The Magic of Oz (Oz, #13) in The Wizard of Oz Group

Apr 18, 2019 Nathan Dehoff rated it really liked it

I reread this in preparation for this year's OzCon International. I believe it was the last of Baum's Oz books I read, and I remember it not being one of my favorites. I think I was a little disappointed that Ruggedo and Kiki Aru's plot was thwarted because the Wizard of Oz happened to show up in the forest, and to hide in the same tree into which Kiki was speaking; and nothing really came of the plan recruit the animals of the Forest of Gugu to conquer Oz. A lot of Oz books are resolved with co I reread this in preparation for this year's OzCon International. I believe it was the last of Baum's Oz books I read, and I remember it not being one of my favorites. I think I was a little disappointed that Ruggedo and Kiki Aru's plot was thwarted because the Wizard of Oz happened to show up in the forest, and to hide in the same tree into which Kiki was speaking; and nothing really came of the plan recruit the animals of the Forest of Gugu to conquer Oz. A lot of Oz books are resolved with coincidences, but here it kind of seems like this whole idea is introduced and thrown out. I think J.L. Bell considers this his favorite, and he's mentioned how the plots intersect well and the characters are well-defined. In fairness, Kiki is a sullen teenage boy with power but no real experience, so it makes sense he'd make mistakes. The Glass Cat behaves in a rather feline fashion, being out for herself and willing to do things only if they bring her attention. She sees no problem with tormenting the monkeys and is indignant when they get their revenge, and does not get along with Dorothy's pet kitten Eureka. The Wizard is shrewd and still a little tricky, bargaining with Rango in order to get what he wants. Cap'n Bill plays the Batman-style role of having no special powers but being able to figure things out quickly and improvise solutions to just about any problem.

As for Ruggedo, no longer a ruling tyrant, he is instead a con-artist and war propagandist. It's interesting to me that everyone seems to realize he's not really trustworthy, but find his ideas convincing and agreeable enough that they'll go along with him for the time being. He's a quick thinker and has a way of convincing others even when he ends up being contradictory. He tells Kiki he wants to be King of Oz, "which is better than being King of the Nomes," then not long after that says he's willing to let Kiki rule. He initially tells Kiki that the beasts will join him because they're "savage and cruel," but when they turn out to be fairly civilized in their own fashion, he cooks up the story about the humans wanting to enslave them. He manages to steer the conversation away from why the animals would want to be turned into humans and toward whether he's capable of such transformations. When Kiki panics and turns against him, the Nome quickly talks him down and comes up with another plan, a desperate one to be sure, but pretty clever considering how quickly he thinks of it. Baum wrote the book while the United States was involved in World War I, and readers have drawn comparisons to the Russian Revolution; but it's somewhat different in that the animals seem to be pretty content and only want to fight the humans when Ruggedo makes up a lie, and not all of them are convinced even then. The thing is, there could be some actual support for the animals being treated as second-class citizens in Oz, or of haves and have-nots even without money being in use, but the narrative steers clear of that.

The idea of Ozma's friends trying to find birthday presents for her gives them a reason to explore the wild lands of Oz. I noticed that it's difficult for some of them to come up with ideas, yet it's still pretty early in Ozma's reign, so it must just get harder every year. I'm terrible at coming up with gift ideas myself. Amazon wishlists help, but some people either don't have them or don't have much on them. I'm sure it's even more difficult when the birthday girl can obtain pretty much anything she wants through magic. The magic word is an interesting plot device, but the fact that the Wizard and maybe Ozma still know it after the book seems like it would just make things too easy for them. Then again, you could say that about the Magic Belt, which isn't even mentioned here despite its being the Nome King's main goal in Emerald City. ...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Jeff rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My journey of Oz books with my children, has lead us to L. Frank Baum's penultimate volume, "The Magic of Oz". One of my all time favorites of the series, this book really highlights how Mr. Baum had grown as an author. He is able to carry two and sometimes even three plots simultaneously with a great deal of success. Some of this I attribute to his long career as an author and some I attribute to the time has was able to devote to this book. Baum had been relatively sick for the majority of his ...more

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