This Week's Oz Short Story

And we're back at last to Oziana and the first story from the 1974 issue, "Abra Kadabra of Oz", written and illustrated by Melody Grandy. Ozma comes into possession of a mysterious and powerful fire gem, only for it to be brazenly stolen from her own magic room. Some detective work reveals that the thief is Abra Kadabra, the daughter of two old friends of Glinda that she's lost track of. Ozma, Glinda, the Wizard, and others find Abra in the far northern Gillikin Country, only to find that her motivations are entirely benevolent, and that she is protecting Oz from a phenomenon that will cause everyone in the country to age. Melody Grandy is one of the acknowledged masters of Oz fanfic (her Seven Blue Mountains of Oz Trilogy is phenomenal), and this appears to be one of her earliest published works. She's great at believable characters with clear motivations that others may not always see, and all of those show up here. The issue is off to a great start, but the second story is by one who could once have legitimately claimed the titile Royal Historian of Oz—but I'll have to tell you more about that next week!