Michael Bennett reviews WICKED sequel -- SON OF A WITCH

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:12pm

So, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an “advance readers” copy of SON OF A WITCH, Gregory Maguire’s long awaited sequel to WICKED.

Below are my thoughts on the book, which may include some minor spoilers…
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Kristen Chenoweth’s agents need not worry about a possible musical version of SON OF A WITCH cluttering up her already booked-til-2009 schedule; Glinda of Upland makes only a few fleeting appearances in SON OF A WITCH, Gregory Maguire’s tepid follow up to his international best seller / musical smash inspiring, WICKED.

Indeed, with the exception of the occasional reference to the yellow brick road, Emerald City and flying monkeys, you’d scarcely know that Maguire’s latest creation takes place in OZ at all. You’ll find little L. Frank Baum or MGM here, merely a "land that I heard of once in a lullabye" as a mishmash of Wonderland, Middle Earth, Harry Potter-ville and every other generic sci-fi kingdom. For all his characters’ interactions with flying Dragons and talking birds, SON OF A WITCH is surprisingly void of magic.

The story centers on LIIR, a mysterious youth entrusted to one Elphaba Thropp (better known to history as the “Wicked Witch of the West"). Never sure if he is actually the offspring of Elphaba, Liir makes the journey, upon her demise, to the Emerald City (here a sort of post 9/11 Times Square) with young Dorothy Gale and her eccentric entourage.

Long after Dorothy has disappeared, Liir lies in a coma, following a mysterious accident, at the Cloister of St. Glinda under the care of the (mostly) mute handmaiden, Candle, who wills him to recovery with her music.

The novel cuts between the here and now and the past and the present, all chronicling Liir’s apparent passion for discovering the whereabouts of his missing sister, Nor, and unraveling the mystery of his true heritage.

Apparent being the operative word, for Liir’s journey (in the tradition of the great folk heroes before him) is marked with only an ounce of Oedipus’s mad obsession and barely a trace of Achilles’ blind ambition. Perhaps Liir is a folk hero for the MTV generation – more content to slay a dragon in a video game from the comfort of the living room then to actually climb Mt. Doom with Bilbo Baggins (who needs all that walking, anyway), but he makes for a dull companion on a three hundred page journey.

He’s not helped out any by the Oz, or lack of Oz, Maguire has given as a field to play in. Part of WICKED’s fun, and undoubtedly its success, is in its acute characterization of a place and story and characters as ingrained in our subconscious as mythology itself. The familiar Oz of childhood, twisted and revisited with an adult eye, much the same way a grown-up reads his childhood papers long hidden in the attic, is a clever, though not completely original idea (Philip Jose Farmer gave Oz’s back story a realistic twist in 1982 with A BARNSTORMER IN OZ).

But in WICKED, Maguire was able to brilliantly ride the thin line between two different interpretations of OZ – Baum (writer of the original 14 book series) and MGM (the perennial favorite) creating history and explanation that somehow bridged both worlds.

Perhaps that’s as hard a task as it seems, for this time, Maguire leaves out that world almost completely. Fans of Baum can forget about much time with the Scarecrow and Tinman, MGM buffs can stop looking now for the ruby shoes, and groupies of the musical will find no Shiz, Fieryo or Elphaba emerging from a trap door.

Which makes you wonder, why Maguire chose to return to Oz in the first place.

Oh wait. The Emerald City isn’t green from gemstones, but the color of greenbacks laid out in a row from royalty checks.

Hopefully, if Maguire decides to write a third Oz installment (a porch for the summer home sales of SON OF A WITCH will inevitably pay for?) he’ll actually revisit the world Baum created. WICKED deserves a place on a shelf with his original 14. SON OF A WITCH doesn’t.

Updated On: 7/5/05 at 09:12 PM

[luvliza89]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:28pm

How awful to hear. I was looking forward to this sequal and hoped it would prove to be as good as Wicked (which I reread three times before I ever knew a musical would be created). I was hoping for a lot more Oz references then you just described, as Oz has been an obsession for me since I was three. I know I'll still read it, but now I'm barely excitied. Thanks for taking the effort to write the review though.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:34pm

Liza, I'm a fan of the Oz books as well, which perhaps made the read more disappointing for me than it will others.

I too hoped that SON OF A WITCH would pick up characters and situations from the rest of the Oz series, but despite a couple of fleeting references to characters like Tip, Baum's OZ seems to be a world away from the universe of Liir and Candle.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:40pm

hmmm. it seems like staying that far away would have to be a concious choice so that it wasn't constantly compared to wicked... i don't know... i liked wicked (the novel) but i don't think i would necessarily read another maguire book.

[dietcherryemma]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:46pm

That's so sad to hear. I'll probably still try to read it, but I had such high expectations. Wicked was such a quick, enthralling read - most of Maguire's books seem to be that way. Well, good to know before I pick it up.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:47pm

That really is a shame Michael. I was hoping that at least one well-know Baum character would be along-side Liir. One possible scene could have contained Scraps dancing wildly around and speaking in sweet nonsenseical pros while Liir explained to her that he was a bastard son of the Witch. Now that's what I call good writing.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 10:56pm

awwww, they even had adverts for it at wicked in LA...I was so cited...I'll still read it.

[wonderland]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 11:05pm

Updated On: 7/4/05 at 11:05 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 12:23am

I'll admit that I wasn't too excited about this (I'm not a big fan of the 'Liir' character), but its still disappointed that its not very good.

Thanks for the very well-written review, Michael!

[thespian geek]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 2:07am

I still want to read the book, and I wasn't expecting anything close to a Wicked!musical ending.. but I have a question. Maguire said he wrote Son of a Witch to answer questions left un-answered from Wicked. Does he accomplish this or are we still left wondering? You did mention a third book would be a good idea..

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 2:16am

Well thespian, I didn't really think there were major questions left open at the end of WICKED, save the basic tone of the book which had a very whispy - "long ago and far away, a fable was born that may or may not be true" quality to it.

The book answers the question as to whether Liir is the child of Elphaba (since we were all dying to know the answer to that) but goes into little other Ozian history.

POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR SOME BELOW

The ending is fairly vague and clearly open ended for another installment.



Updated On: 7/5/05 at 02:16 AM

[thespian geek]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 2:18am

The book answers the question as to whether Liir is the child of Elphaba (since we were all dying to know the answer to that)

I sense sarcasm.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:19am

How sad. In reading this very thoughtful review, I'm realizing that the basic question we bring to the book -- is Liir Elphaba's offspring -- isn't ultimately compelling enough without Elphaba on the scene for necesary dramatic payoff. Isn't that the Catch-22 of this suspense question? We would ache for some sort of obligatory confrontation. We grew to care for her very deeply in the original novel; perhaps her son is interesting to us if he brings us more revelations and insights about her. Thus MaGuire created a Herculean challenge for himself -- to dramatically tranplant our root-for to a lost child we were at best indifferent to.

Of course, there are sidebar issues worth exploring -- being the offspring of a perceived 'terrorist' in a society ever-hungry to find new scapegoats. But these concerns are more intellectual than emotional, and WICKED managed to stimulate the mind while moving the heart. Sounds like MaGuire hasn't come close here. Thank you MB. Aside from being beautifully written, your review is very sensitive to fans of WICKED the novel and the stage show -- no small feat!

Updated On: 7/5/05 at 10:19 AM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:34am

I also got my hands on an advanced copy of through a friend, and am about halfway through it. So far, I agree with everything that MB has said. As a fan of the novel Wicked, I have been seriously dissapointed so far.

[stylinbohemian]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:42am

Oz, that doesnt sound too thrilling at all...I guess Ill still have to read it..

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:52am

I had high hopes for the novel but it doesn't sound good. I'll still read it antway.

[TGIF]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 11:56am

"i liked wicked (the novel) but i don't think i would necessarily read another maguire book."

apdarcey, I picked up a copy of "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" and the Snow White one (Mirror Mirror?) after reading Wicked. Confessions was my favorite of all three and Mirror Mirror was just odd. I think you might enjoy Confessions.

Shame about Son of a Witch, I didn't plan on reading it either way though. I am not a fan of sequels unless they are intended sequels (i.e. LotR). For the most part they, like movie sequels (and prequels) they just don't seem to be able to rival the original.

[Millie42]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 11:56am

This makes me sad. I was excited about this one! Wicked was so unique!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 12:10pm

"I'm realizing that the basic question we bring to the book -- is Liir Elphaba's offspring -- isn't ultimately compelling enough without Elphaba on the scene for necesary dramatic payoff... We grew to care for her very deeply in the original novel; perhaps her son is interesting to us if he brings us more revelations and insights about her."

This is a very astute comment Auggie, and indeed one of the fundamental problems, I feel, with the novel. Part of why WICKED works so very well is that it uses the familiar childrens story THE WIZARD OF OZ to ask the question "what makes a person 'wicked?'

Without having read Maguire's other novels, it does seem, however, that he uses familiar fairy tales to explore other such adult contemplations in MIRROR MIRROR and CONFESSIONS.

Liir's question of "Who am I" is understandable and universal. But using the rich world of OZ as a backdrop for a characters attempt at self discovery is frustrating when the world is so non integral to the piece.

Does it make any real difference if he's Elphaba's child? Not unless that in itself creates a real threat (or opportunity) within the world of Oz Maguire left at the end of WICKED.

But because that world is so far removed, the stakes this time seem surprisingly low.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 12:11pm

I will still read it and form my own opinion on it.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:39am

<But because that world is so far removed, the stakes this time seem surprisingly low.>>

Stakes1 It's all about Stakes, isn't it? I'm startled that MaGuire didn't 2nd guess his audience a bit, and know that our investment in the next chapter in Oz is very specific, not just in a novel set in the same general terrain. One of the problems with film sequels, invariably, is that connection. Leaving out the obvious examples of sequels that worked in masterpieces, i.e. THE GODFATHER, look at more mainstream successes: the 2nd ALIEN movie managed to feel like a logical extension, since Ripley, whom we cared about, continued her journey. And even a potboiler like the 2nd HALLOWEEN movie daring picked up only moments after the first film ended--to my thinking, a really brilliant stroke that other sequels don't do enough.

I think MaGuire should've at least found a way to revisit Liir and Elphaba -- to show us earlier, pre-melting scenes that went undramatized in WICKED. That sort of flashback technique may be a stylistic trick, or even 'cheating' but it would've satisfied an audience hungry for more info about this complex woman, and not (yet) invested in her offspring.