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A review by mbkarapcik
No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige
4.0
Although some fans of either/or/both the 1939 movie and original book by L. Frank Baum may scoff at this reimagining of what happens after Dorothy returns to Kansas after her life-altering trip to Oz, I found the novella intriguing. Her descriptions of Oz were pretty wild but believably so since it is a fantasy. Like another reviewer said, the world is even more fantastical than the movie or book yet it retains the same sense of wonder and terror that you feel when you stroll down the Road of Yellow Brick, as it's called in this series.
I really felt that Danielle Paige did capture the essence of the original characters and added even more depth to them. She must be a Wizard of Oz connoisseur or studied every book, movie and any other form of media involving it to manage writing a tale quite her own but with an extensive knowledge about Oz and its beloved characters.
Some reviews I read stated that they felt Dorothy was portrayed more as a bitch than anything else, but I disagree. As the story moves along, you sense that Dorothy isn't all she seems, and I completely bought into the concept and cannot wait to delve in to the rest of the prequels as well as the full novels. I wouldn't be surprised if the author took Dorothy's behavior even further down a dark road not taken once this series has ceased.
The novella moves along at a pretty good clip and throughout it, I wondered who really was the villain and what secrets all the characters including Toto were hiding and what their motivations were. I bought all four prequels that have been published due to my fascination with this one. It's short enough, too, that you don't really notice if it ever slows down.
As a kid, I loved watching this movie and reading the books. Like Wicked (which I started, stopped and want to start up again -- truth be told, I still hold a little bit of fright from childhood about the Wicked Witch of the West), it just adds extra elements and dimensions to Baum's classic book that are charming and captivating, making you clamor for more. Usually, as a person who gets tired of the reboots of movies and alternate stories retold and thinks it's just a way to cop out and cash in, I think every fan of this story has found themselves speculating about what happens next in Oz and muses about other roads that never materialized in the books but could if you clapped your heels together three times.
And, as for this series, I would love to see it on the small or big screen! Where's the big screen debut of Wicked, BTW? Even if you're a pop culture and/or literature purist, this is worth a read because it upends the series in a crazy, exciting way.
I really felt that Danielle Paige did capture the essence of the original characters and added even more depth to them. She must be a Wizard of Oz connoisseur or studied every book, movie and any other form of media involving it to manage writing a tale quite her own but with an extensive knowledge about Oz and its beloved characters.
Some reviews I read stated that they felt Dorothy was portrayed more as a bitch than anything else, but I disagree. As the story moves along, you sense that Dorothy isn't all she seems, and I completely bought into the concept and cannot wait to delve in to the rest of the prequels as well as the full novels. I wouldn't be surprised if the author took Dorothy's behavior even further down a dark road not taken once this series has ceased.
The novella moves along at a pretty good clip and throughout it, I wondered who really was the villain and what secrets all the characters including Toto were hiding and what their motivations were. I bought all four prequels that have been published due to my fascination with this one. It's short enough, too, that you don't really notice if it ever slows down.
As a kid, I loved watching this movie and reading the books. Like Wicked (which I started, stopped and want to start up again -- truth be told, I still hold a little bit of fright from childhood about the Wicked Witch of the West), it just adds extra elements and dimensions to Baum's classic book that are charming and captivating, making you clamor for more. Usually, as a person who gets tired of the reboots of movies and alternate stories retold and thinks it's just a way to cop out and cash in, I think every fan of this story has found themselves speculating about what happens next in Oz and muses about other roads that never materialized in the books but could if you clapped your heels together three times.
And, as for this series, I would love to see it on the small or big screen! Where's the big screen debut of Wicked, BTW? Even if you're a pop culture and/or literature purist, this is worth a read because it upends the series in a crazy, exciting way.