Not so much a fail as utter disappointment
Gregory Maguire's 'A Lion Among Men' is the third volume in 'The Wicked Years', encompassing Wicked, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men.
I greatly enjoyed Wicked, holding as a separate entity to the musical (which some people seem unable to do, but that's another story), and liked Son of Witch as a follow-up. I felt Wicked required a sequel, and Son of a Witch stepped up to the task. I read A Lion Among Men wanting to see where else Maguire could take this rich fantasy- and was disappointed.
A Lion Among Men revolves around Brrr, more commonly known as 'The Cowardly Lion', who has moved on from Dorothy's companion to become an employee of the Emerald City (abbreviated throughout the novel as simply EC), following up Elphaba's story- I found this a little unlikely, but went along with it to see how it would unwind.
Brrr is sent to interview Yackle, who is believed to be a major player in the Wicked Witch's life. From here I expected the book to continue as a richly woven interview novel, whereby Brrr interrogates Yackle, workign through Elphaba's life, death and who were the key players. Instead I got a strange "trade-off" where Yackle gave information according to what Brrr told her about his life and experiences.
While I liked learning the background of the Cowardly Lion, I couldn't really understand Maguire's motives. Why the lion? Why not the Tinman? Or the Scarecrow, who I always wanted to learn more about- Elphaba nearly sent herself mad thinking he was Fiyero still alive, and then he became the Wizard's replacement... there was so much where that story could go! I understand the symbolism that Brrr was a minor player in Elphaba's life who shaped her beliefs, but the long, winding passages about his (in my opinion) plain life dragged out the novel.
And the end? Throughout the whole novel we learn very little new about Elphaba, just her whole life rehashed. And the end?
*SPOILER*
The damn TIME DRAGON is the one to wrap it up! No final prophecy from Yackle, Liir doesn't turn up (as I fully expected him to) and the main revelation is that Yackle is a product of the Grimmerie, and Brrr's glass cat Shadowpuppet is Malky, who was a SPY.
The two mini-chapters after that I merely skimmed through because I was so disappointed about the wrap up. Maguire should have left well enough alone with Son of a Witch. I wouldn't be surprised if he pushes out a forth on the basis of the completely useless Munchkin/EC war that was a backdrop in this.