Tales Told in Oz

The Wicked Years #0.5

by Gregory Maguire

The author of the bestselling The Wicked Years series returns to Oz with a final compendium of folktales.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Witches, Young Adult, Retellings, Short Stories

61 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England (a non-profit educational charity).

Maguire has served as artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Hambidge Center. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Devon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Wicked Years trash so I loved every second of this book. It's a very small collection of tongue-in-cheek fairy tales that represent the different regions and races in Oz. I love the way each story is told, and the way it gives you an idea of the different cultures involved.

I also love the little easter eggs (like the repeat of a line from Wicked, Liir's name, the story of Elphaba's namesake, etc.)

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m working my way through Oz this year. I’m on book 9 of the original Baum series and am about to start The Wicked Years with a reread of Wicked. Tales Told in Oz is a small collection of very short stories that give some background to the world of Oz and The Wicked Years series. Although Maguire wrote these after he finished the Wicked Years books, it is essentially a prequel to the series and I read it as such. The stories include whimsical tellings of:

The story of Saint Aelphaba of the Waterfall (the namesake of our Aelphaba, the witch) explains her fate and how the name is appropriate for our future Wicked Witch of the West.

A story about a Jack Pumpkinhead. THE Jack Pumpkinhead has similar magical origins, but was a creation of Ozma while she was still disguised as a little boy.

Lurline’s tale of the time before she created the Oz we know today involved some inspiration from time traveling trolls.

You need to be a fan of all things Oz to get much out of this little book, but I enjoyed it.

[Karen Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re not interested in fairy tales, or in The Wizard of Oz, or either the book or the musical Wicked (which as I understand it has been simplified considerably to fit into a two-hour stage work, but still has some cool music), or the creative process of taking an established work and fashioning an entire universe, complete with a mythological and cultural anthropology to support it (think Tolkien rather than Harry Potter), these particular tales might not interest you at all. Me, I’m fascinated.

More details (including possible spoilers) at A Just Recompense.

[Alexia ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I FINALLY READ IT! And I finally got it! As someone who lives in Europe is a huge celebration and achievement! A dear dear friend of mine (my dear online sister!) gifted it to me from the US and I was finally able to read it, which made my heart so happy, it's been years since I've wanted this book!

And it's beautiful! I loved reading the stories from Oz and all of these tales from the different regions within Oz. It's fantastic and a good complement for anyone who loves the Wicked Years series!

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is SO very Gregory Maguire. Similar to "Tales of the Peculiar" or "Tales of Beadle the Bard," it brings to life fables and whatnot mentioned throughout The Wicked Years series. Stylistically, it fits the books exactly. It was a fast, fun read. Likely not enjoyable for someone who hadn't tackled the series proper. This also does give me more motivation to dig into the original Oz source material.

[Hyacinth]

I would really love to read this book but finding a copy is extremely difficult given its limited release. If anyone in the US has a copy and would no longer like to hold onto it, please reply to this comment or message me! Thank you!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tiny volume contains a few folktales and legends tying in to The Wicked Years. It probably won't be of much interest to anyone who hasn't read at least Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, but they're very well told tales.

[Natalie Schloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

boy was this hard to find, i had to buy the physical copy from madras press since it didn't appear to be available from any library or as an ebook but it was a name your price option and apparently the proceeds go to the west hartford library so that's nice

anyways i just really am trying to complete series even if the bonus books don't necessarily give extra information about the stories. so this was a fun, quick read but definitely not necessary. guess i'm keeping it anyway though!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for what it was, a small collection of “in-universe” stories that connect to the characters, places, and ideas covered throughout the rest of the series.

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, but not horrible.

[Iah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because I'm biased and I love Gregory Maguire and The Wicked Years.

Basically, this little book to The Wicked Years is what The Tales of Beedle the Bard is to the Harry Potter Books. Just a collection of the folklore in The Wicked Years. It gives a good additional insight and helps you to understand the story of the Wicked Saga a little better. It can be read alone since it doesn't spoil anything from the main saga, but it can't really be appreciated as much without having read the other books. That being said, I wouldn't recommend it unless you've read the saga.

I really loved the way the book was written too. Once again, Gregory Maguire shows his talent of being able to write in different voices. Each legend perfectly captures the voice of each region that they come from.

The book was a short, quick read and I found it very refreshing.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the Oz books and I liked The Wicked Years series, so this little book of Oz ephemera from Maguire was good for what it was.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good for what it was. Very short read. It's good if you are a fan of the Wizard of Oz or the Wicked series.