The Marvelous Land of Oz

 

Here we are with Book #2 of the original Oz series. An interesting trivia tidbit: L. Frank Baum only intended to write the first book, but then he got deluged by requests to bring back more stories of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. And he finally relented four years later with this sequel: The Marvelous Land of Oz.

The Scarecrow is still running the Emerald City, while the Tin Man and Lion are busy in their own new kingdoms. Then enters Tip and his gang, which you've probably seen in "sequel" cartoons, such as Jack Pumpkinhead in the Filmation "Journey Back to Oz." Tip is running away from the evil witch Mombi, and ends up in the Emerald City, where this army of angry women stage a rebellion and take over the city.

Yeah ... lots of running away in this book. Tip and the Scarecrow go to the Tin Man to enlist his help. Along the way, Tip creates some interesting creatures with his life potion. And ... yeah ... this is one of the funniest, craziest, and imaginative sequel stories I've ever come across.

I'm not sure if it made any sense, but it was certainly funny. Keep in mind that Baum was against morals and lessons in his stories ... he was just trying to have fun, and if any of that were to pop in there on its own, then so be it.

This book also introduces the future queen Ozma, who is apparently is found in one of the most unlikely of places.

Also, a little warning -- this book was written during a time where people didn't really care what went in to it. This day and age, some scenes may seem kind of strange and/or upsetting to today's sensibilities. It would certainly be attacked if it came out today. So, in that case, I highly recommend reading it for what ails you, and if you love it, you'll be a better person for it.

Have fun with it. It's another one of those freebies on the Gutenberg Project ... you can get it with or without illustrations, and some of those illustrations are hilarious. I'll most likely read more in the series ... eventually. There's .... what!!?? ... fourteen of them? One book at a time.