[This blog contains spoilers for a book nobody reads anymore.]
"The Ozmapolitan of Oz" is the forty-fourth book in the Oz series originally created by L. Frank Baum. It was written by Dick Martin and published in 1986. This means that this is the very first Oz book published after I was born. It makes me realize how far I have come in reading these.
The story of this one has to do with a Ozian newspaper run by Tim. It isn't doing particularly well, so Tim decides to go on an expedition across Oz to both find news and to also spread the word about the newspaper in the hopes to get new subscribers. The team is joined by Dorothy, a scowling mifkit named Jinx, and Dorothy's pet cat Eureka.
Most of the adventure has to do with a rendezvous with the Tin Woodsman and the Scarecrow that seems to get thwarted at every opportunity. It ends up leading to a boat ride into a dark cavern that goes on for most of the book. It's hard to believe but a good portion of the story is in near to complete darkness, but somehow it all comes through to the reader quite well.
The encounters along the way were all interesting and fun. There were a bunch of paintbrush people that, when they would paint a portrait of you, it would turn you into the abstract version of the painting. This was bad for all of them but quite worse for the cat. There was also a funny dragon creature underground that was both trying to eat them and make some of them slaves. He was not very bright though--about as dim as the cavern, some might say.
The main intrigue of the story came from the fact that there was a crow that appeared to be sabotaging the expedition along the way... and he seemed to be a familiar of Tim's. This was spotted by Eureka which caused her a lot of confusion. The reason this was weird was because it made Tim look like he was a spy trying to sabotage his own expedition. This gets explained out really well by the end of the story, and I liked what the author did with it.
You may find it interesting that Dick Martin was, at the time, the illustrator of the Oz books. He was also formally the president of the International Wizard of Oz Club, which made him in charge off the canonization of Oz books for a while. After reading his own Oz books, I gotta say that he did an amazing job. I really have no complaints at all. He knows his stuff!
I do recommend this book. It's still out there and accessible. It's also one of the few Oz books where it doesn't involve a child coming in from the USA. That's a pretty rare thing to happen, but it has happened a handful of times up to this point. Give this one a read. It will put a smile on your face.
This blog was written on June 26, 2023.
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The plot was the journey, not the destination, it seems. Interesting that this one was from the perspective of Ozians rather than outsiders.
ReplyDeleteThat happens from time to time. It's nice to bump the formula once in a while.
DeleteInteresting that the Tin Woodsman and Scarecrow are reintroduced, and cool that Dorothy has a cat. It's a testament to the prowess of the author that they could have so much of the story in darkness and it not be a detriment to the reader. The paint brush people are a bizarre concept, and it can be fun (for the reader) to have a foil character like the crow.
ReplyDeleteDorothy does have a cat and it's too bad that she barely showed up in the books. Always liked her.
DeleteArtists tend to have their own perspective concerning characters. To make them look accurate, it helps to know a bit about them. It is quite a treat to find an artist who can also write the story.
ReplyDeleteTim...
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