Gregory Maguire’s Wicked was a huge bestseller that spawned an award-winning Broadway musical. In it, Maguire explores L. Frank Baum’s wonderful world of Oz by taking a look at the much reviled character, the Wicked Witch of the West. He examines just what it means to be wicked, and turns everything you know about Oz upsidedown. That green woman with the pointy black hat and broom had a name: Elphaba. Wicked is an absorbing, powerful book that comes highly recommended.
No one was more surprised than Maguire that there is now a sequel, entitled Son of a Witch. After years of hearing from readers who wanted more from Maguire’s Oz, and the magical interpretation of his novel to a Broadway musical of the same name, the author relented and has crafted a book that lacks the gripping intensity that the character of Elphaba brought to Wicked, but greatly satisfies with the introspective story of the unfortunate Liir, who may, or may not be her son. Maguire’s Oz is not for kids, and his exploration of politics and religion, so evident in Wicked is continued here. Son of a Witch starts in the middle of a story, when a young man is found near-death after a fall from a great height. He languishes in a coma being tended to by a quiet young woman named Candle with a singular musical talent. As Candle comforts his tortured body and soul with her music, his past slowly unfolds. It is Liir, who was roughly raised by Elphaba from infancy and suddenly abandoned after Dorothy came to Oz. Try as he might, Liir cannot avoid being involved a grand events, much like the woman many presumed to be his mother.
Liir’s story is one of a search for identity, and more, a search for a place in the land of Oz. Maguire expands greatly on Baum’s universe giving a dark trajectory to the Emerald City and the denizens of Oz. One wishes that Maguire would continue with a whole series of books about Oz, much as Baum did, but with adult sensibilities, and his unique political worldview of the magical world. Son of a Witch is due out in September. With the success of Wicked and the renewed interest fostered by the musical, look for lots of people to look for Maguire’s latest novel.