Son of a Witch

"[R]ichly detailed....The book works too hard to dazzle us; it's considerably more cluttered and strained than Wicked. But, like L. Frank Baum's magical land itself, it's filled with wonderful things....Once again, the myth of Oz proves its enduring power." Kirkus Reviews

"[V]intage Maguire, thoroughly entertaining even at its darkest. Oz is as complex and satisfying a fantastic world as ever, wonderfully described, from the steam rising out of the marshes to the sloe-eyed young homeless on the Emerald City streets." Boston Globe

"Except for getting out of the way of the odd chamber pot being emptied from on high, no one seems to know exactly what to do or where to go in this book. You get the feeling they're simply milling around waiting for the next sequel to begin." The Washington Post

"[I]ntricately plotted and peopled...It has the same fascinating blend of the prosaic and the magical as its predecessor...and sometimes rises to the same level of wit....If Son suffers a bit from being the middle child, so be it. It is a family of books well worth reading." San Antonio Express-News

"One of the critical hallmarks of a successful sequel is its ability to stand on its own. Son doesn't....Son occasionally has absorbing sections in which Maguire's prose sparkles; but there are also weak spots." Dallas-Ft. Worth Star Telegram

Ten years after the publication of Wicked, beloved novelist Gregory Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz. There he introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended to at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape — but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?

For the countless fans who have been dazzled and entranced by Maguire's Oz, Son of a Witch is the rich reward they have awaited so long.

The Wicked Years continue in Gregory Maguire's Son of a Witch--the heroic saga of the hapless yet determined young man who may or may not be the offspring of the fabled Wicked Witch of the West. A New York Times bestseller like its predecessor, the remarkable Wicked, Son of a Witch follows the boy Liir on his dark odyssey across an ingeniously re-imagined and nearly unrecognizable Land of Oz--a journey that will take him deep into the bowels of the Emerald City, lately abandoned by the Wizard, and into the jaws of dragons. At once a grim fairy tale and an uplifting adventure, Son of a Witch is a true wonder.

Ten years after the publication of Wicked, the author returns to the land of Oz to follow the story of Liir, the adolescent boy left hiding in the shadows of the castle when Dorothy killed the Witch.

In this follow-up to "Wicked"--the basis for the Tony Award-winning musical--beloved novelist Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz and introduces readers to Liir, the small boy Elphaba leaves behind at her untimely death.

Gregory Maguire is the author of several best-selling adult novels, including Wicked, which was turned into a Broadway musical. His books for younger readers include the picture book Crabby Cratchitt, the novel The Good Liar, and the popular Hamlet Chronicles series. While writing Leaping Beauty, Mr. Maguire sadly became allergic to all creatures great and small. Now he lives in a house without pets, though he is the father of three happy, noisy small children to whom, at this writing, he has not yet developed allergies.