Sunday, April 30, 2017

The Latest Oz Short Story

The 1978 edition of Oziana opens with "The Woozy's Tricky Beginning" by March Laumer. As one can imagine by that title, this is an origin story for the Woozy, and also deals with his fondness for honeybees. I don't want to say too much else about this story, for fear of giving it away, but I doubt it will come as much of a surprise to anyone who is already familiar with March Laumer's other Oz works. Let's just say there are some riddles, a pixie, and a magic wand involved, and Ozma, Glinda, and Lurline all get to pay a state visit to the queen of all the bees of Oz. I was a little puzzled by this story in my youth, but it all seems pretty straightforward and sensible (if a little silly, in a good way) to me now that I'm a little older.

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