Talk Back

[alyson]

Re-review: "Wicked" is a book by Gregory Maguire, from his series of books based on popular fairy tales--for example, his book "Mirror Mirror," based on Snow White. However, while most of his books are set solidly in history as though the tale were based on fact, "Wicked" is limited to the land of Oz. Maguire still connects it to our world history via a brief description of the Wizard's background before coming to Oz, but for the most part he's free to make up creatures and races where otherwise he may not. Maguire seems to like to make social commentary in his books, and in this one he gets to come up with the whole kit and caboodle.

If you like observations of society psychology, and discussions about the philosophy of the nature of evil, you may like this. It provides a lot of fodder for discussion in a book club. But. If you wanted a fun read about the Wizard of Oz from a nifty new point of view, with logical plot progressions and an ending that justifies all the previous scenes, in my opinion you may not find it here.