Book Review: Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
Ever since I heard that Maguire wrote a sequel to Wicked, I’ve been wrestling with the question of whether or not I wanted to read it. Wicked is a brilliant book, and I was very afraid the sequel would be a money-making tie-in to the success of the musical. I finally caved over the weekend, and borrowed the book from the library. I was partly right, but only Maguire could write a money-making tie-in that stands alone as a fine novel.
Which isn’t to say this is going to be a glowing review, because it’s not. I was more disappointed by Son of a Witch than anything else, though I recognize that this may only be because I expected so much more from the author. However, ridiculous and inappropriate title aside (it is technically appropriate, as Liir is Elphaba’s son, but it also suggests a very obvious, very tired joke that does not suit Maguire’s style or the rest of the book), Maguire is still one of the strongest contemporary authors I can think of. His style doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence, nor does it throw pretentious words into his or her face.
My problems are more with the storyline and the characters. Or rather, the storyline as it relates and develops the main character of Liir. I don’t care about Liir. At all. The three-hundred and fifty page book tries to fit 10 years of Liir’s life, demonstrating his growth into someone who resembles Elphaba, but is an entirely different person. The problem is that Liir grows into all of Elphaba’s faults, but none of the things that make her interesting.
At the beginning of the book, Liir is given a series of tasks he should complete. He has to find Nor, and help Princess Nastoya die. As he ages and the story progresses, his list of tasks grows larger and larger, but he doesn’t do much about completing them. Except for a few things he is forced into finishing, they are left up in the air, possibly for sequels. But this lack of action contrasts Liir to Elphaba, who was always passionate about completing what she felt needed to be done. Of course, she had to die by the end of her book, so Maguire had to make her more action-oriented. However, with Liir, there is very little reason to care about him. He drifts through life, occasionally talking about how he is maturing and growing up, but showing very little of it. There is a section when he was explaining to a Conference of Birds why they shouldn’t rely on him, but it goes from illustrating Liir’s disbelief in his own abilities to Liir whining and being ridiculously thickheaded. The boy protests just a little too much and a little too often to be sympathetic.
One thing I do like is how we see characters from Wicked through Liir’s eyes. Nor is raised to an almost mythical goodness in Liir’s memory, even though her portrayal in the original book was not as someone good, just better than her brothers. Dorothy, whom Liir had his first crush on in the first book, is lowered in his estimation because he spends more time around her. She becomes more self-absorbed, and cares little about killing Elphaba. This concerns me a bit though, because if Dorothy is callous about killing Elphaba, did she really care when her house killed Nessarose? And if not, doesn’t that suck something out of the end of Wicked? Regardless, I do like the way Maguire plays with the mythology not only out of the Oz books, but out of his own book as well.
The topical political commentary about the Emperor does not play out as well. It won't stand the test of time (hopefully), and it's not subtle at all. Nor is it pointed. If you're going to be obvious, it should at least needle the reader.
Another of Maguire’s strengths is world building. While I was a little disappointed that there was little of The Marvelous Land of Oz in Maguire’s sequel (I would have loved for it to be General Jinjur who overthrew the Scarecrow, though I think there was a glimpse of Mombi and Tip, which made me happy), I was quickly impressed with how he built upon the world he’d established in Wicked. Since there was little of L. Frank Baum’s canon in the story, Maguire was free to claim the world for his own, making it about his wildly original characters (outside of cameos by Glinda) and their lives. There is so little of Baum left, but it is emotionally and stylistically a continuation of Maguire’s previous work, so it feels like a familiar Oz.
Overall, I was disappointed. By itself, untied to anything else, it was a good, though slow, book about a young man’s journey and growth into adulthood (even if he doesn’t really show any progress until the last fifty pages) in an eclectic and well-formed fantasy world. However, since it stands in comparison to the superior Wicked, it doesn't read quite as well. I also strongly recommend reading Wicked first, and not relying on the musical version, since there are so many difference, both in story and tone.
Which isn’t to say this is going to be a glowing review, because it’s not. I was more disappointed by Son of a Witch than anything else, though I recognize that this may only be because I expected so much more from the author. However, ridiculous and inappropriate title aside (it is technically appropriate, as Liir is Elphaba’s son, but it also suggests a very obvious, very tired joke that does not suit Maguire’s style or the rest of the book), Maguire is still one of the strongest contemporary authors I can think of. His style doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence, nor does it throw pretentious words into his or her face.
My problems are more with the storyline and the characters. Or rather, the storyline as it relates and develops the main character of Liir. I don’t care about Liir. At all. The three-hundred and fifty page book tries to fit 10 years of Liir’s life, demonstrating his growth into someone who resembles Elphaba, but is an entirely different person. The problem is that Liir grows into all of Elphaba’s faults, but none of the things that make her interesting.
At the beginning of the book, Liir is given a series of tasks he should complete. He has to find Nor, and help Princess Nastoya die. As he ages and the story progresses, his list of tasks grows larger and larger, but he doesn’t do much about completing them. Except for a few things he is forced into finishing, they are left up in the air, possibly for sequels. But this lack of action contrasts Liir to Elphaba, who was always passionate about completing what she felt needed to be done. Of course, she had to die by the end of her book, so Maguire had to make her more action-oriented. However, with Liir, there is very little reason to care about him. He drifts through life, occasionally talking about how he is maturing and growing up, but showing very little of it. There is a section when he was explaining to a Conference of Birds why they shouldn’t rely on him, but it goes from illustrating Liir’s disbelief in his own abilities to Liir whining and being ridiculously thickheaded. The boy protests just a little too much and a little too often to be sympathetic.
One thing I do like is how we see characters from Wicked through Liir’s eyes. Nor is raised to an almost mythical goodness in Liir’s memory, even though her portrayal in the original book was not as someone good, just better than her brothers. Dorothy, whom Liir had his first crush on in the first book, is lowered in his estimation because he spends more time around her. She becomes more self-absorbed, and cares little about killing Elphaba. This concerns me a bit though, because if Dorothy is callous about killing Elphaba, did she really care when her house killed Nessarose? And if not, doesn’t that suck something out of the end of Wicked? Regardless, I do like the way Maguire plays with the mythology not only out of the Oz books, but out of his own book as well.
The topical political commentary about the Emperor does not play out as well. It won't stand the test of time (hopefully), and it's not subtle at all. Nor is it pointed. If you're going to be obvious, it should at least needle the reader.
Another of Maguire’s strengths is world building. While I was a little disappointed that there was little of The Marvelous Land of Oz in Maguire’s sequel (I would have loved for it to be General Jinjur who overthrew the Scarecrow, though I think there was a glimpse of Mombi and Tip, which made me happy), I was quickly impressed with how he built upon the world he’d established in Wicked. Since there was little of L. Frank Baum’s canon in the story, Maguire was free to claim the world for his own, making it about his wildly original characters (outside of cameos by Glinda) and their lives. There is so little of Baum left, but it is emotionally and stylistically a continuation of Maguire’s previous work, so it feels like a familiar Oz.
Overall, I was disappointed. By itself, untied to anything else, it was a good, though slow, book about a young man’s journey and growth into adulthood (even if he doesn’t really show any progress until the last fifty pages) in an eclectic and well-formed fantasy world. However, since it stands in comparison to the superior Wicked, it doesn't read quite as well. I also strongly recommend reading Wicked first, and not relying on the musical version, since there are so many difference, both in story and tone.