Book Reviews of Son Of A Witch

After reading Wicked, I was so excited to get into this one. Unfortunately, getting into it was a problem. I think it took me 7 months to finish this book, because I kept putting it down for something more interesting. Finally, I really got into the story - only to realize that I had just finished the last page. This was a huge disappointment for me.

this follow up book To Wicked is not as good and seems to drag in places.

Son of a Witch, much like Wicked, is slow to build an interesting plot. The book's ending, which didn't really seem to end much at all*, is disappointing. Maguire still uses wonderfully creative imagery to fuel the mind's eye. The plot doesn't have political double ententre like the first novel, and delivers much less expression to a specific ideal (revolution, etc.).
* A third installment in the series has been released.

Much like Wicked, this book is capable of weaving a great story and then seems to give up and go into abbreviation mode at the end.

If you loved 'Wicked' you'll love the sequel! Find out what happens to Liir, (Is he really Elphaba's son?) Shell, Mother Yackle, and Glinda.

Sequel to Wicked, this book carries on the story of the witche's probable son and his life. Very good. If you enjoyed Wicked, you will enjoy this one!

I have to say that I liked this one better than Wicked. But it was still lacking just a little bit. Left a lot of unanswered questions... like what happened to Nor, which we get a clue to and is Liir her son? Which I think is obvious. I think I'll read the others, just to find out what happened. My favorite Maguire book still is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

I did see a lot of similarities to the Revelutionary War, just as a minor point.

I enjoyed this book and felt it ended too soon. I can't wait for the sequel. (There'd better be one as it left you hanging!)

This Maguire story continues the story line started in Wicked. However unlike most of his other stories this one did not seem to have a historical setting or political purpose as the base of the tale. This was simply the next chapter in the story of Oz. I found it enjoyable enough but Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister still remains my unrivaled favorite of Maguire tales. I still will look forward to the third book . . . but without the expectation of a historical or political underlying theme.

I am a huge fan of Gregory Maguire in general and the Elphaba story specifically. This book did not disappoint. It was as well written and thoughtful as its predecessor. I can't wait to see if there will be a third.

Enjoyable sequel to Wicked

I loved this as much as Wicked!

It was ok. Didn't like how depressed he was but he got things done and that was what mattered.

Different style than Wicked. Interesting and surprising ending.

I was really impressed with Son Of A Witch's predecessor, Wicked. Written a decade earlier, Wicked had a set purpose - beyond the art of storytelling (and the story WAS wonderful), Wicked had an underlying intention of exploring the possible many roots of evil.

Son of a Witch falls flat. It serves merely as a continuance of Wicked's story line, and altogether abandons the philosophical wonderings of Wicked. Like the younger sibling being asked by teachers, "Why can't you be more like your older sister?" -- the second in the series would have probably been fine as a standalone, but as a follow-up, it's disappointing.

I gave it three stars -- the story develops nicely, but it's just a nice story. There's nothing more to it.

I almost feel as if Maguire wrote the sequel as an answer to a decade of demand - his readership wanting to know "what happened next?" - instead of in answer to his own personal desire to create and write. It's lacking.

I love this book. Just like I love Wicked. The story is engrossing and pulls you right along... It can be slow at times but I think it's worth it - esp. if you love books by JRR Tolkein etc

I was really excited to read this book, only to find out that I loved WIcked because of Elphaba's character, which this book lacked. Other than that it is a good story, even if it drags in some places.

Bleah, I grow tired of Mr Maguire's style of writing. Was intrigued by "Wicked" but found my enthusiasm lagging with each reading of his other books. Could hardly get through the first chapter of this book. Just wasn't my style. Seems if you've read one of his books, you've read them all. He has been riding this "retelling of fairytales" horse too long.

I actually liked this book better than Wicked. It does have some slow parts, but all and all I enjoyed the book.

I heard all the raves on Wicked. I read it but it took me forever to finish the book. I picked up the Son of a Witch right around the same time I received the first. Strange enough, I enjoyed Son of a Witch far more than I enjoyed Wicked. I finished it faster too!

Different and perhaps even better than the first. I really loved this story.

From the Publisher

The long-anticipated sequel to the beloved and hugely successful novel Wicked, now Broadway's #1 smash hit musical

When a Witch dies-not as a crone, withered and incapable, but as a woman in her prime, at the height of her passion and prowess-too much is left unsaid. What might have happened had Elphaba lived? Of her campaigns in defense of the Animals, of her appetite for justice, of her talent for magic itself, what good might have come? If every death is a tragedy, the death of a woman in her prime keenly bereaves the whole world. Ten years after the publication of Wicked, bestselling novelist Gregory Maguire returns to the land of Oz to follow the story of Liir, the adolescent boy left hiding in the shadows of the castle when Dorothy did in the Witch.

A decade after the Witch has melted away, the young man Liir is discovered bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully. Shattered in spirit as well as in form, he is tended by the mysterious Candle, a
foundling in her own right, until failed campaigns of his childhood bear late, unexpected fruit.

Liir is only one part of the world that Elphaba left behind. As a boy hardly in his teens, he is asked to help the needy in ways in which he may be unskilled. Is he Elphaba's son? Has he power of his own? Can he
liberate Princess Nastoya into a dignified death? Can he locate his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in shackles in the Wizard's protection? Can he survive in an Oz little improved since the death of the Wicked Witch of the West? Can he learn to fly?

In Son of a Witch, Gregory Maguire suggests that the magic we locate in distant, improbable places like Oz is no greater than the magic inherent in any hard life lived fully, son of a witch or no.

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