A Lion Among Men.

This is the book I'm currently reading. You should go look for it and the trilogy's first two books - Wicked and Son of a Witch.

I mentioned this series in an earlier post. The first book is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West - Elphaba. It explains why she was green, why she's so angry, and where the heck the flying monkeys came from. The author, Gregory Maguire, also incorporates the well-known story of The Wizard of Oz. It all works up to Dorothy showing up in Munchkinland and the death of the Witch.

The second book, Son of a Witch, is all about Liir - the "supposed" son of Elphaba. All through the book we don't actually find out if Liir is Elphaba's son or not, but we're led through his interesting adventures having a "guardian" like the Witch. We follow him as he meets Dorothy and her crew before she returns to Kansas.

A Lion Among Men has had its ups and downs for me. At one point I'm completely enthralled by the story, but the next minute I could completely lose interest. Maybe it's just me, but I've been having a little trouble staying "in" this book. I am still only a little over half through the book and I started it a couple months ago. I don't want this to deter anyone from reading this book.

In this book Maguire tells the story of the Cowardly Lion. We first meet him in the first book, but only briefly. In the third book we read how he came to be found by Dorothy, but not before we learn his background. You also find that he's really not that cowardly, just a little nervous and shy. As I said, I'm not finished with the book so I really can't say much about it.

If you were like me and had so many unanswered questions after watching The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked series is a great read. Maguire has an amazing talent for taking one of the best-known films and getting us more involved with the lives of the characters. I have not read the original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, but I wonder if the movie followed the novel very closely or if the writers took a lot of liberties with the story and characters. I also wonder if Baum wrote more of the characters' histories/backgrounds - and, perhaps, that's where Maguire got his inspiration. Either way, I love the series.

The first book of the series, Wicked, was turned into a Broadway play that became very famous. Of course, it's a musical. I have not seen the play but I have the soundtrack and by following the songs it doesn't seem like the play is exactly like the book. But you can only do so much when making a novel into a play, right? I'm excited to, eventually, see the play.

My sister and I had never seen The Wizard of Oz when were younger. When I was in junior high (I think...) our Mom got the part of Glinda in the play - performed by the Minden Community Players. That was the first time I'd seen it, but the story is a classic one and so nothing really came as a surprise to me. However, reading Wicked changed how I looked at the story. The way you see the main characters almost flip-flops from the way you feel about them in the movie. Obviously, everyone knows The Wicked Witch of the West is the "bad guy." She's ugly, green, and dresses in all black. And what's up with those flying monkeys? Glinda is most definitely the Good Witch - all polite, calm, and beautiful. But after reading the first book in the trilogy, you see that The Wicked Witch was justified in everything she did, she wasn't just "evil." And Glinda, well...what can I say? Glinda was kind of a bratty, spoiled, rich girl. I don't know - she's still Good, but she's a little too static a character to stay interesting. Glinda doesn't have a book all about her, now does she?

So, in closing...read these three books. They probably won't change your life, but they will entertain you - of that I am sure.