After the third book, I did not have high hopes for the end of the series. The previous books had left too much unfinished - too many characters had dropped off the map, too many unexplained occurrences, too much dull backstory (*cough* book three)This book, however, was fantastic. The writing was fantastic, the plot moved along at a good clip, and storylines and characters were wrapped up in a very satisfying way. I enjoyed the callbacks to the previous books, musical, and movie - though I'm su [...]

Wicked is one of my favorite books of all time. Not only is Gregory Maguire's writing one of the great joys of modern literature, but the expertise with which he created Oz within the boundaries put out by L. Frank Baum before him was enchanting. However, when he decided to write Son of a Witch a decade later and then A Lion Among Men, some of the magic was lost. Maguire's writing was still top-notch and kept me enthralled throughout reading those novels, but I couldn't help noticing it seemed a [...]

Hope this makes up for the big disappointment that was #3EDIT: Nope, not really. Got about halfway through and lost interest. :/

My question to all is - do you honestly love these books or do you love reading about the beloved characters and OZ? I read Wicked (before the musical) because I was entrigued by the question "are we born wicked or is wicked thrust upon us?". I loved the OZ books as a child and was exited to revisit them as an adult with adult themes. I continued through the series and have just finished Out of Oz. That is a whole lot of book for no more story than there is. Sorry Mr. Maguire, I wanted to love t [...]

So this was the end? It seemed like it was leading off into a new series, involving the sea or waterlife that was referenced by the shell, the Chancel of Ladyfish, the lakes, Dorothy's story of the ocean and deserts of Oz, the beavers dam and implication of an ocean, plus a mention of water below Kiamo Ko and of course the water that killed Elphaba. The Atlantis quote at the end also led me to wonder whether he would be writing something to connect Atlantis or some other lost underwater world to [...]

The only thing I have against Out of Oz is that it's not Wicked.Elphaba kicked ass. She was such an amazing character, the kind of female character we almost never see in fiction, and in fantasy fiction even more rarely. She was an uncompromising, sharp-tongued, idealistic, ugly, morally flawed, brilliant, shy, political, complicated character. Maguire's other Oz books have been good, even excellent, but how could they live up to Elphaba? So it is with Out of Oz. Maguire competently and beautifu [...]

If it were possible to give a book 0 stars I would have done so. Wicked was a wonderful story. The other books in the series dragged on, but I always assumed that there was a point to the story. I read every single page of the books and I wish that Maguire was going to bring us to a fun and exciting conclusion. However, it wasnt meant to be. I dont think the problem with the story was Rain, other people didnt care about the character. I think the problem was that the story felt like an incoheren [...]

Well, I was wholeheartedly applauding this last installment (Book #4) of the Wicked Years until about 3/4 of the way through. It was exciting and had all the shrewd, insightful remarks and general observations of life that I've come to expect from Maguire. If I was a more organized person, I would follow that statement with some of those great quotes. Unfortunately, I'm not. This book has appearances from almost all the most-loved characters of the series, including Glinda, Liir (who is Elphaba' [...]

"Out of Oz" is Maguire's fourth and final installment of the Wicked Years Series. Of course, I was thrilled to be sent a copy of this book to review on behalf of HarperCollins publishers, as I've been closely following these books over the past decade or so. Before reviewing the actual book, I'd like to give a brief synopsis of my thoughts on the first three books."Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West". This is by-and-large one of my most favorite books ever written. In my [...]

I have just finished reading the final volume of the Wicked series and have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the finale of the saga. Mr Maguire really out did himself with the last installment by writing rich narratives, fascinating chareacters and even nodding towards updates of characters from the previous three volumes. War has transcended on Oz and everyone is torn between the two camps which lives are lost and destruction is rife. Rain, Glinda, Liir, Candle, Brr (The Cowardly Lion) and Doro [...]

Hmmmph.I was worried about this book as I felt the Oz Chronicles had gone on too long and become increasingly hard to read. Imagine my surprise when shortly into this book I found myself completely pulled in and immersed. I was particularly impressed by the way all of these random characters and story lines were finally coming together to move forward in one narrative arc. Then halfway through the book it fell apart for me. The momentum of the narrative got lost and I felt the author kept meande [...]

I have no words for how gorgeous this book is. Every word this man writes is perfect. You can't even quote him because you'd just end up reading the whole thing. It's the kind of prose you have to read out loud because it just sounds so GORGEOUS. Several times I squealed with happiness or shock, cheered loudly enough to embarrass myself in public, or had to put the book down until I stopped giggling. I cried twice. This is one of those few novels where there's no real "bad guys," just very human [...]

Review for the Library Journal:In the midst of Ozian civil war, Rain, granddaughter of the infamous Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West, is coming of age with the aid of a ramshackle band of friends. To add to the chaos Dorothy is back, destructive and irritatingly chipper as always and events spiral into an ever-changing web of betrayals, friendships, secrets and unexpected returns. Maguire excels at creating multi-dimensional characters that rise above their many flaws to take their place in Ozi [...]

I read "Wicked" fairly quickly after getting used to the strangeness of having a favorite story warped and perverted: The different take on "Wizard of Oz" was fascinating and the writing was fresh. "Son of a Witch" continued to hold my attention as I found Liir fascinating and complex. "A Lion Among Men" piqued my curiosity, but I found finishing the book rather challenging. This fourth installment"Out of OZ" is so dark and convoluted and confusing, I had to make myself read its pages. Perhaps t [...]

I was a little disappointed in "Out of Oz", but then it's difficult to write an ending and juggle so many characters' lives at once. Perhaps my greatest issue was that there wasn't closure, which I guess is realistic (and Maguire's Oz books are kind of the gritty reboot of Baum's Oz books) but a little unsatisfying for the reader. The ending left an opening for another book, which was an odd decision because this is supposed to be the final book in the Oz years. Storylines, instead of being reso [...]

Here is my review, posted on , and Barnes & Noble."The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy." At long lastGregory Maguire has completed his magical series based on L. Frank Baum's immortal OZ books. Taking on the task of continuing so legendary a series [...]

This book felt like it took forever to get through. While parts of it were very creative, at times I felt hit over the head with the authors message. And it could have been at least 200 pages shorter! I thought the inclusion of maps in the endpapers meant he wouldn't have to describe in every detail the fields and topography of Oz! It was great to catch up with Glinda, Liir, Candle and the other characters we've grown to love, and Maguire is very creative and at times quite funny. The story pick [...]

Why do I do this to myself? I literally hated the other three bookst I just HAVE to read this one to get some closure!

My thoughts: boring, tedious, made me wish I was illiterate (insert another negative adjective here). Giving this book one star pained me. Gregory Maguire clearly had little direction or focus in this book. I found myself wondering what main plot was. It was clear that Maguire was using Rain as character who behaved as a second Elphaba. But he failed miserably. Rain as a character got on my nerves more than she did endear me to the story. And I hate to sound immature, but I found the sex scene b [...]

First and foremost let me say when I initially started this series I was so amped because the author gave me a different perspective on everything that had to do with OZ instead of the supposed wicked witch of the west just being wicked she was actually misunderstood made me see her in a whole different light. Fast forward to the last of the 4 books in the series I think with this book the Author wanted to wrap everything up and clear up loose ends and blah blah blah. It was way too long, it was [...]

Having read the previous three volumes in the Wicked series, I was eager to read this final entry in the hopes that it would fulfill the promise (and premise) of what came before.The author is in full form here, his writing style as consistent as ever. That's both good and bad in that you still get lots of description of places and things, but it comes with that aloofness that has characterized a lot of the series. I think the first one was the most exciting and interesting because it was new an [...]

An avid fan of the first book of The Wicked Years series, Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, I had pressed through the second and third installments with a mix of pleasure and tedium. Son of a Witch was intriguing if a little slow and A Lion Among Men was slow and a little intriguing. This book, the conclusion of the series explores the unfolding war between Loyal Oz (primarily the Emerald City) and the outlying provinces (primarily Munchkinland). At its heart is Rain, [...]

I only gave this book three stars because I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about it. I liked it well enough to read it beginning to end, but I was somewhat ambivalent about it the whole time. It had its ups and downs. It wasn't one of my favorites, but I felt that I should read it, and I was never tempted to give up on it, even through the parts I found less interesting. The book definitely had a certain je ne sais quoi to it. I can't say that I was fascinated by the story it told, but at [...]

Eleven years ago I fell in love with Wicked. I closed the cover after finishing it the first time ( I rarely re-read a book but have done so with Wicked three times) and was completely enamored with the world of Oz and its inhabitants. Then along came Son of A Witch and I wasn't nearly as pleased as I was with Wicked but that last line "she cleaned up green" was a promise of good things to come for me. A Lion Among Men I read feeling I owed it to the series and I eagerly awaited Out Of Oz; only [...]

If I ever finish "A Lion Among Men"

Out of Oz is the last book in the Wicked series on which the incredibly successful musical was based. I began it with a strange mixture of excitement and reluctance, for a few reasons. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was absolutely mind-blowing, as was the sequel, Son of a Witch. They were the kind of books you read, thinking 'this is OK I guess' and then by the time you turn the final page you think 'that was the best thing I ever read.' The way that Maguire so clever [...]

This is the fourth and final volume in Maguire’s series “The Wicked Years,” which started with his retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the viewpoint of the Wicked Witch of the West –she’s called “Elphaba” in these books, a name made from the initials of L. Frank Baum, the original creator of Oz. At a crucial moment of telling stories, Baum’s eye apparently fell upon a filing cabinet and the upper drawer was labeled A-N, while the lower was O-Z. So I guess we might have h [...]

This is a review of the whole series.Always a fan of all things Oz, this series was perfect for me. This is the classic children’s story, rewritten and re-imagined for adults. This is the story of what probably really happened in OZ. This story has been around long enough for most people to know something about it, especially with the popularity of the musical Wicked, but unless you’ve read all the books, you don’t know the whole story. I read book one a long time ago and have read the oth [...]

Until a couple of months ago, I hadn’t read “Wicked.” I haven’t seen the musical, either, which apparently differs quite a bit from the book. When I picked up “Wicked,” I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I got — and that was a delightful surprise. Gregory Maguire’s Oz is not the Oz we all know from the movie (and let’s face it, that’s our point of reference — how many of us have slogged through L. Frank Baum’s original series?), and “Wicked” is [...]

As someone who absolutely loved Wicked, I HAD to know how Maguire would end it. For me, the first book in this series was so magical. By giving Elphaba a backstory, Maguire made me feel sympathy for a character I had always known to hate, the evil Wicked Witch of the West. Knowing his writing style and the fact the the two previous books in this series did not go over too well, I was hesitant but curiosity got the better of me. For those who have not read the entire series so far, the book begin [...]