That's better
Jul. 10th, 2003 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinWell, The Emerald City of Oz is a considerable improvement over The Road to Oz. I suspect that it's because Baum was convinced that this would be his last Oz book; if he was sick of writing them, he could at least put some effort into the finale for the series.
Most of this book takes place in Ozma-era Oz, but Baum puts some conflict into the story by having the characters visit several rough analogues of the Dainty China Country from the first book, and he's trying harder with the whimsy, if not with making the tale internally consistent. I also like the fact that Aunt Em and Uncle Henry actually immigrate to Oz, thereby blowing to hell the "was it all a dream?" cliche that mars so much children's fantasy, including a certain film adaptation.
Best of all, the Nome King is trying to invade Oz through an underground tunnel, and to that end his General Guph has a series of adventures in nasty places recruiting evil allies.
Though Baum's finale tries to put a definite end to the series (though much more gently than Larry Niven's "Down in Flames"), he was persuaded to return to Oz for a yearly series of novels, presumably as an easy lunch ticket. I can't say as I blame him... making a living writing isn't easy. But I doubt I'll read them all.
Most of this book takes place in Ozma-era Oz, but Baum puts some conflict into the story by having the characters visit several rough analogues of the Dainty China Country from the first book, and he's trying harder with the whimsy, if not with making the tale internally consistent. I also like the fact that Aunt Em and Uncle Henry actually immigrate to Oz, thereby blowing to hell the "was it all a dream?" cliche that mars so much children's fantasy, including a certain film adaptation.
Best of all, the Nome King is trying to invade Oz through an underground tunnel, and to that end his General Guph has a series of adventures in nasty places recruiting evil allies.
Though Baum's finale tries to put a definite end to the series (though much more gently than Larry Niven's "Down in Flames"), he was persuaded to return to Oz for a yearly series of novels, presumably as an easy lunch ticket. I can't say as I blame him... making a living writing isn't easy. But I doubt I'll read them all.