'Hardly more than a kitten . . . I had thought to call it Prrr, but it shivers more often than it purrs, so I call it Brrr instead.' — From WickedSince Wicked was first published in 1995, millions of readers have discovered Gregory Maguire's fantastically encyclopedic Oz, a world filled with characters both familiar and new, darkly conceived and daringly reimagined. In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion — the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in Wicked.While civil war looms in Oz, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, an enigmatic figure known as Brrr — the Cowardly Lion — arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. As payment, Yackle, who hovered on the sidelines of Elphaba's life, demands some answers of …
'Hardly more than a kitten . . . I had thought to call it Prrr, but it shivers more often than it purrs, so I call it Brrr instead.' — From WickedSince Wicked was first published in 1995, millions of readers have discovered Gregory Maguire's fantastically encyclopedic Oz, a world filled with characters both familiar and new, darkly conceived and daringly reimagined. In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion — the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in Wicked.While civil war looms in Oz, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, an enigmatic figure known as Brrr — the Cowardly Lion — arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. As payment, Yackle, who hovered on the sidelines of Elphaba's life, demands some answers of her own.Brrr surrenders his story to the ailing maunt: Abandoned as a cub, his earliest memories are gluey hazes, and his path from infancy in the Great Gillikin Forest is no Yellow Brick Road. Seeking to redress an early mistake, he trudges through a swamp of ghosts, becomes implicated in a massacre of trolls, and falls in love with a forbidding Cat princess. In the wake of laws that oppress talking Animals, he avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the war-mongering Emperor of Oz.A Lion Among Men chronicles a battle of wits hastened by the Emerald City's approaching armies. What does the Lion know of the whereabouts of the Witch's boy, Liir? What can Yackle reveal about the auguries of the Clock of the Time Dragon? And what of the Grimmerie, the magic book that vanished as quickly as Elphaba? Is destiny ever arbitrary? Can those tarnished by infamy escape their sobriquets — cowardly, wicked, brainless, criminally earnest — to claim their own histories, to live honorably within their own skins before they're skinned alive?At once a portrait of a would-be survivor and a panoramic glimpse of a world gone shrill with war fever, Gregory Maguire's new novel is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics.
I found this book completely unnecessary. Without spoiling the story for others, I would just like to say that the Cowardly Lion, Brrr, was not an intriguing character and did not need his own narrative. Although the novel would have you assume the book revolves around Elphaba's past and her relation to Mother Yackle, you learn almost nothing new about the beloved protagonist of Wicked, or her living relatives. The book's plot could have been summarized in a thirty-page short story and it would have had the same effect without all the irrelevant filler.
I really like original wizard of Oz story, it is one of my favourites and I think that it is fantastic that somebody is keeping the story alive.
A Lion among men is biography of the cowardly lion. The experience of reading this is very similar to a real biography that has some shocking truths in it. I wasn't expecting the lion to say the sort of things he does about the characters from the original story...my opinion of Dorothy has completely changed now. haha
If you are a fan of the wizard of Oz and wicked then give this story a go.
I'm torn about this, the third book in the Wicked series. I was so unexpectedly moved by the second book in the series, Son of a Witch (more so even than the oh-so-popular first book Wicked). In many ways, this volume was a retread of similar themes. Once again we have a protagonist faced with nearly identical issues: unclear sense of parental origins, a disconnectedness from the world around him, cowardice and retreat from destiny at every turn. The novelty that this time it's the cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz keeps the proceedings aloft for a while, but ultimately this book fails to resolve itself with the emotional punch of its predecessor. Son of a Witch made me overcome with emotion in its final pages; not so here. I presume we'll have books on the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Glinda, and Toto to look forward to in years ahead, but …
I'm torn about this, the third book in the Wicked series. I was so unexpectedly moved by the second book in the series, Son of a Witch (more so even than the oh-so-popular first book Wicked). In many ways, this volume was a retread of similar themes. Once again we have a protagonist faced with nearly identical issues: unclear sense of parental origins, a disconnectedness from the world around him, cowardice and retreat from destiny at every turn. The novelty that this time it's the cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz keeps the proceedings aloft for a while, but ultimately this book fails to resolve itself with the emotional punch of its predecessor. Son of a Witch made me overcome with emotion in its final pages; not so here. I presume we'll have books on the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Glinda, and Toto to look forward to in years ahead, but this volume has dimmed my excitement at the prospect quite a bit. That is not to say Maguire has been robbed of his gifts: oh no, this book is full of lush beautiful prose, subtle wonderful snarky one-liners, the unexpected twist and turn. But (as in the two preceding volumes) the dirge like relentless gloom that infuses all the proceedings can be a bit much after a while. If you loved Wicked, you'll want to read this. If you loved Son of a Witch even more, prepare for a letdown.
