While he never quite reaches a full hero’s arc, he most definitely morphs out of dumpy, sullen child of Wicked. I was surprised to find I enjoyed watching Liir’s growth. With Elphaba gone, I didn’t have high hopes for the other characters to carry the story, namely Liir, whose characterization in Wicked was neither flattering or particularly interesting. Wicked is an incredibly tough act to follow. I don’t say this lightly, but Wicked is a true work of art. Maguire’s Oz, above all, is a world I would return to over and over. Other characters, like Fiyero, Nessarose, Nanny, and so on, added extra dimension to the story without weighing it down. The treatment of characters like Dorothy are spot-on, if unflattering. Elphaba and Glinda were not your typical heroines, in any way, but you want them both to push through. The second time, myself older now, I picked up on even more of the carefully constructed nuance and thematics. Maguire’s clever, humorous, and vivid prose captivated me through every page, and I was changed by the time the book ended. On my first read, I’d been expecting a fractured fairytale, and was shocked to find this well-fleshed geopolitical tale of characters and peoples who felt more real than the originals they were based on. Then again, recently, after having the pleasure of seeing Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London. I first read Wicked years ago, not long after it came out. My reviews of the individual titles are below. Wicked remains one of the most influential books of my generation, and the rest of the series, while not packing nearly the punch of the first book, nevertheless delivers an adventure that is as much exciting as it is thought-provoking. Few authors have tackled the folk tale/fairy tale reboots with the finesse of Gregory Maguire in the Wicked Years series.
0 kommentar(er)
