(Untitled)

[vilajunkie]

Wow, it's been rather long since I last posted on here. I'm sorry about that. Well, I went on my trip to Disney World and I've been back for a couple weeks now. For the short time that I went there (3.5 days), I had a lot of fun and I went on practically every ride/show that I wanted to go on. The Enchanted Tiki Room is the only thing I really

Comments

[vovat]

1. Patchwork Girl is probably my overall favorite as well, both in terms of characters and plot (although the fact that everything is resolved by Wizard ex machina rather than success on Ojo's own part is disappointing). The Woozy seems to be a definite fan favorite, although the original authors seemed to be rather dismissive of him. (In one of Thompson's rare mentions of the character, she has the Hungry Tiger claim that he's made of wood! She'd obviously re-read Patchwork a few years earlier when writing Ojo, so how hard would it have been to remember that the reason the Woozy was locked up in the first place was that he was eating bees?) And I also appreciate the vaudevillian humor and large role for Ruggedo in Tik-Tok2. It's true that there aren't too many direct references to Greek mythology in the Oz books. The mermaids and the Nome King's seven-headed dogs probably owe something to the Greek Tritons and Cerberus, respectively, but Baum does his own twist on them. That said, I don't think Greek mythological beings would

[vilajunkie]

1. When did you first start reading the Oz books?

2. What made you want to read the rest of the series, including the non-Baum books?

3. What is your favorite Discworld book?

4. If you could write a novel from one of your favorite series (Oz, Discworld, FF, etc.), what would it be about?

5. If you were told how the world could be saved, and the only way was by using four magic crystals, destroying one magic crystal, killing a mass murdering prince bent on collecting the power of the gods, etc., would you do it, or would you rather let someone more competent take care of business?

[vovat]

1. I was 11, and my dad gave me copies of the first two books.

2. I tend to be a completist, and since I liked the first two, it was pretty much inevitable that I'd read the others. I already knew there was more than one author involved, and my public library had Cowardly Lion, so I got started on Thompson before finishing with Baum.

3. I'd probably say Reaper Man, largely because it has some of the funniest conversations by the Unseen University faculty. Also, Death is one of my favorite Discworld characters, so that helps

[vilajunkie]

2. The closest library to me (out of the four I normally go to) has copies of all fourteen Baum books, Sea Fairies, Sky Island, Hidden Valley, and Merry-Go-Round. After those, I found the rest of the Oz-related Baum books and the Jack Snow and John R. Neill books. I'm only getting into the Thompson books now. So I guess you could say that I'm reading the series backwards--or sideways.

4. Unfortunately, I don't recognize any of the characters you're talking about.

5. If I had to pick a job class, I would be a thief. But a lot of those monsters would be extremely frightening and deadly in real life, so maybe I'll just stay home and not leave the local village.

[vovat]

2. After Cowardly Lion, I think it was a little while before I read another non-Baum Oz book. When I did, I was very glad to learn that Thompson had written much better books than Lion. On the other hand, the first Neill book I read was Lucky Bucky, and I ended up being disappointed by his other two.

4. I guess you haven't read Kabumpo or Ozoplaning, then? I tend to work quite a bit with Thompson characters in my own stories, probably partially because they haven't been used quite as much as the familiar Baum ones.

5. In some RPG's, it seems like monsters are totally incapable of entering towns. That's not always the case, but it's usually a plot point when monsters DO get into a town.

[vilajunkie]

2. The first Thompson book I ever read was Jack Pumpkinhead, and that one has some pretty strong characters and plot. I was really disappointed by Neill in general though. Jenny Jump was the only thing in them that I liked--maybe the strongest characterization out of any Oz people. Good illustrations, of course!

4. I read the first book with Kabumpo in it, but I don't think that one's called Kabumpo. Or is it? Either way, I own (get this) a FIRST EDITION of it. I'm really excited that I own not one, but three, first editions of random Thomspon books.

5. In the RPG I'm designing, several monsters are able to enter towns. Not only that, but you can use the villagers to fight back.

[vovat]

2. Yeah, Jenny Jump is one of my favorite Oz characters. Too bad she couldn't have been involved in better plots. {g} I also quite liked Davy Jones.

4. Yeah, Kabumpo is in the title of the first book in which he appears, which is also the book that introduces Glegg and Sun Top Mountain. The Elegant Elephant reappears for fairly major roles in Lost King, Purple Prince, Silver Princess, and the non-FF Forbidden Fountain. He makes cameo appearances in a few others as well.

I believe my copy of Yellow Knight is a first edition, but it's not in particularly great shape. I bought it for $20 at a Munchkin Convention.

5. I remember renting Ultimate Exodus for the NES, and not being able to get much of anywhere. But I do remember that, if you tried to take a treasure chest in town, the guards would attack you. And they were tough, which kind of makes me wonder why THEY weren't the ones out fighting monsters. {g}

[vilajunkie]

2. Other than Jenny Jump, Davy Jones, and (I guess) Number Nine, the population of the Emerald City exploded way too much in the Neill books. I mean, practically all of Oz lives in that tiny area between the gates and the palace. Not to mention the Uncles Island, Cookie Dough Island, and the river around the city gates.

4. I bought Kabumpo, Grampa, and Hungry Tiger each for about $100-150. I got a later edition of Silver Princess for practically free with one of them. I was lucky enough to find them all (and several other Oz books) at the Printers Row Book Fair held in Chicago.

[vovat]

Other than Jenny Jump, Davy Jones, and (I guess) Number Nine, the population of the Emerald City exploded way too much in the Neill books.

Well, according to Baum himself, there ARE over 50,000 people living in the city. I like that Neill showed us parts of the capital other than Ozma's palace. He did make the four countries seem way too small, though.

Wasn't the uncles' country club actually in the Winkie County, albeit not far from the Emerald City?