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A review by nuffy375
Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond by John Joseph Adams, Douglas Cohen
3.0
First things first: this is definitely a short story collection for adults. Sexual and violent content, as well as bad language, abound. I'm not sure why authors felt the need to go dark and depressing or violent with their treatment of children's stories. Occasionally it works, but...it usually just feels forced and...edgy for edginess's sake... I realize the authors were given free reign to write what they wanted using L Frank Baum's work for inspiration, but if I'm reading something based on Oz, I do want magic, and several of the stories are missing that magic.
As with all short story compilations, this collection has its ups and downs. Good stories; rough stories; boring stories; stories I didn't feel fit... Then again, there are also some solid stories, so...it is what it is.
Story Breakdown:
The Great Zeppelin Heist of Oz by Rae Carson & C.C. Finlay - Fitting to the original series. The wizard's arrival, as he immediately humbugs. It has some fun word play, and is just silly.
Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust by Seanan McGuire - Adult Dorothy after all the shine of Oz has worn off. I don't really care for the pessimistic depiction of Oz, but it's a take, I guess. The easiest solved mystery ever. (I'm coming off of reading Agatha Christie, so that was especially disappointing for me.)
Lost Girls of Oz by Theodora Goss- A reporter investigates missing girls, and finds the hidden path to Oz. It was an interesting idea, but I didn't care for the direction it went after the halfway point. Honestly, this just made me want a story of the real world investigating Dorothy's disappearance in the style of journalism or, like, a Buzzfeed Unsolved script.
The Boy Detective of Oz by Tad Williams - Kansas/Oz is a simulation, and something seems to have gone wrong. This one could have been fun without the constant hounding about how the previous simulation went awry and the whole simulation thing in general. This was actually an interesting mystery with some fun payoff, but the setting...Woof.
Dorothy Dreams by Simon R. Green - Old Dorothy dreams of returning to Oz. Turns out, nothing she experienced was as it seemed...*rolls eyes so hard at this story*
Dead Blue by David Farland - Tin Man is a Cyborg, whose heart was giving out. The Wicked Witch is a Mech Mage. The Winged Monkeys are chimeras. That's the only point of this story I got: let's revise the world building of the characters. It was kind of interesting, but I didn't feel the story did anything.
One Flew Over the Rainbow by Robin Wasserman - A downer tale where our characters are re-imagined as normal people in an asylum: Tin, Crow, Roar, and Dorothy, who is new and convinces the crew to go to the wizard for contraband, so they can have a good time, and then leads them in a doomed escape attempt. This is not the story I'm here for in an Oz short story collection. The writing was fine and the parallels actually work reasonably well, but all the magic is gone, and it's such a downer.
The Veiled Shanghai by Ken Liu - A Chinese retelling of the original Wizard of Oz story along the lines of fairy tales being told by different cultures, using the themes and general premise to tell stories befitting their own experiences. I enjoyed this one.
Beyond the Naked Eye by Rachel Swirsky- The Hunger Games set in Oz...Four teams compete in a deathly race to get to the Emerald City first, so the wizard will grant their wish, but is the wizard just a corrupt, lying monarch in need of assassination? Interesting metaphor about emeralds and cities and observations about corruption and the masks people wear. I actually really liked this one. It worked surprisingly well in the Oz universe.
A Tornado of Dorothys by Kat Howard- Dorothy Gale is just another girl in a long line of "Dorothys" brought to Oz to fill the role in a story Oz needs to play out. It's a story about stepping off the designated path and making your own story. There was nothing wrong with the story; I was just kind of bored.
Blown Away by Jane Yolen - Story told from one of the farmhand's perspectives when Dorothy got blown away, only...in this story she doesn't go to Oz... This story is unforgivable for making Baum a puppy drowner and brutally murdering Toto. Negative a million stars!
City So Bright by Dale Bailey - Kind of Handmaid's Tale vibes where citizens are oppressed. The Wizard conquered Oz with brute force and brought "the industrial revolution" to Oz, which caused a major class divide in Oz. A lower class munchkin, who works as an emerald tower polisher, watches his best friend (a winky) die from apparent sabotage, as the winky was attempting to organize and start a revolution. The munchkin makes a plan to get out before he can be persecuted. I didn't hate it, but I didn't care for the writing style. It was very conversational with a lot of "I'm getting ahead of myself," which got kind of old. Adult Content of almost every kind.
Off to See the Emperor by Orson Scott Card - L Frank Baum's son meets Theodora ("Dottie") and follows her on a journey to The Land of the Air to retrieve her mother's ring that had been taken by a crow. At first, I didn't care for this story. Theodora is annoying. However, by the end of the story, I really enjoyed it. It was especially interesting, since I just read Finding Dorothy, and some of Baum's biographical details work into this story.
A Meeting in Oz by Jeffrey Ford - Dorothy willingly left Oz after 4 years as an eleven-year-old. Now she's a jaded adult, back in Oz with a grudge about how her life turned out. This story also kills Toto, and is just...dark. I don't see the need authors seem to feel to make these stories so edgy. It's all just so unnecessary...This story is also lacking magic, because Oz's magic drained as Dorothy grew up and lost her innocence/had bad things happen to her.
The Cobbler of Oz by Jonathan Maberry- A cobbler tells a little winged monkey girl the origins of the silver slippers, and she goes on a quest for the silver dragon scales needed to repair them. I think this was my favorite of the stories in the collection. It had magic, was sweet, and fit themes Baum would have appreciated. Strong ending to the compilation.
As with all short story compilations, this collection has its ups and downs. Good stories; rough stories; boring stories; stories I didn't feel fit... Then again, there are also some solid stories, so...it is what it is.
Story Breakdown:
Spoiler
The Great Zeppelin Heist of Oz by Rae Carson & C.C. Finlay - Fitting to the original series. The wizard's arrival, as he immediately humbugs. It has some fun word play, and is just silly.
Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust by Seanan McGuire - Adult Dorothy after all the shine of Oz has worn off. I don't really care for the pessimistic depiction of Oz, but it's a take, I guess. The easiest solved mystery ever. (I'm coming off of reading Agatha Christie, so that was especially disappointing for me.)
Lost Girls of Oz by Theodora Goss- A reporter investigates missing girls, and finds the hidden path to Oz. It was an interesting idea, but I didn't care for the direction it went after the halfway point. Honestly, this just made me want a story of the real world investigating Dorothy's disappearance in the style of journalism or, like, a Buzzfeed Unsolved script.
The Boy Detective of Oz by Tad Williams - Kansas/Oz is a simulation, and something seems to have gone wrong. This one could have been fun without the constant hounding about how the previous simulation went awry and the whole simulation thing in general. This was actually an interesting mystery with some fun payoff, but the setting...Woof.
Dorothy Dreams by Simon R. Green - Old Dorothy dreams of returning to Oz. Turns out, nothing she experienced was as it seemed...*rolls eyes so hard at this story*
Dead Blue by David Farland - Tin Man is a Cyborg, whose heart was giving out. The Wicked Witch is a Mech Mage. The Winged Monkeys are chimeras. That's the only point of this story I got: let's revise the world building of the characters. It was kind of interesting, but I didn't feel the story did anything.
One Flew Over the Rainbow by Robin Wasserman - A downer tale where our characters are re-imagined as normal people in an asylum: Tin, Crow, Roar, and Dorothy, who is new and convinces the crew to go to the wizard for contraband, so they can have a good time, and then leads them in a doomed escape attempt. This is not the story I'm here for in an Oz short story collection. The writing was fine and the parallels actually work reasonably well, but all the magic is gone, and it's such a downer.
The Veiled Shanghai by Ken Liu - A Chinese retelling of the original Wizard of Oz story along the lines of fairy tales being told by different cultures, using the themes and general premise to tell stories befitting their own experiences. I enjoyed this one.
Beyond the Naked Eye by Rachel Swirsky- The Hunger Games set in Oz...Four teams compete in a deathly race to get to the Emerald City first, so the wizard will grant their wish, but is the wizard just a corrupt, lying monarch in need of assassination? Interesting metaphor about emeralds and cities and observations about corruption and the masks people wear. I actually really liked this one. It worked surprisingly well in the Oz universe.
A Tornado of Dorothys by Kat Howard- Dorothy Gale is just another girl in a long line of "Dorothys" brought to Oz to fill the role in a story Oz needs to play out. It's a story about stepping off the designated path and making your own story. There was nothing wrong with the story; I was just kind of bored.
Blown Away by Jane Yolen - Story told from one of the farmhand's perspectives when Dorothy got blown away, only...in this story she doesn't go to Oz... This story is unforgivable for making Baum a puppy drowner and brutally murdering Toto. Negative a million stars!
City So Bright by Dale Bailey - Kind of Handmaid's Tale vibes where citizens are oppressed. The Wizard conquered Oz with brute force and brought "the industrial revolution" to Oz, which caused a major class divide in Oz. A lower class munchkin, who works as an emerald tower polisher, watches his best friend (a winky) die from apparent sabotage, as the winky was attempting to organize and start a revolution. The munchkin makes a plan to get out before he can be persecuted. I didn't hate it, but I didn't care for the writing style. It was very conversational with a lot of "I'm getting ahead of myself," which got kind of old. Adult Content of almost every kind.
Off to See the Emperor by Orson Scott Card - L Frank Baum's son meets Theodora ("Dottie") and follows her on a journey to The Land of the Air to retrieve her mother's ring that had been taken by a crow. At first, I didn't care for this story. Theodora is annoying. However, by the end of the story, I really enjoyed it. It was especially interesting, since I just read Finding Dorothy, and some of Baum's biographical details work into this story.
A Meeting in Oz by Jeffrey Ford - Dorothy willingly left Oz after 4 years as an eleven-year-old. Now she's a jaded adult, back in Oz with a grudge about how her life turned out. This story also kills Toto, and is just...dark. I don't see the need authors seem to feel to make these stories so edgy. It's all just so unnecessary...This story is also lacking magic, because Oz's magic drained as Dorothy grew up and lost her innocence/had bad things happen to her.
The Cobbler of Oz by Jonathan Maberry- A cobbler tells a little winged monkey girl the origins of the silver slippers, and she goes on a quest for the silver dragon scales needed to repair them. I think this was my favorite of the stories in the collection. It had magic, was sweet, and fit themes Baum would have appreciated. Strong ending to the compilation.