Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Living House of Oz [Book Review]

[This blog has spoilers for a book nobody reads anymore.]

"The Living House of Oz" is the fifty-seventh book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum. It was written by Edward Einhorn and published in 2005. I also want to mention that Eric Shanower did the amazing illustrations for this as well.

This is a direct sequel to the amazing "Paradox in Oz" and even features a few of the same characters such as Tempus the Parrot-Ox, however this story is unique and feels a bit more inline with most Oz stories. That said, there are still some paradoxical elements to it.

Probably the biggest thing that will be staring you in the face here is the introduction of Mordra who was the Wicked Witch of the West, killed all the way back in book #1 by Dorothy. Only this one is from the other timeline from the previous book where everything was switched around. This particular witch is actually a very nice person but with a harsh personality. She isn't evil in the slightest.

She is taking care of her son, a boy named Buddy, inside a house where everything in it, including the house itself, is alive and can talk. At first, I thought this house was a resurgence of the John R. Neill cartoon world aesthetic, but this is something very specific to this house. It has an extreme enchantment on it, rendering every object as a living person.

Probably the most hilarious of these talking objects is an animated coatrack named the Earl of Haberdashery. The thing about him is that he lies. In fact, he rarely ever tells the truth at all within the whole of the entire book. But he tells these lies with such flair and charm that most people actually wonder if he is being honest. His lying even helps out with problems late in the book which was really enjoyable.

The main problem that needs to be dealt with in the story has much to do with the fact that practicing magic in Oz is illegal, but Mordra needs to use magic to protect her son from a terrible race of creatures called the Phanfasms, which were one of the many creatures who once tried to conquer Oz in past books. This magic issue has been  bit of a thing of contention with Oz readers for nearly a century. It is a bit annoying to see even good people lose their ability to practice magic and become normal people.

This book actually puts the law to trial. Ozma herself is attempting to figure out if she should change her laws or keep them the same. Both sides of the issue are well represented. Regardless of anything else happening, that really is the big deal of this book, and, might I also say, it is about time. The ending, which I won't spoil, was pretty satisfactory. I may talk about it in a separate blog since the whole "no magic" law is kind of its own topic.

One more thing concerning this trial: The Scarecrow acts as both prosecuting and defense attorneys. At first you think that it won't work, but as it turns out, he is able to manage it hilariously well. He even interrupted himself with objections and even complained about some of his own tactics! It was probably my favorite part of the whole book.

All said, however, "The Living House of Oz" gets a high recommendation from me. Honestly it was good seeing the Wicked Witch of the West as a nice person. I really liked her character. I would say that she was actually my favorite character of this one. I think you'll like her too.

This blog was written on November 26, 2023.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also stop by my Amazon.com listing by clicking this link: https://www.amazon.com/T.K.-Wade/e/B07BQK9RTZ

Check out my books! Thanks!