The Wonderful Wizard of Oz -- the Book

By far, my favorite movie has been The Wizard of Oz from 1939. It would come on once a year on CBS -- I think around spring, and I never missed a showing until I grew older. My parents got me a set of LP records that played the whole movie soundtrack, and also a book with movie stills and the entire script.

It got to where I had whole scenes memorized.

I also noticed when they showed scenes not usually shown. Here my memory is fuzzy, but I think sometimes they skipped the horses of different colors. Sometimes they skipped one of the monkey raids, and supposedly there's an extended Munchkin scene I saw only once.

I've also watched other derivative movies, animations, parodies, and retellings. The animations are only a faint memory. I loved Deschanel in the Tin Man. I hated the retelling on -- was it NBC -- a couple of years ago?

With all this in mind, would you believe it took me 50 years to get around to reading the book that started it all? Since it's so old, you can download a free copy from the Gutenberg Project, so I put a copy on my Kindle, and enjoyed every minute of reading it.

It was a different kind of style at the turn of the century. Baum claimed that he wanted to create something different from the usual Grimm stories where every story had a moral. Rather, he wanted to create a story that was pure fun, not scary, and no lessons.

Well ... he almost succeeded.

I suppose 1900 was much different than today -- at least in the types of books children read. Baum is definitely a good story teller, but his style is different -- usually getting right to the point.

And for a non-scary book, it definitely had some items that most likely would not be published today for our sheltered kids. One of the funniest and most gruesome parts was the story of the Tin Man and his curse ... how he chopped off one arm, and then another, ... and ... you get the picture.

Much of the dialogue is exactly what you hear in the movies, so many of the great one-liners appear to have come from Baum himself.

Most of the book is a journey, with a lot of world building. Dorothy gets sucked up by a cyclone (actually kind of scary in the book), lands in Oz, starts to walk toward the Emerald City, picks up some friends, overcomes different obstacles, and so on.

I was surprised to learn that one major character in the movie had only ONE CHAPTER in the book. And I do have to say that the writers of the movie certainly made one of the best decisions ever made -- to elevate this character and provide an image that can never be forgotten.

I was also surprised to learn that this book was banned in the past. What could it have possibly been? The witches? The gruesome and scary scenes (in a not-scary book)? No ... but rather it turned out to be because it featured females as strong characters not afraid to take charge and grow on their own.

So, yeah, my favorite movie/story is one of the earliest feminist stories written! (But wait till I get to book #2!)

If you haven't already done so, I recommend reading this blast from the past. Compare it with the movie -- have fun and enjoy.

The Hunger by Michael D. Young

Michael D. Young's "The Hunger" is a fantasy novel following Azil and his friends as they set out to change the world and help to bring on the coming of a new age.

In this world, everyone can do magic to a degree. Not only do they need to eat food for physical needs, but they also need to eat Sustenance for their magical needs. Those who cannot obtain Sustenance starve and become malformed, also losing the ability entirely to do magic, thus explaining the main title.

Different colors of Sustenance provide different types of magical boosts. Red provides sight-related magic, yellow is speed, and blue is strength. These can also be mixed to provide combination magic -- orange provides sight and speed, and so on. And then there are other Sustenances that provide special boost or effects.

There are also three Keeps, each specializing in one of the three magic types, and run by three families.

Watching over everyone is Rahim, the creator, or some kind of god character. In this day, the people have pretty much forsaken Rahim in their hearts, and have become full of pride where many are poor and unable to get Sustenance. This is why Azil and friends must change things up and do what must be done to clean house and bring on the good times.

I came across this book because my friend, Michael D. Young, reached out to me (among others) to critique the upcoming next two books in this series, not yet published. As part of this arrangement, I received this first book for free. Providing a review was not a requirement, but as is customary, he did ask me to provide one if I felt inspired to do so.

I was pleasantly surprised, as friends' books usually aren't as good as more professionally-established authors' books, but this one holds really well. I love all the imagery and the world building. The magic is believable, as are the creatures and the events as they unfold. I also love the use of color throughout the whole book.

I would rate this 8.0 out of 10.0. While the story is exciting all the way through, there are a couple of unanswered questions in the area of world building. The story concentrates entirely on the big players, so we don't get much in seeing how the little people live. I'm also struggling to see how everyone can do magic, but some are better than others. It just feels like something's missing in the setup. Also, I must admit that I like the upcoming sequels more -- even in their unedited state.

Regardless of these perceived weaknesses, the story gripped me. The twists and turns are fun. The characters are endearing and distinct. It becomes hard to predict what's going to happen next. The ending is satisfying and made me want to read more.

If you're looking for something new and different, give this book a try, and look for the sequels coming shortly.

Review-a-thon

It's time for me to get things in order. Time for some housekeeping.

Some of you may wonder where my promised Coronavirus Newsletters are, but never fear ... I've decided to move them to my Economy/Political blog. That seemed like a better home for the newsletters, so I can leave this blog exploring more of my fiction writing.

I realize you probably got excited ... "I finally get to hear from Mel after being so inactive for such a long time." So, don't worry about that. I promise an upcoming Review-a-thon over the next 2-3 months. Each week, I'll review a book, movie, or other, until I finally catch up with my back log.

This will all start next week, as I got a lot of housekeeping items to get out of the way first.

Ever onward and upward!