2008; 309 pages. New Author? : No. Book 3 (out of 4) in the “The Wicked Years”
series. Genres: Revisionist Fairy Tale; Fantasy;
Fairy Tales. Overall Rating : 5*/10.
Let’s face it, in the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion gets portrayed in a pretty poor light. He’s
the King of the Beasts, yet he’d be the first one to tell you that he’s a
chicken at heart.
He joins up with Dorothy and
her little troupe on the Yellow Brick Road as they journey to meet the Wizard
of Oz. The WOO (the Animals’ moniker for the Wizard) gives
the Cowardly Lion a magic medal, promising that it will make him brave, but in
reality, it has a placebo effect, because it turns out the Lion already was
imbued with bravery. He just needed to
realize it. What an idiot.
But that’s just one side
of the story. Maybe the Cowardly Lion only thinks he’s a scaredy-cat. Or maybe
he’s a victim of a smear campaign, either by the Emerald City citizens or those
pint-sized Munchkinlanders.
It’s time to hear the
other side of the story.
What’s To Like...
A Lion Among Men
is the third book in Gregory Maguire’s “The
Wicked Years” series. The first book, Wicked, was a fantastic success as a novel, a musical,
and a soundtrack album. I’ve been
reading the series in order, but at a rate of about one book every six years or
so. Each book focuses on a different
character from the world of Oz: Wicked retells the story of Elphaba
Thropp, aka the “Wicked Witch of the West”. Book 2, Son of a
Witch, examines the life of a boy rumored to be Elphaba’s son, Liir.
Now it’s the Cowardly Lion’s
turn to grace the spotlight. His name is Brrr, and he knows next to nothing
about his parents, clan, homeland, and early years. He wanders all over the countryside, asking anyone he meets whether they might remember a stray lion cub. For the most part, it's to no avail.
Along his way, Brrr and the
reader meet all sorts of interesting creatures.
Almost all of the animals talk, including Bears, Ocelots, Squirrels,
Apes, and Boars. But there are also Trolls,
Dragons, Dwarves, and Tree Elves to cross paths with, as well as lots of
humans.
One of the two main storylines
features Yackle, an incredibly old Maunt (aka
“Nun”) who’s forgotten how to die.
As an “official court reporter” for the Emperor of Oz, Brrr is entitled to
interview her, ostensibly looking for information as to the whereabouts of
Elphaba and Liir. However it turns out that Brrr has an ulterior motive. The
other main storyline doesn’t get started until around page 260, and it would be a spoiler to give any details.
The ending is a mixed bag. Some of the plot threads are tied up, such as
Yackle’s. At least I think hers is. Others remain unresolved, presumably to be
addressed in the next and final book in the series, Out
of Oz, which resides on my Kindle.
I wouldn’t call A Lion Among Men a standalone story, although at
the rate I’ve been reading these, for me it essentially was. Methinks it would behoove me to read Book 4
in the not-too-distant future.
Kewlest New Word ...
Come a cropper (v., phrase)
: to suffer a defeat or disaster.
Others: Demimonde (n.); Put paid to (v., phrase);
Haut monde (n., phrase).
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.5/5
based on 979 ratings and 359 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.32/5 based on 27,838
ratings and 2,037 reviews.
Things That Sound Dirty But Aren’t…
“I’ll
come with,” said the Squirrel succulently.
“Not if you value your nuts.”
(pg. 166)
Excerpts...
“Do you know why the chicken crossed the
road?”
“Is this a joke?”
Nothing was a joke to Dorothy. “Because I was on the other side,” she
finished. “I was standing on one foot
and singing a little song about, oh, I don’t know what. And that brave little hen crossed the
dangerous road to be with me.”
“What happened to her?”
“One Saturday night Uncle Henry wrung her
neck and Auntie Em made chicken stew. I
cried and cried but actually she tasted pretty good.” (pg. 159)
One may, oh, cook poorly, or be socially
graceless, or invest unwisely, or fail to achieve the best of personal
hygiene. But one doesn’t want to live
wrong—from breath to breath, from start to finish, to get it wrong, so wrong,
so fully wrong, that one has never had the glimmer of an idea that it might be
better. Or does one? Maybe if you’re going to get it that wrong,
it’s better to get it all wrong. The
proverbial stupid ant crawling on the hat brim of the prophet, eager only for
the shade behind the prophet’s left ear, and ignorant of the civilization-altering
sermon it is witnessing. (pg.
194)
“Fate is only fate
once it has happened. Even our own
deaths are only theoretical until we croak.”
(pg. 261)
There are some quibbles. The amount of cussing is
low – I counted 8 instances in the first 20%, but it does include some
f-bombs. There are one or two
rolls-in-the-hay, and a couple mentions of feminine cycles.
One reviewer complained about
the excessively flowery language, and there is at least one passage like
that. But I think Gregory Maguire was making
a point there, and frankly, 99% of the text is easy to comprehend.
There’s lots of extras at the
start of the book: Ruling Family Trees, Oz’s recent history, and an excerpt from Brrr’s
backstory. Only the last one is worth
your time, and it just gives a valuable hint as to how Brrr came to be, which
is good to know as we tag along with him seeking information of his family
tree.
The biggest problem with A Lion Among Men is the slow pacing and lack of excitement. The first three-quarters of the book is
really just a lot of talking and zero action.
Given that the armies of “Loyal Oz” and the “Free State of Munchkinland”
are itching to go to war, and that the mauntery (“nunnery”)
where Brrr is interviewing Yackle lies in the direct path of both those armies,
there was ample opportunity for some thrills and spills. But it never happens.
All of which made for a boring
read. Hopefully Out
of Oz will be a lot more exciting.
5 Stars. As shown above, there’s a sizable disparity between the Amazon rating of A Lion Among Men and the Goodreads one. In most cases, I’ve found that the latter’s score is the more accurate of the two. Certainly its database (27,838 ratings) is a lot larger than Amazon’s (979 ratings).
