Sunday, January 30, 2011

The latest Oz reading

I wrapped up my latest cycle of Oz reading with The Master Crafters of Oz by Philip John Lewin. This is something of a more traditional Oz book, with Gillikin student Remy getting into trouble with his violin teacher, and Dorothy going on a picnic that leads to all kinds of problems. Of course Remy and Dorothy's paths converge and they stumble across a secret. This is an interesting secret, however, in that it had to do with a secret society trying to understand and perfect non-magical means of doing things, in preparation for what could happen if Oz ever lost its magic. The Master Crafters have an interesting premise they are dealing with, and you'll be surprised at who some of the members are. I enjoyed the book, but it's a book that's both big (8 1/2 by 11 inches) and pretty thick (178 pages), which made it hard to read in bed. This book could have also used a good copy editor, as there are many instances of missing quotation marks, making it hard to figure out what a character is actually saying at times. I would also complain about Ozma's magic picture being referred to as a magic mirror, but at least we all know what it is. Still, if you like more traditional Oz books that aren't part of some sort of epic trilogy or some big idea like that, you'll probably enjoy The Master Crafters of Oz. You can purchase this book directly from the publishers or through Books of Wonder.

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