A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
Posted by dorolerium on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
I had no idea this book was coming out, so imagine my surprise when I see in the airport a book that I *think* is a Gregory Maguire book. And then how happy I am to find it is a continuation of the Wicked storylines!
Of all the Wizard of Oz characters, the Cowardly Lion was one of the ones that was least interesting to me. However, that didn’t stop me from immediately buying and reading this book. It starts out kind of slow, and I admit that the switching from time and character was a bit frustrating at first. I would feel like I was just getting into a story and then bam! different character.
I also suffered from not having read Wicked or Son of a Witch anytime recently, so I was somewhat confused about the timeline for awhile. For some reason, I had thought that Liir’s actions in SOAW brought about the fall of Shell Thropp as Emperor of Oz, so I thought all this was taking place earlier in the timeline. It wasn’t until it was later mentioned that I became aware of this actually being the “newest” time wise in the series.
To some extent, I could have done away with some of the story. Mostly because, as mentioned above, my interest in the Cowardly Lion has been limited. I am, however, in love with Elphaba and Liir, so I was more interested in their aspects of this story. If you’re looking for a lot about them, it’s quite a ways into the book before you get much news. The book reads quickly enough though, so it doesn’t feel like a waste of time to get to those precious gems.
I’ve been hoping for a continuation of Liir’s story since finishing the last book, and I will continue to hope for that. I think if I weren’t so invested in those other characters, this book would have been better for me. However, it stands well enough on it’s own and although I don’t recommend picking it up if you haven’t read the first two books in the series, it’s definitely worth reading. Though, maybe grab it from the library first and then decide if you want to own it after reading.
Read this book if: You have been waiting, like me, for any new Oz material from Maguire. He never disappoints, even if the topic isn’t necessarily what I had been hoping for.
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