A Lion Among Men (Wicked Years #3) by Gregory Maguire

Title: A Lion Among Men

Author: Gregory Maguire

Series: 3rd in Wicked Years

Pages: 312

Published: Octoober 2008 by William Morrow

ISBN:  9780060548926

Source: Library

Description:  In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion.  While civil war looms in Oz, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, a figure known as Brrr—the Cowardly Lion—arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. Abandoned as a cub, his path from infancy is no Yellow Brick Road. In the wake of laws that oppress talking Animals, he avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the warmongering Emperor of Oz. A Lion Among Men chronicles a battle of wits hastened by the Emerald City's approaching armies. Can those tarnished by infamy escape their sobriquets to claim their own histories, to live honorably within their own skins before they're skinned alive? 

I Give This...

A question I often get asked is "Have you read Maguire before."  Yes, I have and for the most part of enjoyed his work.  But, I think it takes dedication because his stories are offbeat and woven in an interesting way. I loved Wicked and was thrilled to hear he had written a sequel.  I read Son of Witch and thought it was ok, but felt the story and gone on in a different way.  I didn't think it was the Oz I remembered.  

 I feel the same way about this one.  Only Maguire has strayed even further from the path.  At times I found it extremely bland and wondered what this particular event had to do with the present story.  But, then something would click and I would be into the story again.  The Lion was nothing like what I imagined him to be and he seemed to hold a grudge against Dorothy (which is not how I pictured it in my head).  I wasn't entirely sure if he was really working for the government or had his own hidden agenda.  

I'm not sure I would even call Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men a continuation of the story started in Wicked.  Except there seems to be some small thread of prophecy that connects them all.  I haven't found it yet because when this story ended, I was extremely frustrated to realize there is probably going to be another one.  It's not done yet and I don't know if I feel dedicated enough to finish what I've started.

Son of a Witch (Wicked Years #2) by Gregory MaGuire

Title: Son of a Witch
Author: Gregory MaGuire
Published: October 2006 by Regan Books
Pages: 337
ISBN: 9780060747220
Source: personal copy

Description:  Ten years after the publication of Wicked, beloved novelist Gregory Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz. There he introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended to at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape—but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?

I Give This Book 3 Stars!

I will admit that I was not an instant fan of Wicked.  It took the second reading for me to be fully engaged in it and not completely confused.  Maybe that's the case here as well.  Nothing about this book felt similar to the first.  It was even more confusing.  The characters don't feel the same nor does the land of OZ (but then there is no Wizard...).   The first half to 2/3 of the book drag on.  All the action occurs in the end, and then it's over.  I didn't particularly like Liir.  He was a wishy-washy character, and never firmly stood his ground on anything.  In the end, he seemed to develop some character.  But, it was too little too late.  I will probably read the latest in the series A Lion Among Men, but only because the library has it.