Thea of Oz

The Ozite Cycle #1

by Rebecca A. Demarest, Jason Morgado (Illustrator)

Hundreds of years have passed since Dorothy first went to Oz. Since then, global warming has caused devastating storms that strip our world and dump the detritus on Oz, including the occasional refugee. Thea is one such traveler, and she’s been on Oz since she was a young child. Little does she know that she is in fact the direct descendent of the fabled Gale girl, which has just come to the attention of the green-skinned Minister of Trade. Accompanied by her disdainful cat Mrow, Thea must confront the villainy that her ancestors fomented all those years ago.

Thea of Oz is the first novella in the five-part Ozite cycle, illustrated by Jason Morgado.

Genres: Fantasy

40 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2014

About the author

Rebecca A. Demarest is an award-winning author, playwright, book designer, and writing instructor living in Seattle, WA with her husband and two muppets. Her short work has appeared alongside authors like Cat Rambo and dramatized for the stage and NPR. When not being held hostage by words, you can find her at her day job (working the people side of unbelievably awesome tech) tending to her indoor jungle (now with real frogs and lizards!), crafting, sewing, running Dungeons and Dragons as a professional Dungeon Master, and failing to teach her dogs new tricks. For more information on her work, please visit rebeccademarest.com.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Thea of Oz" by Rebecca A. Demarest which I won through Goodreads Giveaways takes children back to the wonderful world of Oz where Thea, a descendent of the legendary Dorothy lives with her Auntie Gertrude after the death of her parents. When devastating storms threaten the earth and people are willing to pay anything to evacuate to Oz, Minister Elphred makes her aunt a proposition that has Thea and her cat Mrow accompanying the green-skinned man to the palace to negotiate the details. What she doesn't expect is to face an evil thought long gone from Oz.

This short novella is plot driven with little character development although Thea Gale is a likeable young girl who would like to see earth again. She's clever and very good with numbers which delights her Aunt Gertrude, a shrewd business woman. Elphred is the smooth-tongued, conniving and greedy Minister of Trade descended from the witchery that haunted the Oz of Dorothy's time.

In a tale which I would like to see more child friendly with larger printing, are woven beautifully realistic illustrations each one cleverly high-lighted with a tincture of green so reminiscent of Oz. The plot like the illustrations is imaginative and unique and filled with charming creations like a delightfully intelligent cat named Mrow and a clockwork maid, Clack-tick.

I enjoyed this novella and think it would be very popular with children if it was a little longer and more reader friendly.

[Unsolved ☕︎ Mystery]

I tried to read this one....I couldn't do it. I lost interest. It has fantasy elements and I'm not into that. Nonetheless, I do love The Wizard of Oz.



Since I didn't finish it, there will not be a rating.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thea is from Earth but has been in Oz almost as long as she can remember. Global warming on Earth has increased the frequency of storms that transport people to Oz. As a result, Oz has taken in Earthen refugees.
Though I am not overly familiar with Oz and and am not sure what has been made up for this story and what is from the original world of Oz, I still really enjoyed this story. Though these books are novella length, somehow she has condensed down the feeling of a full-length novel into thirty-something pages.
We learn along with Thea that she is a descendant of the original Dorothy. Thea and her cat, Mrow, accompany the Minister of Trade to oversee a project on behalf of her aunt.

My reviews for the other books can be found on their respective listings.

[Jenny Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I currently received this book from Library Thing through the member give out program. However somehow I can't find the book on library thing so I can't review it over there. This book is only 35 pages long so it is a pretty short book. The story is based on the story of wizard of Oz it is kind of like a sequel. Basically people could now go to the world of Oz by running into tornados due to global warming. A girl name Thea and her family purposely ran into a tornado and only Thea survived since the storms are not stable. She then lived with her "aunt" who sell things from Earth to people for a living known as the Garbage Queen. One day a minister came to her aunt and said that he could stablized the tornados so things could move easily between the two worlds without acidents. He wanted to establish a trading partnership with the Garbage Queen and invited Thea to go to the palace with him to witness the process. However when Thea is in the palace she discovered many secrets and she is on her own with her talking cat. I personally really liked the concept of the book and I like the plot twist at the end. However I felt the end is a little rush considering there is only 35 pages. Also I really liked the illustration in the book they are pretty stunning.

[Erik Twisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thea of Oz is Book one of the Ozite Cycle.

I really loved the way this book takes fictional into the real world and back. Although this novel is only 40 pages the story was catching and very easy to read and this will make you hungry to read the rest of the serie. Thea of Oz is the first novella in the five-part Ozite cycle, illustrated by Jason Morgado.
The story is about Thea who will travel back to Oz after a very long time. I think this is a lovely story well written and a nice present for book lovers but also for people who are not big book readers.

Thanks a lot Rebecca A. Demarest and goodreads for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing novella.

Thea of Oz: Book One of the Ozite Cycle

[The Elves · Rating 4 out of 5]

We received this book as a Goodreads First Reads, and we should say that we’ve never read the original Oz series and have only the movies based on them to go by for comparison. This is a short book, only 35 pages, and just a taste of what the full series would be. It starts a bit slowly but, we think, has all that it takes to develop into a charming and intriguing tale. We particularly like the talking cat, but are not so fond of the robot maid, and we are sorry that what seemed to be a potential and quite interesting major villain was dispensed with here in this beginning story, but then that’s what happened in the original series as well, isn’t it? And we have a sense that for younger readers, or listeners for this seems a good book to read to young ones, it might turn out to be a quite interesting tale.

The Silver Elves

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book to read and review. It arrived in just a few days, sat on my shelf for a few more and then I actually picked it up and before I replaced it on the shelf I had read the entire story. This is supposed to be the first of a 5 part series. My first comment is that I want all 5 and that the first is too short. I wanted more of the adventure. I am excited that Thea is relative of Dorothy, although she was not aware of it, and I love her cat. I think the book is well written and the series will hold my interest. I recommend it to all fans of Oz!

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads

This book was "ok." I am a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz, so I had high hopes for this book. Maybe my hopes were too high. I also felt that I couldn't let myself get truely into the storyline because I knew that I might never read the next 9 novelas to make it a complete story. Each book will come out each year, and that is too far apart for me to really get into it.

[Eric Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy stories that expand known fictional worlds and Rebecca Demarest does a fantastic job taking the reader back to the Land of Oz. I enjoyed Thea's perspective and I loved the fact that the human world and Oz are trade partners. I can completely understand how this would be a real possibility, taking a fictional world and adding real world situations. Rebecca is a fantastic writer and I look forward to the next book of the series.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book in the giveaways on this site. I love the original Wizard of Oz book and movie and this book compliments them to me. It was a very good read, I couldn't put it down. Only downside was that it was shorter than I expected. Only because it was so good to read I wanted more of it to read. Nonetheless, was an excellent book and I am looking forward to the sequels :)

[Angelica Dimeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy from Librarything.
Thea Lives in Oz with her aunt who is a salvager of earth items.
Thea goes to help The Witch of the West's Grandson who despises people from Earth.
He wants to destroy Earth But he did not count on Thea Mrow to stop him.
I enjoyed this quick read but what sold me was the beautiful illustrations.
Thanks for the opportunity.

[Felelith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not care for this novella. It seem rushed for just a small part of the story. I will not be buying the rest of the series; actually I will most likely forget the series exists before the next book (more like a pamphlet) comes out.

[Jill Sheets · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful novella. Not only is this book a quick read, but it pulls you in by the end of the first page.

I am looking forward to not only reading more of the Oz novellas, but more books by this author.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the book. Will read the rest of the series. True to original with a more earthy balance. Enjoyed the relatives angle. Great for young and old readers alike.

[Edward Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda like a mini sequel to the Wizard of Oz.

(received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads)