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A review by sraev19
Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3: The Patchwork Girl of Oz; Tik-Tok of Oz; The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum
3.5
The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, and The Scarecrow of Oz are stories seven through nine in this third volume of the Oz series.
Grouping these three stories together is a bit unfortunate because of their similarities. Individually, the stories still have the same fun, bright magic and wholesome simplicity that captivated me in the previous titles. But taken together, they are a repetitive and somewhat disappointing bunch.
As with volume two, new characters take the lead in this collection. The cast in The Patchwork Girl of Oz is the most well rounded, having strong and distinct personalities with backstories that are developed early on to motivate them.
On the other hand, the companions in Tik-Tok of Oz and The Scarecrow of Oz are less varied. Betsy and Trot, the little heroines, are so similar to each other and Dorothy that they’re interchangeable. Both are dropped into their stories with little background*, have a companion who looks over them, and bear a spirit of curiosity and bravery. They’re dear girls, but Oz needs only one Dorothy.
The core cast of Oz make brief appearances in all three tales, and they’re not as vibrant as before. Here they’re plot devices, used to push the new characters forward, get into trouble, or save the day. Glinda and Ozma in particular serve only as safety nets in Oz. It is these safety nets that are the real issue with this volume.
After the characters face many dangers and obstacles in all three stories, easy answers to their problems are revealed at the last minute, and all is well. The endings are anticlimactic not only because these resolutions are sudden and tidy, but because they were available all along.
With magic-wand resolutions at the ready, Baum proves that there are no real stakes left in Oz. Each tale is just an adventure for adventure’s sake. While still fun and enjoyable reads, these stories have less substance than the previous books in the collection, and travelling along the yellow brick road is becoming less meaningful and a tad monotonous.
*I’m learning now that Trot was pulled from Baum’s less successful novel The Sea Fairies, which was first intended to be unrelated to Oz. This explains Baum’s letter preceding The Scarecrow of Oz, which otherwise had no context.
Grouping these three stories together is a bit unfortunate because of their similarities. Individually, the stories still have the same fun, bright magic and wholesome simplicity that captivated me in the previous titles. But taken together, they are a repetitive and somewhat disappointing bunch.
As with volume two, new characters take the lead in this collection. The cast in The Patchwork Girl of Oz is the most well rounded, having strong and distinct personalities with backstories that are developed early on to motivate them.
On the other hand, the companions in Tik-Tok of Oz and The Scarecrow of Oz are less varied. Betsy and Trot, the little heroines, are so similar to each other and Dorothy that they’re interchangeable. Both are dropped into their stories with little background*, have a companion who looks over them, and bear a spirit of curiosity and bravery. They’re dear girls, but Oz needs only one Dorothy.
The core cast of Oz make brief appearances in all three tales, and they’re not as vibrant as before. Here they’re plot devices, used to push the new characters forward, get into trouble, or save the day. Glinda and Ozma in particular serve only as safety nets in Oz. It is these safety nets that are the real issue with this volume.
After the characters face many dangers and obstacles in all three stories, easy answers to their problems are revealed at the last minute, and all is well. The endings are anticlimactic not only because these resolutions are sudden and tidy, but because they were available all along.
With magic-wand resolutions at the ready, Baum proves that there are no real stakes left in Oz. Each tale is just an adventure for adventure’s sake. While still fun and enjoyable reads, these stories have less substance than the previous books in the collection, and travelling along the yellow brick road is becoming less meaningful and a tad monotonous.
*I’m learning now that Trot was pulled from Baum’s less successful novel The Sea Fairies, which was first intended to be unrelated to Oz. This explains Baum’s letter preceding The Scarecrow of Oz, which otherwise had no context.