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27th out of 52 books
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57 voters
Wicked & Son of a Witch (The Wicked Years #1-2)
This unique volume combines two modern classics spun from the imagination of national bestselling author Gregory Maguire. Wicked, told from the perspective of Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, gives the wildly entertaining prehistory of the Emerald City of Oz before the arrival of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodsman. The saga continu...more
Leather Bound, Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics, 735 pages
Published
October 3rd 2008
by Barnes & Noble
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This book (these books, depending on the edition you're reading) will certainly change the way you look at Oz. More like the darker "Return to Oz" that, depending on your age and what sort of movies you liked growing up, may or may not have haunted many of our nightmares during our formative years, and less like the magical, sweet, (if sometimes somewhat dark), wonderful world of "The Wizard of Oz" that many more have experienced. I'd have to argue that these books made the movies make so much m...more
Wicked..............
I often was drawn to this book when I saw it at the book stores. I would pick up the book and peruse the pages, as I do when purchasing a book. Each time I did that I just thought it was too hard of a read. It seemed too hard to follow so I would put down the book and move on. I must have done this on ten different visits to various book stores. I really really wanted to like and read this book but every time it just seemed like it would be too much of an undertaking. Then on...more
I often was drawn to this book when I saw it at the book stores. I would pick up the book and peruse the pages, as I do when purchasing a book. Each time I did that I just thought it was too hard of a read. It seemed too hard to follow so I would put down the book and move on. I must have done this on ten different visits to various book stores. I really really wanted to like and read this book but every time it just seemed like it would be too much of an undertaking. Then on...more
A book from a friend to help an airline flight pass more quickly. This book is the second in a triology. Although I hadn't read the first book or seen the play, Wicked, it was easy to pick up the thread and enter the story. It's essentially a book about what happens after Dorothy has left Oz and the Great Wizard has been deposed. The main character is a young man, who may or may not be the son of the Wicked Witch of the West, and his quest to find a childhood friend who was caught up in the poli...more
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It took me five weeks to read three quarters of this compilation, then i had to tap out. I loved the first part of it, the tale of Wicked. It was intriguing, well paced, and made you want to keep reading.
Son of a Witch, the second half, I could not do. The concept was good, but the pacing was horrible and it tended to wander off on irrelevent tangents for a chapter or two at a time. I finally gave up because i was forcing myself to read it and not enjoying it anymore.
Wicked was awesome. Son of a...more
Son of a Witch, the second half, I could not do. The concept was good, but the pacing was horrible and it tended to wander off on irrelevent tangents for a chapter or two at a time. I finally gave up because i was forcing myself to read it and not enjoying it anymore.
Wicked was awesome. Son of a...more
I bought this book at the book store, Barnes and noble.
It was looking nice in leather and I knew ‘Wicked’ is one of musical show.
I didn’t know this is one of Oz story.
Beginning at yellow brick road amazed me with grown-up fairy tail.
Glinda’s blonde hair and beauty embraced me.
However, I stopped reading for a while.
I was little disinterested in Animal and Elphaba’s skin made me feel weird.
I don't like Irish pagan;
Father told me I'm an English American.
I don't like Animal;
Mother told me I'm marryi...more
It was looking nice in leather and I knew ‘Wicked’ is one of musical show.
I didn’t know this is one of Oz story.
Beginning at yellow brick road amazed me with grown-up fairy tail.
Glinda’s blonde hair and beauty embraced me.
However, I stopped reading for a while.
I was little disinterested in Animal and Elphaba’s skin made me feel weird.
I don't like Irish pagan;
Father told me I'm an English American.
I don't like Animal;
Mother told me I'm marryi...more
Gregory Maguire knows how to weave a novel in an intimate way that encaptures the reader into the world he's painting. Both of these novels, WickedandSon of a Witch are must reads.
WICKED~
In Wicked, Maguire puts his own spin of the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West. While keeping true to the events given by the original story, Maguire manages to cut his own version of the story in a whole new way. Elphaba Thropp lives her life in obscurity as the green skinned child born to a minister and h...more
WICKED~
In Wicked, Maguire puts his own spin of the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West. While keeping true to the events given by the original story, Maguire manages to cut his own version of the story in a whole new way. Elphaba Thropp lives her life in obscurity as the green skinned child born to a minister and h...more
I have a soft spot for the origins of villains. I like to feel sorry for my bad guys. Wicked was a story that didn't hit my radar until long after it first came out.
The story of the wicked with of the west is a beautiful one filled with all the necessary ingredients to create a justifiable villain. All too often, villains are just evil through and through but this villain has an origin and a reason for becoming wicked.
The story of the wicked with of the west is a beautiful one filled with all the necessary ingredients to create a justifiable villain. All too often, villains are just evil through and through but this villain has an origin and a reason for becoming wicked.
Introducing Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. 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 Satin Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts.
Sequel to Wicked with interview with author - he said this is about a man who realizes he has to be part of society - he may write a sequel. He also said that after learning about Abu Graib, he wanted to write a story about a prison. Good quotes: "Dragons don't kill people; people kill people." "This is the moment to foment." "Piety is the new political aphrodesiac."
So far....I'm a little lost. I made it through Wicked, but gave up on it after that. There's a lot going on and it's such a weird land, it can be hard to follow (for me at least). I intend to go back and give it another shot. I think it will be really good if I can give it more focus.
I didn't love this book like I thought I would. I thought the musical was outstanding. I enjoyed Ugly Stepsister....but this just didn't float my boat. I found it tedious at times and I had to go back and re-read parts whenever I picked it up again.
I read this book years ago, I remember thinking it was a good read but not as enticing as Wicked. I didn't know it was a series and it probably wasn't at the time. I wonder if it's worth reading again and if the other books are any better.
Good read if you like this kind of books. Can be compared to Lord of the Rings (but easier) and Harry Potter. Good entertainment, not too sophisticated. I can't put it down, though.
Jun 14, 2010
Allison Susee
added it
Love Love Love these two books! I've read Wicked several times and will read Son of a Witch again. Probably will read both of these at least once a year from now on.
These stories surprised me with their sexual intensity as well as overwhelming clouds of uncertainty and hopelessness. It definitely spoke of a somber destiny.
A little darker than I expected after seeing the musical, but I enjoyed discovering the stories behind The Wizard of Oz, a story we all know and love!
The tale of the wicked witch of the west, from her point of view. This book was pretty good; interesting and mildly amusing.
I really liked Wicked until the last section where Elphaba became totally ineffective and moped away 7 years of her life and just gave up her campaign against the Wizard. I did like the story of Elphaba's early years and Nessa and Glinda and Shiz. I found both books to be a little confusing at times...kinda felt like a few things were missing or poorly explained. But maybe it was just intended to leave a little mystery to the world of Oz. I liked the dark and graphic writing, but I felt it got a...more
Apr 04, 2009
Mimi
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Denise and Felicia
Recommended to Mimi by:
Jane
It was hard for me to catch on at first. However, I did enjoy the book. There are parts that I did not understand.
i liked wicked much more than son of a witch and would give wicked 5 stars hands down and son of a witch 3 stars if i were being generous.
This was an interesting series, off the beaten path for me, but enjoyable in an odd way.
It never engaged me. Unfortunate because I was looking forward to reading it.
Jan 11, 2010
Michelle Hall
added it
Wicked was delightful. Son of a Witch is a lot darker, but so far, very good.
couldn't finish the book. just couldn't get myself to care.
Loved it - very vivid images created by the author.
Nothing like the musical. Very strange.
A bit tame compared to Wicked.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Loved it!
I read "Wicked", but not "Son of a Witch." Sadly, I saw the Wicked musical before I read the book. I thought the stage show had a much smoother narration and filled in more gaps than the book. Much of the book was unexplained, and it did not match with the events from "The Wizard of Oz." I get the idea that Maguire wanted to demonstrate how the story could have been communicated incorrectly in "Wizard," but I felt it was too different to be really enjoyable.
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| Lit Muse: Wicked and Son of a Witch | 1 | 4 | Oct 13, 2011 07:41pm |
Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children'...more
More about Gregory Maguire...
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“A capacity for interiority in the growing adult is threatened by the temptation to squander that capacity ruthlessly, to revel in hollowness. The syndrome especially plagues anyone who lives behind a mask...A hundred ways to duck the question: how will I live with myself now that I know what I know?”
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