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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
So I hated this book. Like a lot. I got this way back in February and only finished it in July because I started going through my Kindle device and started downloading books to read back in February. I originally only read 4 percent and said nope and put the book aside. When I finished it in July I decided that was it for me, no more Oz books. The only saving grace is that I didn't pay money for it. I got it for free on Amazon.
Dorothy is still a pain in the butt who doesn't have the common sense to get out of the rain. Her "speaking" is downright annoying at this point in the series. I think I may have screamed enunciate at one point and screamed it so loud I blacked out.
We also have some new characters in this book called the Shaggy Man (who I swear was about to do something awful to Dorothy, Button-Bright, and Polychrome who is a daughter of the Rainbow.
What starts off this new adventure is that when Dorothy meets the Shaggy Man he asks her for directions, and instead of just giving them to this total stranger, she decides to show him the way. I swear Dorothy needs to be held up as literary symbol to children to not ever do things like this when they are reading this book. I mean in the book Dorothy calls the Shaggy Man stupid so she decides she must take him to Butterfield (the place he is going) and actually says out loud that the man is stupid.
After going down a path (the 7th one) the party of three comes upon Button-Bright. Once again we have Dorothy calling someone stupid after knowing them for all of five minutes.
Eventually the foursome comes across a strange village of talking foxes and from there the story just progresses until they meet up with Polychrome. Shockingly enough Dorothy doesn't call her stupid.
From there there is a just a series of adventures of the new group of five to get to The Emerald City where Dorothy surmises that Ozma of Oz will be able to help them all out.
We have some reappearances of fan favorites of the series. We have Billina the talking hen who to this day was the funniest character ever for reading Dorothy like she was a book.
There was also Tik-Tok who was sent off to fetch Dorothy by Ozma. I did wonder why the heck Ozma didn't just magic herself to Dorothy and crew and magic them back to Emerald City, but hey that would have made the book end at about 60 percent (which I would have been happy with...like a lot).
We also have the Tin Man (not a fan of his at all) and he is still Emperor though there doesn't appear to be anyone else around in his castle. It was so weird and I couldn't guess why and really didn't care at that point.
We even have The Cowardly Lion, the Tiger, and Jack in this one. I loved them all in earlier works, but this one, eh not so much.
There really isn't anything new in this series at this point. We have a series of adventures and Dorothy scolding people left, right, and sideways. We have the not too bright character actually appearing to have some sense. And we have everything wrapping up nicely in the end with another party in Oz.
Dorothy is still a pain in the butt who doesn't have the common sense to get out of the rain. Her "speaking" is downright annoying at this point in the series. I think I may have screamed enunciate at one point and screamed it so loud I blacked out.
We also have some new characters in this book called the Shaggy Man (who I swear was about to do something awful to Dorothy, Button-Bright, and Polychrome who is a daughter of the Rainbow.
What starts off this new adventure is that when Dorothy meets the Shaggy Man he asks her for directions, and instead of just giving them to this total stranger, she decides to show him the way. I swear Dorothy needs to be held up as literary symbol to children to not ever do things like this when they are reading this book. I mean in the book Dorothy calls the Shaggy Man stupid so she decides she must take him to Butterfield (the place he is going) and actually says out loud that the man is stupid.
After going down a path (the 7th one) the party of three comes upon Button-Bright. Once again we have Dorothy calling someone stupid after knowing them for all of five minutes.
Eventually the foursome comes across a strange village of talking foxes and from there the story just progresses until they meet up with Polychrome. Shockingly enough Dorothy doesn't call her stupid.
From there there is a just a series of adventures of the new group of five to get to The Emerald City where Dorothy surmises that Ozma of Oz will be able to help them all out.
We have some reappearances of fan favorites of the series. We have Billina the talking hen who to this day was the funniest character ever for reading Dorothy like she was a book.
There was also Tik-Tok who was sent off to fetch Dorothy by Ozma. I did wonder why the heck Ozma didn't just magic herself to Dorothy and crew and magic them back to Emerald City, but hey that would have made the book end at about 60 percent (which I would have been happy with...like a lot).
We also have the Tin Man (not a fan of his at all) and he is still Emperor though there doesn't appear to be anyone else around in his castle. It was so weird and I couldn't guess why and really didn't care at that point.
We even have The Cowardly Lion, the Tiger, and Jack in this one. I loved them all in earlier works, but this one, eh not so much.
There really isn't anything new in this series at this point. We have a series of adventures and Dorothy scolding people left, right, and sideways. We have the not too bright character actually appearing to have some sense. And we have everything wrapping up nicely in the end with another party in Oz.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not a bad story! My 7- and 8- yo boys enjoyed it. I liked the twist that explained the confused roads. It was fun to see where the bubble-as-conveyance concept came from. I liked that Santa made an appearance. Lots of interesting characters. A tad too long, though.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow this was a rip roaring good time! It starts with a random hobo called The Shaggy Man joining Dorothy on her adventure, and it turns out? The shaggy man owns. The shaggy man Stan account. I really enjoyed the final chapters when all the foreign dignitaries were introduced and they were just the heroes of Baum's non Oz books, I thought that was a cute touch. Also? Dorothy and ozma's reunion was much gayer than I expected!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Another fun entry in the Oz series. This one featured more familiar characters in it as they all attend Ozma's birthday party, so we got to catch up with just about everyone we knew from before. It also features some new characters such as the Shaggy Man (owner of the Love Magnet), Polychrome (the Rainbow's Daughter), Button-Bright (who's about as dumb as a post) and Johnny Dooit (who is extremely helpful).
My only gripe is that the premise of this book would totally come off as super-creepy if it was written today: a young girl agrees to leave her house without anyone knowing, to help a complete stranger who is also a vagrant find the road to the next town (or away from it, in his case). He also possesses a device to make anyone love him. Uhhh... it's a good thing this is an Oz book.
On to book 6!
My only gripe is that the premise of this book would totally come off as super-creepy if it was written today: a young girl agrees to leave her house without anyone knowing, to help a complete stranger who is also a vagrant find the road to the next town (or away from it, in his case). He also possesses a device to make anyone love him. Uhhh... it's a good thing this is an Oz book.
On to book 6!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Maybe part of why I like Ozma of Oz best is that there is no old guy taking care of Dorothy and the kids and solving all the problems in that one. I mean, no shade on the Shaggy Man. I love the Shaggy Man and his hazy origins. He seems to have come from our non-magical world, but has done a lot of traveling, is in possession of the Love Magnet (a fairy gadget if ever there was one), and doesn’t even blink at the magic of Johnny Dooit–who knows where he ran into him. But of course, Shaggy Man has to be the man and take the brunt of the discomfort and responsibility in every circumstance. I just like when kids have adventures on their own. I do enjoy seeing the characters making plans and solving problems together, and should probably try that scene in my own work. Baum wrote road trip stories all the time and is so comfortable with this mode, and with the episodic nature of the narrative.
But people in Oz don’t die?? Of natural causes, at least, since capital punishment does exist, and also people like the bad sorcerer fall off precipices occasionally?? This is another one of those instances like “Toto never bites” where Baum makes the statement and almost instantly contradicts it, so that I almost can’t believe he’s not doing it on purpose. But there are too many gaps in the logic to mention…Parentage is extremely mysterious in Oz, so the fact that no one ever dies has not disrupted hereditary monarchy. Who knows what happened to Ozma’s father and grandfather, who are mentioned explicitly (they could not have died, surely) or her theoretical mother and grandmother who never get mentioned at all. Billina’s chicks evidently have no father, unless she came equipped already.
I did like that the Good Witch of the North gets a passing mention here, since she basically disappeared from the series after giving Dorothy the shoes. But then the rulers of the four sub-countries of Oz are mentioned as though they are different (all male) people, when I thought at least the Gillikins and the Quadlings were nominally ruled by the good witches. Ozma courteously invites the people who transformed Shaggy’s head into a donkey to her party but refuses to invite the Musicker (Ozma: “Not that guy, he’s annoying as hell!”). Consistency and logic are not Baum’s strong suits at all. They’re not what support the world-building here. What does the work is a real inventiveness of imagination, like the Musicker and the Scoodlers. I did laugh my head off (no pun intended) every time they yelled “Soup!”
Ozma’s birthday, like the jewel-encrusted grandeur of the palace, is clearly designed to appeal to kids and particularly to little girls, and I find that quality endearing in Baum, however gendered and misguided some of his notions may be.