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smtvash's review against another edition
4.0
Wicked - 5/5
Gregory Maguire's genius idea to expand, revitalize, and retell a villain's story in such a politically charged way changed the game for how modernity would tackle FABLES and FAIRY TALES in decades that followed it's release. It's, in the best way possible, quite a dry and serious book with a sardonic sense of humor and a dark sensibility that ties into it's cynical views of class, race, and politics.
When Wicked hits, it hits hard, and since a lot of it's dry sense of humor and politicking was lost during it's adaptation into the popular musical, Wicked as it exists in its novel form is exclusive to this book making it (for me) that much more special and worth revisiting from time to time.
I love the way Maguire works with iconography, tropes, and uses the space between the lines of the original book, the WB film, and other visuals that surround THE WIZARD OF OZ to tell his re-envisioned tale. Elphaba is a worthy character for the trope of the WICKED WITCH as is Galinda. Fantastic.
Son of a Witch - 3/5
The sequel to big hit, Son of a Witch has a lot of the stuff that makes Wicked work just without any of the strong parallels that Wicked had. Frankly, Son of a Witch is kind of boring. It's action rises slowly and any politicking present unfolds slowly and unsatisfyingly. It just unfortunately, isn't a great follow up, let alone an entertaining one. Where Wicked had me turning the pages quite quickly, Son of Witch was a bit of a slog.
Gregory Maguire's genius idea to expand, revitalize, and retell a villain's story in such a politically charged way changed the game for how modernity would tackle FABLES and FAIRY TALES in decades that followed it's release. It's, in the best way possible, quite a dry and serious book with a sardonic sense of humor and a dark sensibility that ties into it's cynical views of class, race, and politics.
When Wicked hits, it hits hard, and since a lot of it's dry sense of humor and politicking was lost during it's adaptation into the popular musical, Wicked as it exists in its novel form is exclusive to this book making it (for me) that much more special and worth revisiting from time to time.
I love the way Maguire works with iconography, tropes, and uses the space between the lines of the original book, the WB film, and other visuals that surround THE WIZARD OF OZ to tell his re-envisioned tale. Elphaba is a worthy character for the trope of the WICKED WITCH as is Galinda. Fantastic.
Son of a Witch - 3/5
The sequel to big hit, Son of a Witch has a lot of the stuff that makes Wicked work just without any of the strong parallels that Wicked had. Frankly, Son of a Witch is kind of boring. It's action rises slowly and any politicking present unfolds slowly and unsatisfyingly. It just unfortunately, isn't a great follow up, let alone an entertaining one. Where Wicked had me turning the pages quite quickly, Son of Witch was a bit of a slog.
saracat's review against another edition
3.0
This review is specifically about "Son of a Witch" since I read "Wicked" over 10 years ago.
Some of the world building aspects were hard to follow - though this may be due to the fact I have very vague memories of "Wicked" - so I don't really downgrade my rating of the book for that. One thing I did like was that often Macguire would just drop a comment about something that would be common and obvious to the characters and just leave it at that without explanation. But, it was always for things that didn't change the understanding of the story to not have the details written out about. However, since there were so many made-up words within the book, it sometimes hit the mark with me to use so many obscure words to describe things that probably had a more common similar word.
Also, for most of the book it was hard to see what the point of most actions were - and, that can be a good way to set up a story where at the end the seemingly unconnected things become connected. Though that never happened.
On the whole, it felt like Macquire had decided on the main action points and flow of the story and just made the characters act so as to advance that predetermined line, even if it didn't follow what we understood the character to be like.
It sometimes felt like the author was trying to make some grand statement about something universal, but either came shy of it or got so caught up in grandiose ideas and fancy language that it all became lost.
Some of the world building aspects were hard to follow - though this may be due to the fact I have very vague memories of "Wicked" - so I don't really downgrade my rating of the book for that. One thing I did like was that often Macguire would just drop a comment about something that would be common and obvious to the characters and just leave it at that without explanation. But, it was always for things that didn't change the understanding of the story to not have the details written out about. However, since there were so many made-up words within the book, it sometimes hit the mark with me to use so many obscure words to describe things that probably had a more common similar word.
Also, for most of the book it was hard to see what the point of most actions were - and, that can be a good way to set up a story where at the end the seemingly unconnected things become connected. Though that never happened.
On the whole, it felt like Macquire had decided on the main action points and flow of the story and just made the characters act so as to advance that predetermined line, even if it didn't follow what we understood the character to be like.
It sometimes felt like the author was trying to make some grand statement about something universal, but either came shy of it or got so caught up in grandiose ideas and fancy language that it all became lost.
shackbarth105's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tkat's review against another edition
1.0
It took me five weeks to read three quarters of this compilation, then i had to tap out. I loved the first part of it, the tale of Wicked. It was intriguing, well paced, and made you want to keep reading.
Son of a Witch, the second half, I could not do. The concept was good, but the pacing was horrible and it tended to wander off on irrelevent tangents for a chapter or two at a time. I finally gave up because i was forcing myself to read it and not enjoying it anymore.
Wicked was awesome. Son of a Witch not so much...
Son of a Witch, the second half, I could not do. The concept was good, but the pacing was horrible and it tended to wander off on irrelevent tangents for a chapter or two at a time. I finally gave up because i was forcing myself to read it and not enjoying it anymore.
Wicked was awesome. Son of a Witch not so much...
chulis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
francebeck's review against another edition
3.0
I want to explain my rating, because it’s the result of combining individual ratings for each novel.
I loved Wicked. I read it twice, the first time in german, the second time in the original version. I would give Wicked 4/5 stars.
I’ve been wanting to read Son Of A Witch for a decade. The ending of Wicked left me excited for the next chapter in the story. But I just did not enjoy SOAW. I almost stopped reading it and I’m glad that I didn’t because there are gems hidden in the mess that is this story. I can’t even really explain what exactly annoyed me about the novel, but I just feel like the story and characters deserved more. I’d give this novel 2/5 stars wishing I had enjoyed it more.
I loved Wicked. I read it twice, the first time in german, the second time in the original version. I would give Wicked 4/5 stars.
I’ve been wanting to read Son Of A Witch for a decade. The ending of Wicked left me excited for the next chapter in the story. But I just did not enjoy SOAW. I almost stopped reading it and I’m glad that I didn’t because there are gems hidden in the mess that is this story. I can’t even really explain what exactly annoyed me about the novel, but I just feel like the story and characters deserved more. I’d give this novel 2/5 stars wishing I had enjoyed it more.
coslyons's review against another edition
Wicked was really good. It makes you reconsider everything you thought about being "wicked".
I'm currently reading Son of a Witch.
I'm currently reading Son of a Witch.
caroline_carnivorous's review against another edition
4.0
WICKED
Holy shit what a great book. I've never really looked into the whole Oz / Wicked thing, so thanks to my family for getting me this!
I love villain backstories. There's always two sides to a story! I like it way better this way. Elphaba is born with green skin and razorsharp teeth; the first thing she does is bite someone's finger off - and her first word (after refusing to speak but listening carefully) is "horrors". I felt with Nanny and loved her at once. She goes to college, runs away from everyone and has a love affair which leaves her with a son; Liir. They go to live with the wife, sisters-in-law and children of Liir's father - without them knowing the connection, of course.
The action picks up when Elphaba reunites with more people from her past, and Dorothy lands her house right onto Elphaba's sister. She meets up with Glinda, her old roommate from school, and they giggle like young schoolgirls again, but not for long.
Elphaba is almost 40, and her life is pretty messed up - but she does have a home at least. Now only with her son and old nanny, as the whole family has presumably been killed, except for the daughter. This is where Elphaba meets her tragic end, which made me slap my hand across my mouth.
Poor Elphaba. She was just different and had a lot of difficulties in life, mostly because of it. So I guess I'll see now how her son lives on, even though he so far seems kind of naive.
But yeah, I recommend this book for everyone that are teenagers and up! What surprised me is that there is no hiding sex in this book. But it is very well written, I quite enjoyed it and will read it many times more!
SON OF A WITCH
A little heartbroken from Elphaba's death, I read on; this book.
I wondered how much I would like Liir as he tagged along with Dorothy and the others - but how this book was started with him being hurt and in a coma made me care about what had happened to him.
There are a lot of things happening in this book, things he has to do and such; like finding Nor, helping the Elephant princess, joining the guard, and after he goes back to Kiamo Ko, has to attend a bird conference (which is when he gets hurt).
After this we are in the present, and Candle, who has been taking care of Liir in his coma, is pregnant. I personally found their little love story adorable, but then he leaves for Emerald City and does some shit there, and when he comes back, the Elephant princess steals all his attention and he makes Candle play music for the dying princess - he then joins them and the body on their way. This is when we are told that the ''Elphaba lives'' graffiti in the city was written by Nor - but we have barely heard anything about her, except that she escaped and is alive, which is a shame.
The book ends with Liir coming back and finding his abandoned newborn daughter, who he thinks to be dead, but after a while turns out to be alive - he washes her, and her skin turns out to be green.
I liked this one a little bit less than the first book, but it was still good - well-written and all, good characters. It's just that it felt a little tiring reading about Liir going back and forth all the time, haha. But yeah, not bad at all! Worth a read if you like the world of Oz.
Holy shit what a great book. I've never really looked into the whole Oz / Wicked thing, so thanks to my family for getting me this!
I love villain backstories. There's always two sides to a story! I like it way better this way. Elphaba is born with green skin and razorsharp teeth; the first thing she does is bite someone's finger off - and her first word (after refusing to speak but listening carefully) is "horrors". I felt with Nanny and loved her at once. She goes to college, runs away from everyone and has a love affair which leaves her with a son; Liir. They go to live with the wife, sisters-in-law and children of Liir's father - without them knowing the connection, of course.
The action picks up when Elphaba reunites with more people from her past, and Dorothy lands her house right onto Elphaba's sister. She meets up with Glinda, her old roommate from school, and they giggle like young schoolgirls again, but not for long.
Elphaba is almost 40, and her life is pretty messed up - but she does have a home at least. Now only with her son and old nanny, as the whole family has presumably been killed, except for the daughter. This is where Elphaba meets her tragic end, which made me slap my hand across my mouth.
Poor Elphaba. She was just different and had a lot of difficulties in life, mostly because of it. So I guess I'll see now how her son lives on, even though he so far seems kind of naive.
But yeah, I recommend this book for everyone that are teenagers and up! What surprised me is that there is no hiding sex in this book. But it is very well written, I quite enjoyed it and will read it many times more!
SON OF A WITCH
A little heartbroken from Elphaba's death, I read on; this book.
I wondered how much I would like Liir as he tagged along with Dorothy and the others - but how this book was started with him being hurt and in a coma made me care about what had happened to him.
There are a lot of things happening in this book, things he has to do and such; like finding Nor, helping the Elephant princess, joining the guard, and after he goes back to Kiamo Ko, has to attend a bird conference (which is when he gets hurt).
After this we are in the present, and Candle, who has been taking care of Liir in his coma, is pregnant. I personally found their little love story adorable, but then he leaves for Emerald City and does some shit there, and when he comes back, the Elephant princess steals all his attention and he makes Candle play music for the dying princess - he then joins them and the body on their way. This is when we are told that the ''Elphaba lives'' graffiti in the city was written by Nor - but we have barely heard anything about her, except that she escaped and is alive, which is a shame.
The book ends with Liir coming back and finding his abandoned newborn daughter, who he thinks to be dead, but after a while turns out to be alive - he washes her, and her skin turns out to be green.
I liked this one a little bit less than the first book, but it was still good - well-written and all, good characters. It's just that it felt a little tiring reading about Liir going back and forth all the time, haha. But yeah, not bad at all! Worth a read if you like the world of Oz.