Scan barcode
A review by rosepetals1984
The Undead World of Oz: L. Frank Baum's the Wonderful Wizard of Oz Complete with Zombies and Monsters by Ryan C. Thomas, L. Frank Baum
2.0
Oh, "The Undead World of Oz", you slay me. Literally and figuratively. I honestly didn't know how I wanted to start off this review, so I figured I'd go with my gut reaction following my read of this book. I feel torn because on one hand I want to say this was a good read, but I couldn't help but feel like I've "been there, done that" reading this. (This is coming from someone who loves reading reinterpretations of classic works - just that I didn't expect that I'd be reading an almost word-for-word interspersion of the original.)
I probably went into this book with greater expectations than anything else. Brilliant concept, but I think the execution left much to be desired. The story takes on Baum's original classic and turns it into a scenario where Oz is overrun with zombies and assorted types of other monsters. Dorothy has to worry about saving the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and encountering the Cowardly Lion from the overflux of monsters, and while there are parts of it that are funny and uniquely original - I don't think combining this concept with the text of the original work was the best idea - especially if you've already read the original. The first chapter is a carbon copy, and then things start to change once it goes from there, but then there's a matter of cherry picking what's new and what's old, and it almost would've been better if the author just started from scratch and wrote it himself. While I can't complain that the author manages to intertwine the voice of the book well, so that events seem natural enough that they "could" happen in the story - the ideas get lost in a tangle of "what's different and what's kept the same" rather than focusing on the story itself. I'll admit that took a huge toll on my enjoyment factor of the story.
Still, I don't regret reading it - there were some pretty fun moments in the book, and made me genuinely smile in reading it, but I would more than likely say it's only worth reading once. The value of it doesn't quite go beyond that.
Overall score: 2/5
I probably went into this book with greater expectations than anything else. Brilliant concept, but I think the execution left much to be desired. The story takes on Baum's original classic and turns it into a scenario where Oz is overrun with zombies and assorted types of other monsters. Dorothy has to worry about saving the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and encountering the Cowardly Lion from the overflux of monsters, and while there are parts of it that are funny and uniquely original - I don't think combining this concept with the text of the original work was the best idea - especially if you've already read the original. The first chapter is a carbon copy, and then things start to change once it goes from there, but then there's a matter of cherry picking what's new and what's old, and it almost would've been better if the author just started from scratch and wrote it himself. While I can't complain that the author manages to intertwine the voice of the book well, so that events seem natural enough that they "could" happen in the story - the ideas get lost in a tangle of "what's different and what's kept the same" rather than focusing on the story itself. I'll admit that took a huge toll on my enjoyment factor of the story.
Still, I don't regret reading it - there were some pretty fun moments in the book, and made me genuinely smile in reading it, but I would more than likely say it's only worth reading once. The value of it doesn't quite go beyond that.
Overall score: 2/5