A review by rolandsaintlaurent
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

5.0

Given Baum's reason for writing this (wanting to capitalize on the success of the stage production of The Wizard of Oz by focusing on the two popular characters from the play, the Scarecrow and Tin Man), it SHOULD be booty. However, this is a very different and fun Oz story, where we follow the boy Tip as he escapes the evil witch Mombi and goes on an adventure with his friend Jack Pumpkinhead. It's sloppy, and there's some weird continuity issues (the wizard, it turns out, was evil, but this was later immediately retconned), but Baum finds his groove with these Oz stories and continues to build this wonderful fantasy world. It's kind of weird having an Oz story with no Dorothy, but it's also pretty nice to see a different side of this world, with nearly all-new characters instead of it being a lazy retread. Great stuff.