Gregory Maguire’s first novel, Wicked (1995), began and ended with Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. Much of it read like a “fanfic” — a story based on characters and situations written by someone else. But his characters came alive and his world became far more real and memorable than the original. By the end, I found myself immersed in a completely new world, with new characters and conflicts, which only occasionally linked to characters and situations from the original Oz book. The story was like a tethered ball — the author whacked it and it flew far and free until it reached the end of the rope, and then bounced back again. The story and the characters took on a fresh life of their own, but then got yanked back into the mold of the original book. The events of the original book determined the ending of this one, despite all the new life and tension of this brilliant new fantasy story.
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999) begins with elements of the Cinderella story but the author freely and deftly transforms that tale and goes in totally unexpected directions. Apparently, this time the author was confident enough not to limit himself to the scope of the original. It reads more like a creative and fantasized historical novel than a fairy tale.
Lost (2001) has echoes of the Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ Christmas Carol, but is a totally independent work. The author is fascinated with human psychology and uses fiction to explore unusual and interesting possibilities. As one of his characters explains, “I still think history is really he study of how we change, even how human psychology changes. Not how universal and interchangeable we all are across the ages.” This novel is more historical fiction than fantasy.
Mirror, Mirror (2003) freely transforms the Snow White story. The occasional simliarities to the old tale provide an echoing depth; but anything can and does happen in what once again reads more like historical fiction than fairytale.
Son of a Witch (2005) returns to the very different, tangible, and believable fantasy world of Oz that Maguire created with Wicked. But references to Baum’s original characters and situations are far fewer. The old world is a distant memory. And the new world presents extraordinary challenges for the main character Liir, who may or may not be the son of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). The original story is just a launch pad. The adventure told so well here is all Maguire’s. And when we are left with questions yet to be resolved, we are not disappointed. On the contrary, we are delighted at the prospect of many more tales set in this three-dimensional Oz with its unforgettable characters.
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