Hit 7 - Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years

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Manufacturer: Harper

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061714733
ISBN: 0061714739
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Studio: Harper

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Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction) Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, Book 3) Mirror Mirror: A Novel Lost: A Novel

Editorial Reviews:

In this captivating New York Times bestseller, beloved author Gregory Maguire returns to the land ofOz and 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. At the Cloister of Saint Glinda the silent novice Candle tends to him, willing him back to life with her unusual 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 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.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Definitely needs some follow-up...
Comment: Possible Spoilers:

I think that too much of the book was spent on Liir's adolescent years, which were slow moving and not that interesting. It isn't until the last 3rd of the novel that it starts to get really good, and by that time you get into the story, it ends quite abruptly. A good sequel can really make up for this book's early short-comings, but without a decent follow-up, then it's quite disappointing. I felt like a lot of the early stuff could've been shortened or skipped over, and instead the story should've continued further down Liir's life instead of ending when he is only 23 years-old. In "Wicked", the book was barely half way through when Elphaba was that age. Not to mention, the whole point of his journey was to find Nor, yet we really aren't given any answers about her other than the fact that she is alive somewhere.

Also, the relationship between Liir and Candle was never fully fleshed out. A potential follow-up to this book would have to give some explanation as to what happened to Candle. She gives birth to his baby, and we see that they have feelings for each other but it's never exactly expressed clearly. They actually never consummate their relationship with consent. Candle is a character with a lot of potential, kind of an opposite female character of Elphaba, who could've used more fleshing out. It also seemed quite strange and sudden that Liir would have a relationship with Trism when he was seemingly read to devote himself to Candle until then. Perhaps he was so deprived as a child that he's willing to fall in love with anyone that's nice to him, but I could never clearly see what was going on there.

If a good sequel can be written, this book could be a great middle volume, but it doesn't really stand alone. There is simply too much that is left open, and the characters just don't seem finished yet, perhaps because the main character is still so young when the story ends.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Still good
Comment: Do you really want to read a book that is better than Wicked? If anybody expects any of the next wicked years to be better than the first they are in for a let down. Son of a Witch is an awesome book but it is a sequel to an amazing book. I think Maguire did the best he could without topping Wicked. Why try to top Wicked when everyone loves it so much? Son of a Witch is a great book with an ending that makes you love Elphaba and her story even more.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Wicked sequel
Comment: This book was good, but not as good as Wicked, of course. I still enjoyed it very much. It is very dark in parts and exciting. I think I did not like it as much as Wicked because I do not find Liir to be a very likeable character, still it was wonderful to be in Oz again and this book left me eager to read "A Lion Among Men".

Customer Rating:

Summary: Wonderful continuation...
Comment: I truly enjoyed Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" and I was thrilled to find out that he had continued on the story of Oz. Son of a Witch was even more exciting to me, because I felt like the action had been tripled, the suspense intensified, and you honestly felt an attachment to the people of Oz.

Some people think it is crazy to get caught up in a fantasy world, but it is hard not to when you read stories like this one. Oz isn't just some fanciful world of lollipop guild children and dancing scarecrows that you remember. Gregory Maguire created a very real, very dark, very honest world that reflects the world that we live in today...

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Good, if not Great Sequel
Comment: The one thing that really disappointed me in this sequel to Wicked is that the one question we all want to know, "Is Liir Elphaba's son?" is never blatanly answered. (Although you can infer the answer from the last line of the novel.) Other than that this book is pretty good. Very Gregory Maguire. It kept me anxiously reading from the very beginning.

One note. One of the reviewers says that Nor is Elphaba's daughter. This is not true. Nor is the daughter of Fiyero and Sarima. She is their only daughter. Just wanted to clear that up.

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