I would give this four stars for Maguire's beautiful writing, but I have to admit I didn't feel like I understood the whole book, so I have to give it three. (That does make sense, really.) I bought this when it was new and then forgot to read it, so now that "Out of Oz" has been published, I've finally read this one.

As I began this book, I wasn't sure I would like it very much. I was glad I had somewhat recently reread (listened to) "Wicked", in which I discovered there was a whole lot more than I had remembered, but I had also decided not to reread "Son of a Witch" because I hadn't liked it nearly as much. This book is about personal development by repeated failure, among other things, and it can bring a reader into a low mood. It's not light reading. It does shed light on some of the loose ends from the other two book. By the end of the book, I was able to appreciate some of the more difficult passages earlier in the book and had a better feeling about the work as a whole.

And then I went back to reread "Son of a Witch". (Although you do not have to to understand "A Lion Among Men".)