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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
this is a favorite.. the variety of people living in oz is refreshing.. and funny!
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've been reading all of the oz books and while this one dragged in the middle somewhat it connected me more to Ozma than any of the previous books and I really love this book for the life lessons we could all learn from Ozma.
This one was more interesting than the last. There were some changes to the formula in Oz books to date of going on an adventure and meetings interesting people. We still do this, but now Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have come to live in Oz, so we witness their culture shock in fairyland. The Nome king attempts to invade, and finally, Oz adopts a nativist policy, walling itself off by magic from the encroaches of any outsider. I wonder how we get news for the next several books.
Although The Marvelous Land of Oz is still my favorite book of the series The Emerald City of Oz is a close second. Finally, L. Frank Baum made his writing a little more complex. Throughout the story he is going back and forth between Dorothy's journeys and the Nome King's plans for taking over Oz. Yes, you heard me right, there is actually an antagonist through the whole story! How they resolve the problem however comes just as quickly and conveniently as you can expect from an Oz story at this point.
Without giving too much away, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry join Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Aunt Em stands out as one of the best characters in this story because of her realistic comments about the crazy things happening in the "fairy land" that is Oz. This sets up Dorothy giving her aunt and uncle a tour of Oz, and along the way they run into several never before heard of inhabitants of the country. Although, it seems Dorothy would have ran into these little towns during her first visit to Oz since she is going back to the Winkie's country from Oz. Also, Ozma is a completely different character than she has been in the other books. She doesn't seem to care about what happens to Oz or its inhabitants and has now become a pacifist. She is completely unconcerned despite knowing that the Nome King and his growing army are planning to attack Oz and enslave all of its people. The biggest disappointment is that despite having introduced several magical ways they could have defeated the Nome King and his armies peacefully in previous stories, Baum makes up a new magical thing to solve all their problems. The very last chapter sets this book up as the end of the series, and I would be happy with the Oz books ending here, as I suspect L. Frank Baum would have been, but it appears I am not even half way through the series yet. I hope (beyond reason) that the rest of the books are at least as good as this one, or maybe just not as bad as the two previous books!
Without giving too much away, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry join Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Aunt Em stands out as one of the best characters in this story because of her realistic comments about the crazy things happening in the "fairy land" that is Oz. This sets up Dorothy giving her aunt and uncle a tour of Oz, and along the way they run into several never before heard of inhabitants of the country. Although, it seems Dorothy would have ran into these little towns during her first visit to Oz since she is going back to the Winkie's country from Oz. Also, Ozma is a completely different character than she has been in the other books. She doesn't seem to care about what happens to Oz or its inhabitants and has now become a pacifist. She is completely unconcerned despite knowing that the Nome King and his growing army are planning to attack Oz and enslave all of its people. The biggest disappointment is that despite having introduced several magical ways they could have defeated the Nome King and his armies peacefully in previous stories, Baum makes up a new magical thing to solve all their problems. The very last chapter sets this book up as the end of the series, and I would be happy with the Oz books ending here, as I suspect L. Frank Baum would have been, but it appears I am not even half way through the series yet. I hope (beyond reason) that the rest of the books are at least as good as this one, or maybe just not as bad as the two previous books!
2.5 stars for me. It's a lovely "finale," full of imagination, and a logical way to part with the land of Oz. I really love Baum's fantastical world building and all the fun little people he comes up with, and Dorothy's interactons with each. BUT, even so, this one felt a little like a creative dump that he was jamming as into as possible, just for the sake of doing so. I just couldn't get into the plot here. But there's still a lot of fun little bits throughout!
A charming tale, with all the familiar and loved characters of Oz. I don't believe that this is a children's book you can still love as much as an adult. I would have adored this as a child of around 8-12 years old.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
L. Frank Baum remembered what conflict was with this book, even if it was easily resolved.