Current mood:	sleepy
Entry tags:	books, oz

Crossing the Lion
I finished reading Gregory Maguire's third book in the Wicked series, A Lion Among Men. I think it might well have been my favorite of the three. (If you missed my reviews of the first two, you can check them out here and here.) I found Maguire's take on the Cowardly Lion interesting. While the one in the books and the MGM movie was scared of everything but always did what he felt was right, Sir Brrr rationalized immoral decisions that would get him out of trouble. And while the original Wicked dragged a bit, Lion was engaging all the way through, and wrapped up some mysteries that had been introduced in the first two books. I seem to recall seeing mentions of Maguire planning a four-book series, so maybe the origins of the Time Dragon and the Grimmerie will be addressed in the final volume.

As with the other books, there were some mostly clever references to the Baum books and the MGM movie. This time, a glass cat shows up, although it isn't much like Bungle. There's also a brief reference to Jack Pumpkinhead, and I wonder if the Eminent Pastor whom the Animal ex-professors refer to as "Mumbly" and "Mammly" might be Mombi (who made a bit appearance in Son of a Witch, but was never named). For that matter, the Boar professor himself might be an offhand reference to Baum's own Professor Grunter Swyne, but that's a bit of a stretch.