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    Out of Oz: Volume Four in the Wicked Years
    Out of Oz: Volume Four in the Wicked Years
    Out of Oz: Volume Four in the Wicked Years
    Audiobook28 hours

    Out of Oz: Volume Four in the Wicked Years

    Written by Gregory Maguire

    Narrated by John McDonough

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “Maguire’s work is melodic, symphonic, and beautiful; it is dejected and biting and brave. How great that people flock to these magical novels.”
    —Los Angeles Times Book Review

    Bestselling author Gregory Maguire’s remarkable series, The Wicked Years, comes full circle with this, his fourth and final excursion across a darker, richer, more complex landscape of “the magical land of Oz.” Out of Oz brilliantly reimagines L. Frank Baum’s world over the rainbow as wracked with social unrest—placing Glinda the good witch under house arrest and having the cowardly Lion on the lam from the law as the Emerald City prepares to make war on Munchkinland. Even Dorothy makes a triumphant return in Maguire’s magnificent Oz finale—tying up every loose green end of the series he began with his classic Wicked, the basis for the smash hit Broadway musical.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 1, 2011
    ISBN9780062102843
    Out of Oz: Volume Four in the Wicked Years
    Author

    Gregory Maguire

    Gregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked—the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion picture—Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor, The Oracle of Maracoor, and The Witch of Maracoor, and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan, Hiddensee, After Alice, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, and Mirror Mirror. He lives in New England and France.

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    Reviews for Out of Oz

    3.5/5

    261 ratings20 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      I was so excited when I learned of the release of this book. When it finally came, though, I had trouble getting through the first few pages, so I waiting a few weeks and dove back in head first.

      I both listened to this on my way to work every day & read it at night before falling asleep. I pretty much lived it for a while. Unlike the other books, Out of Oz showed potential at first, but failed to live up it. It was as if the book was caught in its own desire to be as complicated or literary as possible. Although I love Maguire's style of writing, I'm not sure he wasn't just going over the top for the sake of trying to round out this series. It was long-winded, confusing and lacked the punch of Wicked or even Son of a Witch.

      I wouldn't say "pass" on this, especially if you've read the other three books, however do not expect to be blown away or even feel that there is completion at the end.
    • 3/5
      Kind of a lame end to a series
    • 5/5
      After taking my sweet time working through the series, I am sad. The entire story beginning with The Wicked Years on through to Out of Oz was beautiful, confusing, and wondrous. Then came the end of Out of Oz. It left me confused and desiring so much more. There were more questions left unanswered than I had had throughout the entire series. Is Elphaba back? Why did Rain make the trek? Where did Candle go and does she return? Does Glinda ever go free? What is up with Ozma behaving as if the tryst were some one night stand? What happened when Dorothy returned home? I have so many more questions and so much sadness that I will never be able to find the answers. I finished the book 2 nights ago and I am still in that deep funk that single ladies feel when their Prince Charming turns out to be a fraud. Not that Out of Oz or any of the other 3 books were a fraud. I am just disappointed by the ending. I don't expect a perfect happy ending. I just expect to know more than what I was left with.
    • 4/5
      Well, I liked the Glinda parts.
    • 4/5
      It has Maguire's characteristically slow pacing, but fans of the series will find this a satisfying conclusion.
    • 5/5
      I'm really loving this volume- drawing all the threads from the previous OZ books together and even finding spaces to tip the hat to the original LFB books for those of us who read them before there ever was an Elphaba.

      No spoilers- get your own copy, yo.
    • 3/5
      This book took me on a ride, that's for sure. The reason for the 3 star rating (which is low for me) is the fact that the book itself seemed to drag through long stretches of it. I would find myself enthralled with a part of the book, only to be disappointed with a sense of too much detail, or a storyline that didn't seem to make sense. I do have to say that more made sense when I finally reached the end and I'm not entirely sure if it could have been told better or not. I also felt a sense of disappointment at the end, of questions left unanswered and a sort of let down at the paths the characters chose to take. I wish we'd learned more of what transpired with Rain and Tip after it all. I wish we'd learned who visited Glinda though I think we can call make a pretty good guess, it would have been nice to have confirmation. I'd like to have known if Ozma ever took over the ruling of Oz and if Dorothy made it home alright. All that being said, I did end up enjoying the book far more than I thought I would at the onset.
    • 3/5
      I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first book. In Wicked, Gregory showed that what you think you know may not really be so. We got to see the 'real' story, where good and bad are not so cut and dry. I really loved the characters despite their flaws. I was reading this book I think mostly for a conclusion to all of the pieces in the other books, and was a little unsatisfied at the end. I got the feeling that I missed something obvious in the ending. I tolerate ambiguous endings in my short stories, but not the end of a series. I would like a post script that says yes Rain did this, and yes Nanny revealed that. Unfortunately the ending tarnished what was still an enjoyable enough book to read throughout.
    • 3/5
      With this being the 4th book in the Wicked Years, I wasn't sure exactly how much more life Maguire could manage to wring out of this series. I was still irritated with Brrr, the Cowardly Lion, who I was not surprised to see still with the company of the Time Dragon. Rain was a refreshing addition to the cast of characters, completely unpredictable, wild as the wind, very "fey", & a total mystery, with the innate ability to have the Grimmerie respond to her. Reading Glinda's troubles & her experiences with General Cherrystone was interesting, & I had to laugh at her ingenuity in the face of the hardships he put on her, even though I was convinced he was a jerk earlier in the series, & was totally convinced in this one.Not a bad read, & I am "not" giving away the ending :) Read it yourself if you like the series, LOL.
    • 4/5
      Excellent. After 'Wicked' the second best book in the series. 'Son of a Witch' and 'A Lion Among Men' were just okay to almost dreadful.

      Unfortunately it is necessary to read those two to grasp what happens in 'Out of Oz'. Other than this minor point, this is an excellent read. I may re-read 'Wicked' next.
    • 5/5
      Didn't like the ending. If this is truly the end of the series then I have a lot of questions. But it was a good book. Over all I loved the series.
    • 4/5
      "Out of Oz" is a fitting conclusion to the Wicked Years series, with allusions to both the "Wizard of Oz" film (as opposed to the original book) and to the "Wicked" musical (at one point, Rain, Elphaba's granddaughter says, "don't wish. Don't start. Wishing only...") All in all, I'm quite satisfied with this series.
    • 3/5
      This was probably my favorite book in the series (outside of perhaps the first one). I really liked Rain and I liked following her story. Things did get weirder and weirder, and questions were unanswered. For the first three books, I never doubted that Elphaba was dead, and then this book asks over and over whether she is and never answers the question. The ending left me feeling lost and unresolved and made me wonder how all these characters could lead such lost lives.
    • 4/5
      Gregory Maguire concludes his Wicked Years series with the story of Rain, daughter of Liir ("Son of a Witch") & Candle, granddaughter of Elphaba ("Wicked"), as she learns to read (specifically the Grimmerie), discovers her gifts, meets her parents, and travels with Brrr, the Cowardly Lion ("A Lion Among Men") and other assorted vagabonds. I've enjoyed the series, and I felt like Maguire got back in his stride with this book. The adventures are interesting (though sometimes confusing), the end is satisfying, and a series ended after four books instead of forty (large books, I'll grant you, but still, only four). Definitely recommended if you've read the others. If you haven't read the others, what are you waiting for?
    • 4/5
      The last dozen or so pages left me with some lingering questions (or else this would be a 5-star), but otherwise I loved it. Readers who remember the original L Frank Baum series will guess the denouement once certain characters are introduced, but I still found *how* Maguire got there a page-turning, fascinating story. So fascinating that I read it twice.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes overly philosophical or depressing, but still compelling, and the world of Oz is more vividly drawn than ever. Most of the characters do seem to grow, which I always appreciate. (Candle is a notable exception -- instead of evolving and taking more responsibility, she goes so far in the other direction that I've lost all sympathy for her.) All in all worth the read if you've already spent time in Maguire's version of Oz and don't subscribe to the view that all stories need to have a fairytale ending.
    • 5/5
      I loved every minute of this final volumeof the Wicked Years. Gregory Maguire is a creative genius. This volume sees Dorothy's return to Oz, and is full of humours (cheeky) references that made me laugh. And it also has a strong plot, bringing the ongoing political struggles in Oz to a conclusion....but like life, how long with that conclusion last? Wonderful.
    • 4/5
      Now we come to the end of the series. I enjoyed every book in this series. What I most enjoyed is the growth shown. Some complained that Out of Oz didn’t have the same ‘magic’ as the original book. I felt that the books showed the progression of the country as it worked it’s way through different rulers and social unrest. Also the characters were different, they grew, their lives were affected in different ways.In Out of Oz the story picks up about 8 years after the end of Son of a Witch, and a few months after A Lion Among Men. We are reunited with some characters we know well, such as Glinda and the Lion, Liir and Candle, some that you might consider ‘bit players’ that keep popping up. And some that made brief appearances or that we only heard about.And we learn what happens to Liir’s daughter, born at the end of Son of a Witch with green skin like her grandmother. There are other long hidden mysteries of Oz that come to light.Although the books seemed to drag in places with discussion of troop maneuvers and military strategies. With the country at war and the characters major players in it, it was necessary. It helped to flesh out the characters, give a reason for their actions.The ending was logical, perhaps not the ‘happy ending’ some might want, but satisfactory and I would recommend this book. I would also suggest that you read the books in order.
    • 5/5
      The fourth and final book in the series The Wicked Years. This is a truly epic ending to a truly epic series. It only took me so long because I didn't want to miss a single delicious word. The very best part of the book is that it ties beautifully into L. Frank Baum’s sequel, The Land of Oz, which provides a real sense of closure. (In that the story does not have to be over, it just continues elsewhere.) Now I really want to go back and read the whole series again.The beginning of the end takes place in San Francisco, where Dorothy's aunt and uncle have taken her to see the big city and the ocean for the first time. Dorothy, now 16ish, is pretty much unmarriageable (in Kansas, at least) due to the fact that she won't stop talking about an imaginary country named Oz. Dorothy and Toto stand on the roof of the hotel waiting for a sight of the ocean. As dawn breaks on April 18, 1906, "the buildings of San Francisco started to shake".Meanwhile, in Oz, war has broken out. Munchkinland has seceded from Loyal Oz, which is ruled by Shell, Elphaba's brother, who has declared himself divine. Shell's army has marched to the great Munchkin lake of Restwater, Oz's main source of potable water, and plans to annex it. Lady Glinda Chuffrey refuses to take a side in the war, being an Emerald City citizen currently residing in Munchkinland. Unfortunately, her villa is strategically located on the shores of Restwater, and is thus commandeered by Loyal Oz's army. Under the guise of entertaining the troops, a travelling puppet show descents upon Glinda's home, with the secret purpose of depositing a magical book, the Grimmerie, in Glinda's lap. It might come in handy soon, if only there were someone in Glinda's household staff with enough magical blood to read it . . . But that's all just in the first 60 pages.As with the other Oz books, this is a long and detailed story of physical and emotional journeys. A cast of well-known and brand new characters lays its mark upon Oz, from The Glikkus to Kvon Altar, from Shiz to Ovvels. Oz has been in political, religious, and emotional limbo since the day the Wizard arrived and usurped the throne from the Ozma regent, but by the time the story ends, all that was lost will be called forward.
    • 4/5
      The conclusion to, and my favorite of, Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" storyline, this one focusing mainly on Rain, Liir's son and the grandaughter of Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. Rain has been left for her own safety since infancy with Glinda by Liir and Candle, when the war between Loyal Oz and the Free State of Munchkinland forces Glinda and Rain to flee their castle, but not before using the Grimmerie (Elphaba's magical book of spells)to thwart General Cherrystone's plan to defeat Munchkinland with trained dragons. Rain meets up with Brr (the Cowardly Lion), Dorothy, eventually reunites with her parents, and almost against her will falls in love with an unusual boy who may or may not be working as a spy for his protector, the Lady Mombey. This is a fascinating and moving book, given added resonance by the occasional line familiar to those who hold the Movie in high regard. My one regret from the booksigning was forgetting to ask Maguire if any of the characters or storylines were drawn from Frank Baum's other Oz books, which I have yet to read.