a young man, severely bruised and beaten but barely breathing. Oatsie forces her passengers to take a side trip from their trek to the Emerald City, to stop at the Cloister of Saint Glinda and hopefully offer shelter and aide to the man. Recognizing who he is, the Sisters agree to tend to his wounds, with the Mother Maunt placing the novice Candle -- a soft-spoken musician -- in charge of his needs. Candle's music has a healing effect on the young man, the soft melodies helping his broken show more mind and body work through the mysteries of his past to possibly help him with his future.
"Son of a Witch" is Gregory Maguire's second foray into his re-imagining of Frank L. Baum's classic stories, focusing the story on a young man named Liir, who may or may not be the son of the Wicked Witch of the West, but whose actions will ultimately effect the changing political landscape of Oz. Maguire's Oz is much darker than the fantasy almost everyone grew up seeing on the screen, but he manages to throw enough characters and scenes that we recognize to keep the work familiar but at the same time filling in gaps. For example, at the beginning of Liir's "rehabilitation" with Candle, his memory flashes back to the castle where Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch. He leaves the castle with Dorothy and her traveling companions, helping her to return to the Wizard with the trophy of the burned broom. (And it doesn't necessarily paint a rosy portrait of the Dorothy that we all know.)
Much of the book deals with Liir trying to find out about his past -- is he the son of the Witch or not? Will his be able to find his supposed half-sister Nor who may be rotting in a prison city with the Animals beneath the Emerald City? For the most part, this search tries to show a positive light on Liir maturing from the young adolescent to an army veteran to somewhat understanding that he does have magic abilities. But the let down is his constant whining about not knowing who his parents are. In fact, that becomes his mantra, and I wanted to throttle him not quite as much as the Cliff Eagle at the Conference of Birds wanted to peck his eyes out.
Despite that, I enjoyed reading about the politics and the realistic side to Oz. The Animals being forced into labor or winding up in the underground prison. Glinda's cleansing of the riffraff and poor from the city streets to make it seem like a nicer, cleaner place. The now intelligent Scarecrow goes into hiding because he won't become a puppet politician; he's instead replaced with a drunken, easily managed lookalike. Not everything matches the technicolor façade, nothing is really ever as good as it seems.
But hope can still manage to thrive, even in such a terrible environment. Whether it's from a boy flying on a broom, with an enormous flock of birds filling the sky, or a few simple words scribbled on a poster, that little bit can help bring about big change.
So if you haven't figured it out by now, I did enjoy reading the book and am eager to read the third installment, "A Lion Among Men". show less
"Son of a Witch" is Gregory Maguire's second foray into his re-imagining of Frank L. Baum's classic stories, focusing the story on a young man named Liir, who may or may not be the son of the Wicked Witch of the West, but whose actions will ultimately effect the changing political landscape of Oz. Maguire's Oz is much darker than the fantasy almost everyone grew up seeing on the screen, but he manages to throw enough characters and scenes that we recognize to keep the work familiar but at the same time filling in gaps. For example, at the beginning of Liir's "rehabilitation" with Candle, his memory flashes back to the castle where Dorothy melted the Wicked Witch. He leaves the castle with Dorothy and her traveling companions, helping her to return to the Wizard with the trophy of the burned broom. (And it doesn't necessarily paint a rosy portrait of the Dorothy that we all know.)
Much of the book deals with Liir trying to find out about his past -- is he the son of the Witch or not? Will his be able to find his supposed half-sister Nor who may be rotting in a prison city with the Animals beneath the Emerald City? For the most part, this search tries to show a positive light on Liir maturing from the young adolescent to an army veteran to somewhat understanding that he does have magic abilities. But the let down is his constant whining about not knowing who his parents are. In fact, that becomes his mantra, and I wanted to throttle him not quite as much as the Cliff Eagle at the Conference of Birds wanted to peck his eyes out.
Despite that, I enjoyed reading about the politics and the realistic side to Oz. The Animals being forced into labor or winding up in the underground prison. Glinda's cleansing of the riffraff and poor from the city streets to make it seem like a nicer, cleaner place. The now intelligent Scarecrow goes into hiding because he won't become a puppet politician; he's instead replaced with a drunken, easily managed lookalike. Not everything matches the technicolor façade, nothing is really ever as good as it seems.
But hope can still manage to thrive, even in such a terrible environment. Whether it's from a boy flying on a broom, with an enormous flock of birds filling the sky, or a few simple words scribbled on a poster, that little bit can help bring about big change.
So if you haven't figured it out by now, I did enjoy reading the book and am eager to read the third installment, "A Lion Among Men". show less
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Published Reviews
ThingScore 63
''Son of a Witch" is vintage Maguire, thoroughly entertaining even at its darkest. Oz is as complex and satisfying a fantastic world as ever, wonderfully described, from the steam rising out of the marshes to the sloe-eyed young homeless on the Emerald City streets.
added by stephmo
Enchanted elephants and dragon death squads — Maguire's sequel to his 1995 best-seller, Wicked, is as fantastical as a novel set in Oz should be.
added by stephmo
As a result the story - which is meant to contain great love and great tragedy as well as great invention - tends to slip awkwardly between registers. Maguire may have successfully done away with Dorothy, but he hasn't quite got control of his broomstick yet.
added by stephmo
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Author Information
67+ Works 80,163 Members
Gregory Maguire was born June 9, 1954 in Albany, New York. He received a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Tufts University. He is a founder and co-director of Children's Literature New England, Incorporated, a non-profit educational charity established in 1987. He writes for show more both adults and children. His first book, The Lighting Time, was published in 1978. His adult works include Wicked, Confessions of and Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. The Broadway play Wicked is based on his book of the same title. His children's books include the picture book Crabby Cratchitt, the novel The Good Liar, and the Hamlet Chronicles series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
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Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Son of a Witch
- Original title
- Son of a Witch
- Original publication date
- 2005-09-27
- People/Characters
- Liir Thropp; Candle; Mother Yackle; Princess Nastoya; Shell Thropp; Commander Cherrystone (show all 13); Chistery Nikko; Glinda; Elphaba Thropp; Trism bon Cavalish; Oatsie Manglehand; The Superior Maunt; The Scarecrow
- Important places
- Oz; Kiamo Ko; Southstairs; Apple Press Farm; Qhoyre; Bengda
- Epigraph
- I have no fear that the poetry of democratic peoples will be found timid or that it will stick too close to the earth. I am much more afraid that it...may finish up by describing an entirely fictitious country.
-- Alex... (show all)is de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835, 1840
All cows were like all other cows, all tigers like all other tigers -- what on earth has happened to human beings?
-- Harry Mulisch, Siegfried, 2001
A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true spirit, restore their government to its true principles.
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1798
My mother was a westerne woman and learned in gramarye
-- K. Estmere, 1470, collected in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765 - Dedication
- L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), was dedicated to the actors David C. Montgomery and Fred A. Stone, who performed the roles of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow in the first theatrical ... (show all)version of The Wizard of Oz.
In that spirit, Son of a Witch is dedicated to the cast and creative team of the musical Wicked, which opened on Broadway in October 2003 -- the night before Halloween.
To Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, foremost and first, for their vision; to Wayne Cilento, Susan Hilferty, Eugene Lee, Joe Mantello, Stephen Oremus, Kenneth Posner, and Marc Platt and his associates, for bringing visions to life; and, among all the capable cast, most expecially to Kristen Chenoweth (Galinda/ Glinda), Joel Grey (The Wizard), and Idina Menzel (Elphaba), for bringing life to visions. - First words
- So the talk of random brutality wasn't just talk.
- Quotations
- "Any murder at all, of any sort, is a murder of hope, too."
There is no resolving a good mess, he thought. Every breath one takes is a waking up into disjointedness, over and over. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She cleaned up green.
- Blurbers
- Lamb, Wally
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