A Lion Among Men - Gregory Maguire

   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).