Rereading: GLINDA OF OZ by L. Frank Baum

This fourteenth Oz book of 1920 was the final one completed before Baum’s death. His usual introduction is replaced by a note from the publishers telling of the author’s passing, and promising more Oz stories from his “unfinished notes.” In fact, they hired Ruth Plumly Thompson to continue the series, and she wrote way more than Baum did, more on that in the next Oz book review.

While Dorothy is visiting Glinda, her friend and the most powerful sorceress and protector of the realm of Oz, she reads in Glinda’s magic book about an impending war between two little-known groups living at the northern edge of the Gilliken country, just south of the Deadly Desert that surrounds Oz. These people, the Skeezers and the Flatheads, are about to go to war. When Dorothy learns that, she quickly returns to the Emerald City to tell Ozma, ruler of Oz. Ozma also knows nothing about these people, but decides she must visit them and try to make peace. She and Dorothy leave the next day, but soon find themselves in trouble. Both groups are ruled by leaders with powerful magic that Ozma is unable to counter. First the two girls have to flee from the mountain of the Flatheads, then they’re taken prisoner on the island of the Skeezers. An expedition led by Glinda to rescue them is comprised of Oz’s finest heroes and characters, but when they arrive, they find there’s little they can do, and more help is needed to free the prisoners and restore peace.

I quite like the plot of this book, there’s none of the idle wandering and pop-up threats that fill many pages in some of Baum’s other Oz stories, and the characters are appealing and interesting. Recommended.

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