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A review by sraev19
A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
2.0
I was eager to dive into this story after finishing Son of a Witch to see what followed from its cliffhanger, but A Lion Among Men turned out to be a big letdown.
While this book does follow the events of the previous one, it has very little relation to it. Maguire turns his attention to the Cowardly Lion and Yackle, and through flashbacks we learn about their histories, how the Lion came to be Cowardly, and just who Yackle is.
These past events range from mildly interesting or humorous to straight-up boring, and with regards to the Lion, they’re not really relevant. The Lion’s role in Maguire’s series is minimal, and the one defining moment he did have—being taken as a cub by Dr. Nikidik for experimentation in class— isn’t elaborated on much or shown to have affected him in a profound way.
Maguire’s attempt at character development thus falls flat. We get another whiny, passive, cowardly character who doesn’t have a lot of agency. The Lion was a catalyst for Elphaba’s journey in Wicked, and here his presence helps Yackle finish hers, but all the while he doesn’t do much of anything himself.
As with the previous two books in the series, A Lion Among Men is a rough read. The beginning did not pick up where I was expecting it to, and the flashbacks dragged on without adding anything meaningful. It’s not until the last few dozen pages that Maguire tries to bring us full circle and reward us for slogging through the Lion’s and Yackle’s backstories.
The payoff, of course, is another cliffhanger. Yet this time I’m left decidedly disappointed. I feel like I’d been jumping through hoops to get to the big finale for no reason other than to make the end seem worthwhile. It was a whole lot of busywork. Maguire could have saved everyone the trouble and led with the ending.
I’m going to read the next book for completion’s sake and a twisted sense of curiosity: How much worse can it get?
While this book does follow the events of the previous one, it has very little relation to it. Maguire turns his attention to the Cowardly Lion and Yackle, and through flashbacks we learn about their histories, how the Lion came to be Cowardly, and just who Yackle is.
These past events range from mildly interesting or humorous to straight-up boring, and with regards to the Lion, they’re not really relevant. The Lion’s role in Maguire’s series is minimal, and the one defining moment he did have
Maguire’s attempt at character development thus falls flat. We get another whiny, passive, cowardly character who doesn’t have a lot of agency. The Lion was a catalyst for Elphaba’s journey in Wicked, and here his presence helps Yackle finish hers, but all the while he doesn’t do much of anything himself.
As with the previous two books in the series, A Lion Among Men is a rough read. The beginning did not pick up where I was expecting it to, and the flashbacks dragged on without adding anything meaningful. It’s not until the last few dozen pages that Maguire tries to bring us full circle and reward us for slogging through the Lion’s and Yackle’s backstories.
The payoff, of course, is another cliffhanger. Yet this time I’m left decidedly disappointed. I feel like I’d been jumping through hoops to get to the big finale for no reason other than to make the end seem worthwhile. It was a whole lot of busywork. Maguire could have saved everyone the trouble and led with the ending.
I’m going to read the next book for completion’s sake and a twisted sense of curiosity: How much worse can it get?