From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The death of Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, brings about spectacular changes in this masterfully imaginative sequel to Maguire's 1995 blockbuster Wicked—most notably, the startling possibility that Elphaba had a son. Scattered among the ruins of great portions of Emerald City, many residents have been skinned and bloodied, supposedly by the barbaric Yunamatas. Travel caravan leader Oatsie Manglehand stumbles upon the body of an unknown young man, badly beaten but still alive. She presents him to the wise Superior Maunt, who recognizes the hurt boy as Liir, rumored to be the dead Witch's secreted son. A mute waif named Candle revives him with her haunting, ethereal music and hidden affections. Meanwhile, Maguire supplies alternating chapters of extensive, mesmerizing backstory of Liir's boyhood, from the witch's watery demise, to the trek to the Wizard's Castle with Dorothy and company, his search for the imprisoned princess Nor, and a long stint in the Munchkinland Army, all while donning his mother's black cape and clutching her magic broom handle. Along the way, a headspinning cast of vividly described, eccentric characters emerges, but nothing prepares Liir for Candle's shocking surprise announcement. Tucked into Maguire's enchanting fable are carefully calibrated object lessons in forgiveness, retribution, love, loss and the art of moving on despite tragic circumstances. Ten years after Wicked (which is still on Broadway), fans will once again be clicking their heels with wonderment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BOOKRING:
Please try to send it off within 30 days of it being received. Thanks!

Karendawn arrived 10/19/05
CandieB arrived 11/3/05
Noumena12 arrived 12/16/05
girakittie arrived 2/1/06
nursiegirl42 has book?
Sunlightbub asked to be skipped
Kaishowing arrived 9/13/06

Hmmmm.....I liked it. I think it had some unnecessary rehashing of the politics of Oz, which slowed it down. Liir is an interesting character, the "everyman," and the weight of his deeds weighs as heavily on him as Elphaba's cloak. I found "Wicked" to be a satisfying read, but at times dull, and the same is true of this book. It's a bit preachy, yet some of the sexuality seems out of place. Overall, a good read, but not fantastic. The ending was in some ways expected, BUT when it ended I couldn't help but think, "Oh, set up for the sequel," leaving this book unfinished. So, in closing, entertaining and well written, but I wouldn't read it twice. Don't read the reviews on Amazon, because they give some good stuff away.

Mailed to Karendawn today!

Arrived today. Yipee! I'm reading a Meg Cabot book at the moment, but it should be a super fast read, and then I'll pick this one up. Thanks so much Reb for sharing this book!

UPDATE 10/27/05: I'm down to the last hundred pages, so should have this one finished over the weekend.

I really really wanted to like this book, but I don't think that I can say that I did - but I didn't hate it either. Like Liir himself, the book just seems to sit there for a really long time and not go anywhere. (Perhaps I should give Maguire applause for matching the tone of the book to the personality of the character.) It did pick up a little toward the end, and while the ending itself was okay, it didn't completely satisfy me.

Thank you so much, Reb, for sharing the book. :) I have Candy's address so this is going off in the mail right now.

It's here. I'm convinced there's a Bookring fairy that holds all of my books and sends them at once :-) I'm almost done with my current read and have a quick ring after that before I can start this one... I should still make the 30 day mark though :p

I can't wait to read it, I really liked Wicked :)

After I'm done, I'll pass it on to hubby to read...

Whoever said "that which does not kill us, makes us stronger" never got ahold of this particular book. I just could not get into it. I didn't really care what happened. I read through page 80 or so then skimmed to page 120 and handed it over to my husband to read with a "just tell me what happens if you are able to get through it".

Don't get me wrong, I love the writing style, but the story was taking entirely too long. I felt like I was pulling teeth from the author to just find out WHAT HAPPENS and it wasn't all interesting reading for me this go around. I'm very disappointed, I really really wanted to like this book.

I guess I didn't hate it, I just couldn't really "get into it" like I did Wicked. Perhaps another time, I'll try again.

I'll journal again when the hubby is done with it and it's ready to be sent on it's way to torture (or delight) it's next... err... victim.

11/28 Edit: I okay'd with Reb to keep this for an extra two weeks. Hubby wants to finish it, but had some stuff come up... we will send it on by the middle of December :-)

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to the next person in the ring, Nou... thanks for the extra time, Reb... hubby couldn't get through it either :/

Thanks Reb!!! Thanks Candie!! I'm going to try to read this between holidays! I've been waiting to read this book....but the reviews are making me nervous. Oh well....I'll just have to wait and see.

It took me a while to get into this book...it seemed very slow...but then most social commentaries tend to be. In the end, I enjoyed the book...it is worth sticking with..

Things I loved:
* "Un-named" God leaves out Buddha and Allah to start with
* A Governmental Leader who claims to talk to "God" .... nope, we've never heard that before
* Same Governmental Leader who talks to "God" then uses that against countless civilans....nope, we've never seen that before
* Elphaba Lives??? Elvis Lives??? Gotta love those legendary figures


************ Spoiler *****************
Is the next book...Daughter of a Son of a Wicked Witch?

On the way to Gira! Sorry for the delay.

Unfortunately I'm in the middle of looking for a place to move, so I'm going to have to send this off to nursie in a couple weeks unread. Sorry guys! :(

Just arrived in the post today!!! Lovely surpise. Thank you for sharing! :)

I'm moving to Oregon in a month, so rather than have Kaishowing mail it back and then I have to move it, please enjoy it and pass it on to somebody else when you are finished.

Picked this up at the Walthamstow meet this evening. Looks like a good read but I want to read Wicked first, so it might be a while before I get round to this one.

Borrowed this from Cyzaki before she had a chance to read it! Not as good as Wicked. Like some of the other journals I found it slow going at times and hard to finish. Also found some of the story a bit random and irrelevant. Not sure if it made a difference that this time the author didnt have an already existing story to follow and change. Will pass back to Cyzaki ASAP.