The Latest Oz Reading

I've started my latest batch of Oz reading. In this case, I will go in the reverse order I've read them, from most recent to furthest back, for a very good reason that I will get to at the right time. But I may not quite get them all blogged tonight, so there may be a continuation tomorrow.

• A Baffling Book About Bunnybury of Oz by Marin Elizabeth Xiques, illustrated by S. P. Maldonado is the latest case for Oz's premier rabbit detective, Brewster Bunny, and for once he doesn't have to travel very far, as it all takes place in his home town of Bunnybury. Brewster's friends, Hamilton and Elsa, are visited by their long-lost uncle Norbert, who seems particularly interested in a locked green door in Elsa's house. But what's so secret about the room's contents, and why are they so interesting to Norbert? This was a short, fun read that shows us a lot about how the civilized rabbits of Oz live. And naturally Brewster solves the case, too.
• Captive Hearts of Oz Volume 2, by Ryo Maruya, illustrated by Mamenosuke Fujimaru, translated by Angela Liu. This manga adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz continues, from the party's first encounter with the Kalidahs to their arrival at the Emerald City. But a new member joins them, Zero, and Dorothy seems to be strongly drawn to him, to the point of wondering if she even needs to go back to Kansas. Also, the mysterious figures behind the scenes wonder if the alterations made to Dorothy's story will have major long-term affects, and Glinda involves herself the adventure long before she's supposed to. This is turning into a fun little series that's not quite as straightforward as it first appeared. I'm glad I've already ordered volume 3!
• The program book for this year's OzCon International, which you had to attend to get a copy of, or at least have some connections. Lots of essays about things being celebrated at this year's convention, notably the centennial of The Lost Princess of Oz, it's dedicatee, Ozma Baum, and the 1933-34 Wizard of Oz radio show. But I already know all that, as I was the editor of this book.

And the rest, and most interesting part, will have to wait until tomorrow.

The Latest Oz Reading

I'm pretty much done with the latest wave of Oz reading (only a bit more of the 2016 edition of Oziana to go), so here are my two most recent Oz books:

• The Bouncy Bunnies in Oz by Marin Elizabeth Xiques is the story of three rabbit girls and the Thist who adopted them. They call him Daddy, of course. The three girls have their own personalities, but it is the impetuous Jodie who gets the lion's share of this book. She ends up on the big adventure, and even meets up with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman out on the Winkie River. We also get to revisit a lot of sites from The Lost Princess of Oz (appropriate for this year, being that book's centennial), and even find out what's in that chasm surrounding the Merry-Go-Round Mountains. It's a pretty harmless book where everything turns out well in the end, and with all the dark and brooding Oz books that seem to be coming more and more frequently these days, that is far from a bad thing!
• Bringing us right up to date is the latest book, volume 1 of the manga series Captive Hearts of Oz by Ryo Maruya and Mamenosuke Fujimaru. It's essentially retelling The Wizard of Oz, but it is definitely manga, as there is a mysterious storyteller wondering why the story keeps changing, and perhaps someone else is on the scene. There are also a pair of human/crow hybrid siblings who torment Hayward, this books equivalent to the Scarecrow, and Leon, the lion character, pretty much shows up just as Dorothy and Hayward meet Nick the Tin Woodman, and helps unrust him. These creators (or possibly translator Angela Liu) really know their Oz, because the Good Witch of the North is named Locasta, the Tin Woodman is named Nick Chopper, and the party spends a night with Nick's creator, Ku-Klip! This volume ends with a mysterious new character rescuing Dorothy during the Kalidah attack, and as volume 2 is already being solicited, I suspect this is a series that could go on for a while.

The latest Oz reading

I just finished volume 5 of Toto! The Wonderful Adventure this morning. It was a fun little read, but the Oz connections are getting more and more tenuous. Still, they finally picked up a Tin Man of a sort. Kakashi's little band is growing. Unfortunately, this looks like it's it. The final page says "The End," and the back cover says it's the final volume. Unless I want to learn Japanese and can get the remaining volumes (I gather there are ten collections in Japan, and the story is still going in a magazine, so there will likely be more), I'm probably out of luck. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

The latest Oz reading

Found a little Oz surprise in the latest batch of comics. One book we got was Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Manga, Volume 1, and the very first story had a little nugget of Ozziness. "Changeling" by David Gerrold (yes, the legendary writer of "The Trouble with Tribbles") has Wesley go through an interesting little series of tests on an away mission to a place called The Labyrinth of Wisdom. It's not out-and-out explicitly Ozzy, but there's some dialog at the end that made Laura and me grin, and shows that Wesley went through some of the same experiences that Dorothy went through in The Movie. If you're just not into ST:TNG or manga, I'd recommend Oz fans give this one a pass. Otherwise, if you're inclined towards getting this one anyway, check it out and get a little Ozzy bonus.

Oh wow! Excellent news!

In case you haven't already seen it in the comment someone last for the last message:

Land of Oz by *Dhutchison on deviantART

Yes, we're getting a sequel to the excellent Oz: The Manga, as David Hutchison is adapting The Land of Oz! Let's just hope this does well enough that he also gets to do Ozma of Oz.