Rating: 
Summary: Smart Smart Smart
Review: Smart, Smart, Smart! Dialogue - Smart, Ideas - Smart, Characters - Smart! The book is the story of "The Wizard of Oz" but written to expand on the setting that Dorothy was plopped into. When we watch the movie, the Land of Oz magically appears as if it has always been what we first see. We learned through the movie that the wizard came to Oz, appeared in Oz at some point in history, but we aren't given an inkling of development of Oz and what the role of the Wizard was in that development. (Though we do know the wizard was a charlatan and a hoax, we aren't supposed to concentrate on that.)Each page of this book is a delight and a sorrow. It is a delight because I KNOW its true, everything finally clicks into place and I begin to understand how the events that transpired came to be. It is a sorrow because I recognize how blind I've always been, how I took the easy way by being blinded by the picture presented and not asking the right questions. And it is a sorrow because I recognize how many others have been persuaded by the marketing to view the story of Oz in a simple and terribly incorrect way. The book challenged me to question my other presumptions.
Rating: 
Summary: You are not in Kansas Anymore
Review: Actually you are in a satirical version of Nazi Germany. At least that is what I read. Think of the wizard as Hitler and the animals of Oz as the Jews and you have a pretty good idea of where the book is going. There are programs to educate the young people of Oz that smacks of Hitler Youth, but it does not beat you over the head with analogy after analogy. It flows pretty well. We find that Elphaba is really not that wicked but is a revolutionary. She wants the red shoes back because the owner of the shoes will be recognized as the leader of Munchkinland, which has seceded from Oz. If the wizard has those shoes he will be able to march into Munchkinland and take over. Think Poland. The book is at its best in Elphaba's college years as we see her grow from an introvert, which you would be if you were green, into an educated political Animal. As the animals lose their rights, and begin to disappear, Elphaba becomes more of a real person, unlike the caricature from the original book and movie. She is a complex person and is actually easy to root for in her quest for justice. This is a pretty dark book and is for adults, not children. It is not quite Animal Farm or 1984, but is closer to them than I expected.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: Wicked gives a whole new perspective on the classic tale, "Wizard of Oz" I guess you could say its the other story. I was entranced by this book. I couldn't put it down. The first chapter is a bit slow, but if you stick with it, it just gets better and better.
Rating:
Summary: I'll Never Look At Wizard of Oz Again In The Same Light.....
Review: This book was wonderful, and sad, and certainly shed a different slant on all the characters: The Witch of the East, The Witch of the West, The Wizard, Dorothy, and the slippers. I ended up rooting for the Witch of the West and hating the Wizard! And poor Dorothy was just a pawn in it all. It will be hard for me to watch the classic movie The Wizard of Oz in the same light anymore. I'm ready to read more books by this author!
Rating: 
Summary: Missed Opportunity
Review: After seeing the new Broadway musical version (loosely stated), I was excited to read Maguire's book...which came highly recommended by several friends. I couldn't have been more disappointed. The musical's script is a vast improvement over this aimless sprawl of a novel by bestowing the characters with MOTIVATION. In the novel, I found the characters poorly defined and the plot ill-focused. It's a shame, because Maguire's prose isn't without merit...he's just given us a real, real mess of a book. He starts so many threads without direction, and without wrapping them up. It is not a page-turner, and has no narrative sweep. If this is the "prequil" to The Wizard of Oz, it certainly wouldn't make anyone want to read Baum's classic. Anyone who wants to see a GOOD story inspired by Maguire's characters and a few of his ideas would do well to credit Winnie Holzman, who wrote the script to the new Broadway musical Wicked.
Rating:
Summary: What is evil?
Review: "Wicked" is not just a re-telling of the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Witch, but is also a philosophical study of what is evil. Is evil inherent? Is the act of being evil when you restrain from abhorent acts, or when you give in?
By the end of this book you will have developed a sense of compassion for the Witch. She was misunderstood in so many ways. The green skin? A birth defect. A severe allergy to water makes it feel like acid when it touches her. Flying monkeys? Witch/Elphaba is an Animal activist. You'll never be able to watch "Wizard of Oz" in the same way again..in fact you might find yourself rooting for the one person you never had before.
Rating:
Summary: loose ends
Review: also, what ever happened with the spell that was put on glinda and elphie? it seemed to be left unresolved.
Rating: 
Summary: Difficult Reading
Review: Although the concept of this book is genius and the story is intricately weaved to set the pace of "The Wizard of Oz", it is difficult to read. The author does not develop his concepts thoroughly. I found myself frequently re-reading areas to better understand why certain events were taking place. It reads in certainparts like Shakespeare and requires assumption of facts in others. Although the author came up with a brilliant idea that uses concepts that twist what we have always assumed about "The Wizard of Oz", he would have done better to let someone else write his ideas so that thea reader could etter follow his storyline and understand it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wicked is Torture For Its Readers
Review: This is an awful book. It starts out interestingly enough, explaining the origin of the Wicked Wich, green skin and all, but then gets mired in a ridiculous and unbelievable plot about religion versus naturalism and the rights of talking animals. In the process, Maguire goes off on pointless tangents about bestiality, class consciousness and consipracy theorists. When you finish it, you'll be singing "Ding, dong, the book is done!" It's an overly long exercise in nonsense.
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Summary: Warning - a good but ADULT book
Review: I have just barely started this book - and I'm already hooked. However, I wanted to post a comment that I think is important for potential buyers: THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK. In today's age of Harry Potter, lots of parents are looking for more ways to engage their middle school-age kids with additional fantasy reading. Looking at the reviews of this book, it would be easy to think that this is simply an imaginative retelling of the original tale - and you might assume it to be written for a similar age group. Absolutely not! Like I said, I am really hooked, and expect it to live up to its acclaim, but by page 15 I was already calling my Mom and warning her NOT to give it to her friend's 13-year-old as a gift - the sexual content is both explicit and mature, right off the bat. It serves the story well - but I would not want someone handing it over to an unsuspecting teenager of mine. So now that you've been warned - adults, enjoy!
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