Fairy Tale Spotlight: All Aboard for Ararat [Book Review]

"All Aboard for Ararat" is a book written by H.G. Wells. It was published in 1940 about six years before he died. I read this one because of its strong Biblical themes, but I knew going into it that it was going to be atheistic. H.G. Wells is a staunch atheist as well as being very pro-socialist and even rather blatantly pro-communist. It's just what he is, and he has been fairly open about it in a number of his books and personal writings.

The idea here is that it is the 40's, and the world is dealing with war. A man named Noah sees the whole human experiment as being a failure which prompts God to suddenly walked in on him and rather agree with this. After explaining all of his pains and woes, God proposes another flood to give the human race a chance to try again.

Yes, I know God said that he wouldn't flood the world again, but that didn't stop H.G. Wells from making it happen! Also the reasons for the original flood are extremely misrepresented!

Despite some glaring inconsistencies between this book and the Bible, I can actually tell that he read the book. He knew about a lot of things and even had some interesting analysis. The problem though is that he doesn't seem to understand the context of most of it. He makes very common mistakes that a lot of people make, even Christians, where they take the entire book to be prescriptive and not what it really is, mostly descriptive.

There is also a huge misunderstanding as to the nature of Satan. In the book, when God created light, it also formed his shadow. The shadow was Satan, being the dark side of God. This was absolute, hot boiled garbage. Also God did not create light in his own universe; he created it in ours. We don't even know what was happening in his world. And there is no evidence that God has ever struggled with Satan. The whole premise of this is fairly ignorant and self-serving for his book.

But even so, you might actually like the portrayal of God in this book. He is often genuinely amusing! And he does make a few good points about how nobody seems to understand his book (including the author of this one.) He came across as relaxed, humorous, and silly. To be perfectly honest, he was about a stone's through away from the way I wrote God in my two Christian books: "Our Devine Comedy" and "Our Devine Spinoff." Not even joking! I really enjoyed God in this one, despite how incorrect he was.

Sadly, the scenes with God are really the best parts, and they don't happen as much as I would have liked. The bulk of the book is a self-monologue from the main character about how the world after the second flood needs to become a communist utopia and that atheism should be the new religion. Even God seems to agree with this. Yes, God in this book would rather humans stop believing in him. What even...

One very interesting thing that does happen, and probably my favorite part, was that God accuses Noah of writing a whole bunch of books that were written by H.G. Wells. Noah actually did not do this and it left him seriously confused, but God doubles and triples down on it! I freaking love this moment, and it felt so real to me. God somehow knew that Noah was actually H.G. Wells and called him out on his crap. This whole book was just a vehicle for his socialistic nonsense, and, for some hilarious reason, H.G. Wells had a self-owning moment by making God break the fourth wall. Best damn part of the whole book! I even sometimes wonder if the real God made him do this!

The story does make it into to the ark scene, but it transitions into it like a dream. It was very surreal. Even Noah did not expect it to happen. There was also this extremely weird stuff about Jonah trying to get onto the ship, but they kept throwing him off. A whale eats him, spits him up, he tries to get back on the ship, they end up killing him and tossing him back off, and then the corpse just doggedly follows the boat, stinking up the local atmosphere. What even...

The sailing part of the story weirdly stops abruptly. It was as if the author just did not know how to end it. The whole book ends with a very sudden anti-climax. I literally did not expect it. I had planned on reading for about another week since there was a huge number of pages left over, but that was all filled with Wells' bibliography. What even... Whelp!

Even though this book has some entertaining parts in it, the bulk of it is actually really boring. For that reason, I can't really recommend it. But if you are interested in the stuff with God, it's mainly the first... very lengthy... chapter. There is some stuff near the end, but it's far more sparse. That said, this is a pro-communism/pro-atheism book without an ending. Read at your own risk.

This blog was written on March 15, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Watching Oz Slip Away

I was sitting here thinking about stuff. I am currently reading the very last Oz book. The bookmark is about three quarters in. There isn't much left. Getting close to finishing such a long series has a strange effect on me. It makes me look back at a lot of my life up to this point.

I never recorded when I began reading this series, but I remember a little bit about what my life was like back then. The Oz books were what inspired me to do the "Ava in Fairyland" book and audio drama. That seems like an age ago. It really does.

Originally, I only intended to read all of the Baum Oz books. (Just 14 books.) I picked up a Ruth Plumly Thompson one out of curiosity, and I guess I just decided to keep going. I had no idea how long it was going to last. I never really believed I would go all the way to the end. I even planned to stop somewhere around #40.

But here I am at #75... slowly finishing it off. Soon it will be over. There will be a certain feeling of freedom that will come with it. I can just relax and fill that slot with whatever I feel like. I am looking forward to this. I even kind of yearn for it. As fun as the Oz books have been... I am ready to move on.

But I'm not quite there. I've just got to do a little bit more. I'll probably write a lot more blogs about Oz. Just fan blogs. I'll have fun doing those... but as far as reading the books... they'll be there if I need them.

Thank you, L. Frank Baum, for giving me something to enjoy for such a major part of my life. And thanks to God for giving us L. Frank Baum.

This blog was written on March 14, 2023.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Enchanted Tree of Oz

"The Enchanted Tree of Oz" is an unfinished story written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was originally written in 1927. The story was intended to act as a contest for people to send in an ending. The winner would have had their ending published. It however was not actually published until 1965 in the Autumn issue of "The Baum Bugle." Most recently, it was republished in the book "The Wizard of Way-Up and Other Wonders."

Because this story is so old and was not really used in the manner in which it was intended, it has since fallen apart in some ways. An entire page of the manuscript was lost, and naturally the ending is missing. There doesn't seem to be any record of a contest winner and their submission.

This whole thing really bothered me. I love the Oz series so much. Having an Oz story written by a famous author in such an unfinished state bothered me enough to do something about it. So here is what I have.

The following is the entire story of "The Enchanted Tree of Oz" as written by Ruth Plumly Thompson with a few minor exceptions:

1: The missing page was written by me. I did my best to match the before and after scenes. This particularly bothered me because the page had already been written by Thompson, but sadly it just does not exist anymore.

2: The original ending of the book had a small section encouraging the reader to write their own ending to it. I have completely omitted that from this blog for the sake of keeping the integrity of the story whole.

3. The entire ending is mine. I wrote it to match Thompson's style to the best of my abilities.

4. The author (Thompson and Wade respectively) is listed at the beginning of each section. This is to prevent any claims of plagiarism.

And now, after ninety-seven years, I present to you the complete short story of "The Enchanted Tree of Oz."

*****

The Enchanted Tree of Oz

By Ruth Plumly Thompson and T.K. Wade

-Thompson-

“This reminds me of old Oz times, just we four together like this!”

Waving his tail gently, the Cowardly Lion blinked happily at little Dorothy who was riding in state upon his back, then up at the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow who were walking arm in arm at his side.

“Do you remember how we first came to the Emerald City, boys? How the Scarecrow got his magic brains and Nick his heart and I some of the Wizard's courage?”

“Sometimes I think that was the best adventure we ever had.” sighed Dorothy, patting the Cowardly Lion dreamily on the ear. “Do you remember how the cyclone blew me from Kansas to Oz and how I found the Scarecrow and lifted him down from his pole?”

“A lift I shall never forget, my dear!” Snatching off his old blue hat, the Scarecrow dropped such a deep bow that he lost his balance and toppled into a ditch at the side of the road.

“And do you remember how you found me rusting in the green forest?” put in Nick Chopper, pulling the Scarecrow expertly to his feet and looking eagerly down at Dorothy — “and how I told you my sad, sad story?”

“There, there! You needn't tell it again," said the Cowardly Lion gruffly. “We all know how your ax was enchanted by a wicked witch and how you chopped off one arm, then the other, then your head, both legs and your body. And we know how after each ax-ident you were mended by a friendly tin smith till you were entirely a man of tin. Then you were caught in a rain storm which rusted your joints and you stood helplessly in the forest for a year until little Dorothy oiled you up and brought you to the Emerald City with us. I know that story by heart.” Wagging his tail roguishly, the Cowardly Lion grinned up at his old friend.

“But you’ll admit it’s a good story?” Taking out a piece of chamois, the Tin Woodman began to rub up his shiny chest. “How many changes since those days,” he mused thoughtfully, “Instead of a poor wood chopper, I am now Emperor of the winkies.”

“And Dorothy a Princess of Oz,” rumbled the Cowardly Lion proudly, “and the Scarecrow here chief councilor and advisor to the Queen. It isn’t many countries that have a Scarecrow to advise them.”

“Or a Cowardly Lion to fight for them," smiled Dorothy, going the Cowardly Lion a little hug. “That’s what makes Oz so nice and funny.”

And Dorothy is right about that, for in the marvelous Land of Oz, ruled over by Ozma, the loveliest little girl fairy out of the world, all the inhabitants are either nice or funny and some like the Scarecrow are nice and funny too. So perhaps because she had discovered the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion and rescued the Tin Woodman on her very first adventure, she is fonder of them than of anyone else in the entire kingdom.

They were on their way to the Tin Woodman’s, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the building of his tin castle. Chatting away merrily about old times, they proceeded down the Queen's Highway that leads from the Emerald City to the Land of the Winkies. The morning passed pleasantly enough, but as the sun grew hotter the Cowardly Lion began to pant a little and complain that the gold paving stones were hurting his feet, so to please him they stepped off the Highway and turned into a little wood.

“I wish we had brought along some lunch,” said Dorothy after they had gone a little way in silence. “There aren’t any houses in here, and nothing grows on these trees but leaves.”

“I see something that’s not a leaf!” exclaimed the Scarecrow, waving his hat toward a tree that stood all by itself a little distance ahead. “I see something that looks like a pear, is colored like a cherry and is as large as a cantaloupe."

“Wonder what it would taste like,” said Dorothy, hopping off the Cowardly Lion's back and looking up curiously at the strange fruit.

“Better leave it alone,” advised the Cowardly Lion, beginning to tremble slightly. “We'll soon be at Nick Chopper’s now and he will have a regular feast for us. won't you, old fellow?Better leave it alone — it may be poison!” "You're always afraid of something.” sniffed the Tin Woodman. "Of course there’ll be a feast at the castle, but why shouldn't Dorothy have this fruit if she wants it? I'm too stiff to climb a tree, but the Scarecrow will pick it for her.” “But I shall taste it first,” insisted the Cowardly Lion in a faint voice. “Then if anything happens it will happen to me and not to Dorothy.”

“Nothing will happen,” laughed Dorothy, throwing both arms 'round the Cowardly Lion's neck, “but you're pretty brave. I think!”

“That's the way with him!” chuckled the Scarecrow. "Always feeling cowardly and acting bravely. Give me a boost, Nick, and I’ll have that fruit in two whiffs of a whiffet!” So while the Cowardly Lion shook his head mournfully, Nick Chopper lifted the Scarecrow up till he could catch hold of a lower branch. Then quite easily the straw man swung himself aloft.

But horrors! No sooner had his foot touched the third bough than the tree began to send out new branches. Thicker and thicker, faster and faster they grew till the Scarecrow was entirely hidden by a mass of leaves and twigs.

“Well, that’s funny!” muttered the Tin Woodman, peering up nervously. "Are you still there, old fellow?” The Cowardly Lion pricked up his ears and Dorothy and Nick waited anxiously for an answer. But none came, only the rustle of the wind in the leaves....

 

-Wade-

 

…could be heard by the three confused travelers.

“I was worried something like this might happen,” whimpered the Cowardly Lion placing a trembling paw to his maw. “And there is no telling what had happened to him now.”

“He’s probably just all tangled up in those branches,” figured Dorothy cautiously. “Although I have never seen a tree grow out like that so suddenly.”

“Well, I shouldn’t think we can leave without him. What should we do?”

“Panicking might be an option,” muttered the Cowardly Lion who was still very much worried for the straw man’s safety.

“I’ve climbed a few trees back at my home in Kansas. I might be able to get to the Scarecrow and untangle him.”

“Oh, please don’t,” advised the Cowardly Lion.

Nick Chopper looked up thoughtfully at the place where his old chum had disappeared. He trusted in Dorothy although he was concerned that the same thing might happen to her. After all, this was the first time any of them had come upon this manner of problem.

“I say you should attempt to find the Scarecrow, Dorothy,” said the Tin Woodman. “But do promise me that you shall leap down the moment you sense anything is wrong.”

“The very moment,” cautioned the Cowardly Lion. “If you get caught, I’ll have to climb up to save both of you and the very thought of doing so frightens me.”

“Very well,” said the little girl with a nod. Stepping out of her shoes, Dorothy approached the tree while the Tin Woodman carefully assisted her with his strong metal hands to climb up to the first branch.

Once she was stable, the girl attempted to make her way up to the mass of overgrown branches where the Scarecrow had disappeared. But as she reached the second bough, the same thing that happened before happened a second time. New branches shot out quickly all around her. Dorothy attempted to climb down and out of their way, but they came out so fast that she was quickly encompassed. Soon nobody could see her at all.”

“Dorothy, dear?” called the Tin Woodman. “Dorothy, can you hear me?” But like what had occurred with the Scarecrow, Dorothy could not be heard answering him back.

“Dorothy too?” trembled the Cowardly Lion. “Is this tree cursed?”

“Perhaps,” replied the Tin Woodman as he placed his ax to the side. “I have no choice but to try to climb the tree myself, although I am not very fit for climbing anything.”

“Maybe there is a ladder nearby,” suggested the Cowardly Lion looking about for one, but of course there was no ladder anywhere.

Nick Chopper did his level best to climb up the tree, but as you may suspect his metal joints were much too stiff to perform such a feat. Also his metal feet kept slipping down the trunk preventing him from gaining a foothold. The poor fellow could not even reach the first branch.

 

-Thompson-

 

"Now, what shall we do? What shall we do now?” moaned the Cowardly Lion as Nick, after a tenth attempt to climb the tree, fell heavily on his back and lay blinking up at the sky.

“If I can stand on you, maybe I can make it,” panted the Tin Woodman, rising creakily to his feet and picking up his ax.

“What good will that do?” roared the Cowardly Lion dismally. “Do you want to disappear too? Stop climbing and think, can’t you?” Thus admonished, Nick Chopper stood perfectly still and after a moment’s deep thought strode sternly up to the tree.

“I’ll chop it down,” declared the Tin Woodman boldly, and raising his ax he sent a crashing blow against the stout tree trunk. Again and again Nick’s ax rose and fell. The Cowardly Lion blinked and shuddered at each blow, and dodging the flying chips prepared to catch Dorothy and the Scarecrow as they fell. At last, with a terrific crash, the tree did fall. Nick jumped back with a little cry of triumph and the Cowardly Lion rushed forward with a little roar of relief. But there was no sign of Dorothy or the Scarecrow anywhere to be seen. The great red fruit lay crushed on the ground, and as the two stared in fright and alarm a little brown dwarf sprang furiously out of the branches.

“Treason! Treason!” yelled the dwarf, shaking his fist at the Tin Woodman.

“Treason! Treason! Without reason

You’ve robbed the tree of Whutter Wee.

If you would see your friends once more

Chop it to kindling wood, before

The night. Unless it’s chopped up then,

You’ll never see your friends again!”

“Stop!” cried the Tin Woodman, making a little snatch at the dwarf. But before he could touch him the little fellow stamped three times and sank into the earth.

“Don’t stop! Chop!” coughed the Cowardly Lion, springing up in a frenzy. “Chop, Nick, chop! Didn't you hear what he said? Chop for your life while I run for help!”

With a bound ten feet long, the Cowardly Lion started in the direction of the Emerald City, while Nick, seizing the ax, began to chop as fast as he had ever done in his whole two lives. But for every branch he cut off two more grew, and to add to his discomfort and dismay it began to storm. Long growls of thunder came rumbling through the forest, followed by green and blue flashes of lightning. Then came the rain, harder and harder and harder. As long as he could, poor Nick kept chopping, but soon the steady downpour washed all the oil from his body. Jerkier and jerkier became his strokes and rustier and rustier his joints of tin till at last, with a dismal squeak and his arms still uplifted, the Tin Woodman stopped altogether, powerless to move or strike another blow.

Above the howling of the wind he could hear the snap of new branches that were growing upon the hateful tree and the low malicious laughter of the little brown dwarf under the leaves.

“Unless the Cowardly Lion reaches the Emerald City before night, all is lost,” groaned poor Nick, and at the thought of never seeing little Dorothy or the Scarecrow again his own tears joined the rain drops that were coursing down his tin cheeks.

 

-Wade-

 

Like a bolt of the same lightning steaking across the sky the Cowardly Lion shot across the Queen’s Highway. No longer did the golden bricks hurt his feet. The feline cared nothing for his own discomfort, but that the loss of two of his friends were a very real possibility. He could do nothing but run faster than he had ever done in the whole of his life. Fear was what drove him onward which was the same sort of feeling that had driven him to fight so many times before.

This storm that had caused the Tin Woodman to rust had spread even to the Emerald City which was not accustomed to such weather. All the Ozians living there ran into their homes to prevent getting wet or even worse to be struck by the flashing lightning. But as all these people ran into the houses, the Cowardly Lion dashed through the gates, down the roads, and directly into the Emerald Palace where Princess Ozma and the Wizard presently resided.

“Dorothy and the Scarecrow are in terrible danger!” cried the Cowardly Lion as he crashed through the door to the throne room. Princess Ozma had been having tea with the Wizard at the time, and imagine their surprise when a soaking wet Lion came in, slipping and sliding across the polished floor with such terrible news.

Placing down her teacup, the Princess immediately stood up and addressed the panting and ragged Lion, “My goodness, you poor dear. Tell us what has happened.”

“Indeed and quickly,” added the Wizard, taking the matter seriously.

As quickly as he could, the Cowardly Lion sputtered out what had happened to the best of his ability, but the poor creature seemed close to passing out for he had run a very long distance in such a very short time. All four of his legs were wobbling violently as he attempted to remain standing.

“The tree of Whutter Wee?” said the Wizard thoughtfully.

“Have you heard of it?” asked Princess Ozma with much concern.

“Yes, I believe I had a conversation once with Glinda about it. It is an enchanted tree that is usually found within the Quadling country.”

“Why, that explains the red fruit,” remarked the Princess.

“Indeed, yes,” acknowledged the Wizard. “These trees are enchanted by mischievous little dwarves of course, but Glinda had told me that she had stopped them with her magic some time ago.”

“All but for this one,” coughed the Cowardly Lion who looked as if he was about to fall over.

Ozma quickly stepped over to the Lion and held his head and mane in her arms to give him comfort. “You did very good to bring us this news so swiftly, brave Lion. The Wizard must surely know how to deal with this dwarf, so you may now rest knowing that everything will be done.”

“Sounds good,” was all the Cowardly Lion could think to say before he passed out in the middle of the throne room floor.

The Wizard was already looking through his black bag which was full of his magical tools. In this bag was a little black booklet with notes he had taken back when Glinda was teaching him his craft. Flipping through these notes he came to a page and suddenly snapped his fingers. “I have the solution, Princess, but there is not much time. I require the use of the Magic Belt. You must transport me to the Tin Woodman immediately.”

“Of course, Wizard,” said Ozma who went quickly to a vault to obtain the Magic Belt. This famous belt was once owned by the evil Gnome King but had since fallen into the possession of Princess Ozma to be used for the benefit of the Land of Oz. When she returned to the throne room the fairy princess was wearing the bejeweled belt, and taking hold of each side of it she gazed upon the waiting Wizard and spoke the words, “I wish that the Wizard be transported to where the Tin Woodman is.” And in the blink of an eye the Wizard was gone.

 

Still the storm raged and still poor Nick Chopper stood with his ax raised in the air. The branches were still growing around him threatening to imprison him within them as well. Even if he could be free of his rust, he felt as if he could never manage to chop all of the ever-growing branches in time for the day was already at an end.

But just as all hope seemed to be gone, the Wizard himself appeared amidst the wind and the rain. Holding on to his hat, the little man made several knowledgeable passes of his hand and called out as loud as he could muster,

“Treason! Treason! But there’s the reason

For Glinda’s laws you have broken this season!

From out of the ground you must come once more

To make this world as good as before!

And if you fail, what punishment then

Where you’ll be banished from now unto the end!”

A pitiful scream was heard from the earth up to the sky. The mischievous dwarf that had played his tricks sprung up from out of the mud, covering his face in shame. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I meant you no harm! Let me give them back to you before it’s too late!”

“Do it now!” cried the Wizard.

The brown dwarf spun around in a circle and as he did so the storm suddenly cleared up. Also the branches began to dry up quickly and become brittle, breaking up into tiny pieces. Beneath these pieces were two forms, that of the Scarecrow and Dorothy. Both appeared to just be waking up. This was certainly a very strange sensation for the straw man who had never slept a day in his life. Although he still could not move, the Tin Woodman was very happy and pleased that he would not have to lose two of his best friends.

“Goodness gracious!” said Dorothy as she sat up. “I don’t remember a thing after climbing that tree.”

“Neither do I,” said the Scarecrow. “But it looks as if my old chum, Nick Chopper has rusted.”

The Wizard smiled and said, “He’ll be fixed up in no time. If it was not for the bravery of him and the Cowardly Lion, you two might have been lost forever.” He then turned to the blushing dwarf and said with a stern voice, “And you should go back to Glinda and seek her favor or else you really will be banished.”

“Right away!” the little man said. “Right away and without delay!” And so he ran away.

Once the Tin Woodman was oiled up, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Wizard all returned to the Emerald City. Still asleep upon the throne room floor was the Cowardly Lion. Despite him being wet, Dorothy and the Scarecrow both embraced him, waking the feline up.

“My good friends!” roared the Cowardly Lion. “I was so frightened that I had lost you both forever. I ran so fast that my feet nearly fell off my body.”

“He really did,” said Princess Ozma with a smile.

Dorothy continued to hug the Lion as she said, “There is no one braver in the Land of Oz than you, Cowardly Lion.”

“Even so,” returned the Lion shakily, “Even so, I think I’d rather just eat at the palace from now on.” Everyone laughed, and indeed a feast was being prepared at that very moment.

The end.

*****

This blog was written on March 7, 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

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Star Trek: The Motion Picture [Book Review]

[This blog kind of assumes you have seen the movie and so recklessly spoils a lot of what happens in it.]

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is a movie... but it is also a book written by Gene Roddenberry and published in 1979. Let's take a moment to contemplate the mind of someone who is willing to literally title something called "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" the book! It reminds me when they made "Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game." Yes, that actually happened. In my opinion, he should have titled this book "Star Trek: Vejur." What a missed opportunity.

Complaints about the title aside, I read this book because the movie fascinated me even though it is the most poorly-paced Star Trek movie of all time. I'm not joking. Have you seen this movie? It's a whole lot of scenes with people staring at things with no dialog. It was full of raw time-fillers with very little explanation. There's even a director's cut and an extended edition that adds more of those scenes into it that you never asked for!

Well, the book is here to save the day! Yes, those scenes are in the book, but it's explained through giving you the thoughts of all the crew that's dealing with it. Finally these scenes have context and they are not boring. This book actually better explains the movie better than the movie did.

There is also a lot of content that flat out was not in the movie. For example, Kirk actually gets an emergency message about Vejur within a special chip implanted in his brain. No, this is not a transhuman thing. Relax. It's a special communication device that Starfleet can use in cases of extreme emergency, and that's all it is. For some reason, I thought I remembered this scene from the movie, but when I checked, it wasn't there. Whoops!

Another thing about this book that was not completely clear in the movie concerned Lieutenant Ilia. Her race is a Deltan which makes everyone horny when she is around them. Now, to be fair, the movie kind of points this out, but it's very subtle about it. The book just dives into it even to the point that Sulu has trouble standing up because he doesn't want to show that he has an erection. By the way, I loved that scene. I read it four or five times and kept on laughing. Gene Roddenberry is a literary genius just for that scene alone. Where can I find more?!

One thing that does stand out about this story is how kind of messed up Kirk is throughout the story. He's a captain that has been somewhat lamed by becoming an admiral. He struggles with this for the entire book, but I don't really fault it for that. It seemed like a realistic take on why captains shouldn't leave their ships if they love it so much.

Spock also shined a lot in this book. Absolutely shined. Who he was and the reasons he could not achieve a pure state of logic was fascinating. He even came across as angry with himself and everyone around him when he returned to his ship. I really liked what they did with him.

Now, the ending is what it is. It's not bad, but it is a lot of atheistic bullcrap that we've all had to deal with at one time or another in the Star Trek universe. It's the whole "we all create God in our image" crap. It's backwards, but people who think like that are living their lives in the wrong direction anyhow.

That said, Gene wrote a good book, and I don't want to do anything other than recommend it. Also, I recommend it more than the movie. Even if you've seen the movie, you should read this book. And you can read this book because it is amazingly still in print. You can get it right off the shelf or on an ebook. If for no other reason, just read it to see Sulu trying to hide his bulgy wulgy. Hahaha!

Extra content: About a week went by after I finished this blog when I remembered something about the book that I really intended to mention from the beginning. So in the book, the Enterprise approaches the space cloud, later known as Vejur, in a very particular way. The book very heavily explains this.

The Enterprise is at warp, but they are flying around Vejur while still facing it. This is a maneuver called "conical interception." The idea is that since the ship is making a wide arc around the target while always facing it, it comes across as nonthreatening. It makes it look like the ship is in no way going in for an attack, making itself very clear and visible for a long period of time.

This conical interception also makes it appear as if the ship is flying sideways. If you have ever seen the original series before it got remastered, this will mean the world to you. I am not sure if it was intended, but the sideways flying Enterprise seen in the original series might have been realistic! Funny, huh?!

This blog was written on February 28, 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

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The OZ Symbol

My first exposure to the Oz franchise was the 1939 movie. My second exposure to it was "Return to Oz" in 1985. This was the first movie where I saw the iconic OZ symbol there the Z is seated in the middle of the O. I remember really liking this design. They even positioned it on the circlet that Ozma wore at the end of the movie.

I did not know it at the time, but the OZ symbol has been in the Oz illustrations since almost the beginning. I cannot say exactly when I began seeing it, but it was certainly there in many of those old books. Some of the book titles which traditionally ended with the word Oz, sometimes used the OZ symbol in place of the lone word.

In many of the illustrations, the symbol was used in various places. I always enjoyed looking for them. It was like a little easter egg that I could hunt for as I read the books.

Even though the OZ symbol was visible all over the place in the illustrations, it was never described in the text. I don't think it was ever described until right up near the end of the series and then only once. At the very least, the symbol was finally canonized in text to give relevance to all of those pictures.

Personally, I think the OZ symbol is one of the best and perfect designs of all time. The way the Z crosses over and sometimes through the O is very pleasing to look at. It can be done a number of different ways too. As long as the Z is linked with the O, the symbol exists as it should.

What do you think of the OZ symbol? Was it something you found pleasing to the eye? Also, where did you first see it? Let me know!

This blog was written on February 28, 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

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Scarecrow [Oz Character]

The Scarecrow has been a main character in the Oz series since the very beginning. He was found hanging on a pole while crows just up and ignored him. Dorothy comes along and rescues him, and they journey to the Emerald City so that he can get some brains. Those brains ended up being a pun too. Part of it was bran which kind of sounds like brain, and the rest of it was pins and needles in order for him to stay sharp. A few times after this, you might actually see those pins sticking out of his head if his hat fell off.

The Scarecrow is natively a Munchkin which means he tends to wear blue clothing. Despite coming from the eastern Munchkin Country, he spends most of his time in the Emerald City as one of its most famous celebrities. The main reason for this was that he was briefly one of their kings. He was preceded by the Wizard and then succeeded by Ozma. Everyone liked him as a king as well, mainly because having a scarecrow as a king was very novel. Presently he lives in a house shaped like a giant ear of corn.

Since his initial introduction, the Scarecrow has been in almost all of the books. It is almost a tradition to at least mention him. The times he did not show up always felt strange. He was also best friends with the Tin Woodman, so they were often seen with one another.

To be fair, I should not like him as much as I do. I tend to lean towards animal characters. There is just something so silly and wonderful about the Scarecrow. Every time he shows up, I always smile. Maybe it's how clumsy he is. I'm not sure. I think that if I ever went to Oz, I would make it a point to go and meet him. I think we would have a great time together.

I'm sure I am not the only person to feel this way. If he was not that popular, why would he keep showing up. The Scarecrow is a very charming fellow and actually very wise for a strawman. If you need help or advice, he would be the obvious choice.

If you ever plan on reading an Oz book, keep an eye out for the Scarecrow. He's a genuinely wonderful character, and it is a very good thing that they kept bringing him back for new, wild adventures in Oz.

This blog was written on February 28, 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

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Wizard of Way-Up and Other Wonders [Book Review]

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

"The Wizard of Way-Up and Other Wonders" is the seventy-fourth book in the Oz series, originally created by L. Frank Baum. It was written by Ruth Plumly Thompson and published in 1985. It contains a lot of short stories and poems written by the author over the course of her life and even contains a few Oz stories. Lucky you! I am going to review every single one of them! Let's get crackin'!

*****

"The Wizard of Way-Up"

This would be the first and perhaps main story of the book. It features the most busybody wizard I have ever read about, who is named Woff. Basically you have king who doesn't want his daughter to marry and a wizard who disagrees. So the Wizard sends pictures to a bunch of kings in hopes that they will travel up to their mountain kingdom to marry the king's daughter.

I'm not sure what was even in it for the Wizard. It just sort of popped in his head one day, and he took matters into his own hands. And it did not even go all that well. He ended up attracting the ugly king of the marshes who traveled on the back of pigs. He was an evil something-or-other too.

Without going into too many spoilers, it is very much a good story that goes into the concepts of true love and what makes a good husband. I just think it's funny that the wizard just went out of his way to cause so much trouble and then almost immediately regretted it. Ever been in that sort of situation?

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"Birds Don't Peel Their Feathers"

A short poem about the fact that animals don't have to undress when they bathe, yet we still have to.

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"The Magic Cloak"

An interesting poem about an elf who invents a magical cloak that allows normal people to see and even travel through the many fairy realms. At the end of the poem, he tosses it into our world to be found. I imagine this cloak would also allow someone to find Oz.

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"Baby!"

A very short poem about how special babies are.

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"Rockinghorse Hill"

A really fun poem about a secret mansion that housed old broken-down toys. Like if you have a toy that was overplayed with by little girls and boys, they end up at that mansion. I really liked this one. It had some cool imagery to it, and it would have made a nice full story too. Imagine Toy Story if all the toys were falling apart because the children loved them too damn much.

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"The Jack of Spades"

This is a fairly nonsensical poem about a playing card that keeps leaving the desk to tend a secret garden. It was kind of silly, but it was written well enough. It kind of reminds me of some of the Mother Goose rhymes, just a little bit longer.

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"The Enchanted Hat"

A short story about a boy who trades his hat for one that allows him to fly. The problem is that he can't take it off, and he can't get rid of it unless he trades it to someone for their hat. It's a good enchanted item story. How do you trick someone into taking your annoying hat when you aren't the type to do that to people? Good story with a good ending.

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"Autumn"

A cute and simple poem about autumn.

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"An Ozzy Adventure"

Hey, we made it back to Oz, folks! Although this is actually a narrative poem. It's good though! It tells the story of the Cowardly Lion who was going on a little adventure, but while he was sleeping a jerk of a dwarf shows up and clips off his entire mane.

When he woke up, he was mortified by how he looked and felt, so he was forced to hide away until it grew back. The whole thing was so embarrassing that he never told anyone in the Emerald City what happened, but the author points out that the reader will still know. Cute.

-----

"Sunday Morning"

A short poem about going to church on Sunday. It was fine, but there isn't much to really say about it.

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"The Prince of Gelatin Isles"

This is a long poem about a world made of dessert food. Even the people seem to be made this way. I'll be honest... I didn't like it. It would have been better if it had been regular prose. I got bored and a little annoyed while reading it.

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"The Bright Lad and the Giant"

I liked this one. It was about a really clever boy that could not quite get a king to part with his daughter because he was poor. So he goes to live with a giant and sort of organizes a situation where he can end up with the giant's gold. Without going too much into it, the telling of this story reminds me a little of those Fractured Fairy Tales that used to appear on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Remember those?

-----

"Winter"

Winter has spread his frosting

    Thick as icing on a cake'

O'er towns and fields and hills

    And made a mirror of the lake.

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"The Ray Knights"

A narrative poem about these knights that fight off dust clouds in the sky. It actually states they live on a sky island which could mean they are actually in a world above Oz. Can't say for sure though.

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"Perhappsy Adventures"

This was two poems about a couple of fairies called the Perhappsies. The first one was called "The Toys in the Land of Play." In this one the two Perhappsies enter an abandoned room full of toys and play with them, since nobody else seems to. The toys also come to life as this happens as well.

The second poem was called "The Fairies' Dance." It was a simple story about the Perhappsies running into a parade of dancing fairies. They join in the fun, but that's about all there is to it.

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"The Magic Tree"

This is a short story about a boy who catches some old men messing around with a tree. They tell him that the tree is magic, but they were really just burying their treasure. His decedents figure that out later on when it finally falls over. Honestly, this one wasn't very good. I predicted what was going on within the first few paragraphs.

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"The Wizard's Christmas Invention"

This is an Oz poem. The Wizard of Oz invents a Christmas Tree that magically trims itself and sprouts presents for everyone in Oz. Pretty cool little poem. I enjoyed it.

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"A Comical State O' Things"

Very clever! This is a poem about funny wordplay. Basically, you take a list of things that have common describers, such as a bed of pumpkins, the eyes of a potato, and the tongue of a shoe, and then the poem uses these to make up a little boy. The title is also kind of a pun with the word "state" meaning both "situation" and "manner of speaking." I loved this one.

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"Higgelty Piggelty"

Not bad! It was a short poem about a town where everything happens backwards, such as having dinner before breakfast. It is one of the better nonsensical poems I have read.

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"The Cloud's Lullaby"

A poem about clouds.

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"A Sea Santa"

A poem about a Santa Clause that delivers presents to all the undersea fairy creatures like mermaids and such. Cute idea. Would have enjoyed a whole story for it, but sadly this is all I have.

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"What Happened to the Scarecrow"

Just to be clear, this isn't the Scarecrow from Oz. This poem was about an ordinary scarecrow that is feeling bored and dejected from just hanging there all the time. Some little fairies come by, shrink him down, and take him with them. I liked it!

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"How Time Flies"

A short and punny poem about time turning into butterflies, literally making them fly off to fairyland.

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"The Wizard and His Purple Beard"

This is a simple story about a wizard who had a beard so purple that it prevented him from reasonably performing his evil magic. Like when he would turn invisible, the beard still showed. The story is okay, but what is really interesting here is that the story takes place in Pumperdink a few years before it was introduced to the Gillikin Country of Oz. It made sense to put it in the north since the country's color was purple. Pumperdink ended up being a very important kingdom within Oz that was dealt with in many of the books.

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"The Artist and the Cow"

This was a bit shocking and unexpected. "The Artist and the Cow" is a light-hearted and silly poem about an artist who painted a grassy field so realistic that it attracted a cow who ate the entire thing. At first it comes across as silly because the artist realizes that he cannot get his super realistic painting back, but then the cow suddenly rolls over and dies, "sacrificing her life for art." What the heck?! This is a bit more morbid than what usually gets written by this author.

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"Adventures of the China Chaps"

A quirky poem about a Chinese sailing vessel that was full of rice and other ingredients. Right after leaving the dock, a typhoon hits them and wrecks the ship. However, the ingredients all mix with the water and turn it all into pudding, basically saving the crew. It was cute.

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"The Land of Nod"

This is a brief poem that talks about a land where everything is alive, even things like clocks and chairs. Ruth seems to really like the idea of toys coming to life. I keep running into this theme in her poetry.

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"Seeress of Saucerville"

This is a short story about a king trying to get his daughter to marry, but nobody is good enough. Now, at the same time, there is a seeress that everyone actually wants to marry, and she doesn't want any of them. Interestingly enough, because she is a seer, she knows that the one she shall marry will be a man who falls off his horse near where she lives. So she advises the king to have this man named Questor to impress the Princess by riding one of his most terrible horses. This just leads to him falling off and landing near the Seeress. She then approaches him, mends his wounds, and then they later get married.

It looks a bit like the Seeress is tampering around with her own fate, but either way, it seems to work out for everyone.

-----

"A Funny Little Beast"

I met a funny little beast

    Half flying and half hopping

'Twas part a bird and part a frog.

    "Who are you?" I asked, stopping.

It cocked its funny little head

    And looked off down the road.

"Why, can't you see," it said to me,

    "That I'm a pigeon-toad!"

-----

"Tales of King Kojo"

This was cool and probably the real reason I wanted to read this book in the first place. "Tales of King Kojo" acts as an extra three chapters to the original book. The stories are listed as "The Wiseman of Og," "The Wizard of Whatintot," and "A Wiseman Brings His Presents to the King." All three are great.

The wiseman ended up being a dog with two tales. Even though he can't talk, he can still predict things. He ends up loosely being the focus of all three chapters more or less. What really gets me is that if I had not spent the money to buy "King Kojo," some of the information in these chapters would have confused me. They really act as a continuation of a book that just isn't easily available anymore.

The sad thing is that I think this is all of King Kojo there is after this. It's really too bad. I love that entire universe and I would have loved to seen more coming from it. Although a much smaller and focused universe, it is still comparable to Oz in theme and presentation. Very likely Ruth's greatest work.

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"An English Garden"

A well-written poem about the joys of being in an English garden. But... eh... not really my cup of tea.

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"The Sailmender of Dover"

Delightful! This is a story about an old sailmender who would always save the rats his wife always tried to trap. His heart just couldn't bear the suffering of any animals. Well, the rats remembered this. He was later thrown into prison when he couldn't pay the rent, and so the rats all formed an army and gnawed their way into his prison so that he could escape. Really a lovely tale.

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"Princess White Mouse"

A cute poem about a white mouse who falls in love with a brown miller mouse. She is only supposed to marry white mice, but he got away with it by being covered in flour.

Also as an aside, I wanna point out that this poem was illustrated and I just absolutely hated the picture. I am happy that the story was good, at least.

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"The Lad Who Found His Fortune"

A king doesn't want his daughter to marry so he makes an unreasonable challenge that the man who marries his daughter must obtain his fortune in only one hour and without traveling abroad. A minstrel takes on the challenge and manages to make both the princess and king very happy with his music, and it only takes an hour for her to fall in love with him.

Honestly, I am starting to see a theme here with kings not wanting to let go of their daughters. That was also the theme of the previous story as well as "The Wizard of Way-Up." It must have been something Ruth thought about a lot.

-----

"The Little Light Fairy"

In a Crystal Palace fine and fast

The Little Light Fairy is caught at last!

And there she glows and gleams at night,

Filling the world with fairy light.

Aho --- some night --- perchance --- perchance

You may yourself see this fairy dance!

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"The Little Gray People Who Come Out at Night"

A cute poem about little mice who come out at night and kinda just act like we do for a while. They run around, play, and make things out of our stuff. I got the impression it took place in a classroom, which is why nobody was there. It was cute.

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"The Flask with the Golden Stopper"

This was a very good fairytale. It felt a little like a short Oz story, mainly because it involved a boy getting whisked away from America into a fantasy world.

The story was about Stevie, a 10-year-old boy from New Jersey. He finds a bottle while fishing that inflates and takes him to a fantasy kingdom. The king there has terrible headaches and has ordered everyone to be completely quiet. Noise is illegal.

The boy quickly gets caught for making noise, but he soon finds out that the prime minister sent the bottle to find a boy who could solve the king's problems. As it turns out, the king's crown was just too tight. It was a simple problem, but apparently too complicated for anyone but a 10-year-old boy to figure out. I thought this story was charming and fun to read.

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"A Fairy Fact"

When fairies lose their foresight

    And can't see away ahead

They don't use specs, they slip on big

    Expectacles, instead.

And with expectacles, dear heart,

One sees things long before they start.

            (Wish I had a pair.)

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"Rob Rabbit"

An extremely good poem! I think this is my favorite so far, since most of the poems in this book tend to be kind of dry. This was a long poem about a rabbit highwayman. Get it? "Rob" rabbit? It's a pun!

It details how Rob stole various things from different animals such as the turtle's shell and a sheep's wool. He wouldn't mess with a skunk though! As bad as he was, he ends up finding a cute, little bunny girl, who ends up stealing his heart. They get married, and he stops robbing people.

This was a very clever, cute, and fun poem to read.

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"The Sensible Goose"

A cute poem about a goose that exercised to keep herself from getting fat. In this way, no fox would ever want to eat her.

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"Supposyville Stories"

This is a collection of three narrative poems about the fairy kingdom of Supposyville. The first one (my least favorite) was called "Pink Mondays in Supposyville" which was a very silly story about how the men should do the laundry on Mondays. They were also putting "pink" into the laundry as apposed to "blue," which confused me a bit. It seemed more about just getting men to do the laundry once in a while... or something.

The second story was called "A Wicked Stranger's Visit to Supposyville." This one was interesting. Imagine if you lived in an actual fairy kingdom and someone from the outside walked in and said that you weren't real. That's exactly what happened in this story. His name was Dull Facts, and they threw him right out on his ass. I liked it!

The third story was simply called "A New Invention," and it was sort of a joke coupled with a punchline. The wiseman of Supposyville, who was called Sir Solomon Tremendous Wise, says he made a new invention which ended up just being a fishing rod intended for the king. But when the king takes it out to use it, he never catches anything for an entire day. The idea was that Sir Solomon wanted to make a much safer fishing rod, but it was only safe for the fish. Funny!

-----

"Lucky Peter"

I liked this one. Hilariously, this is about an orphan nobody wanted because his name was too long. The story says his name began with Peter Ludwig Vanderveehten Hohenbrummer Pam--- and then went on for several more minutes. I love that.

So hated this boy was for his long name, that his foster parent tries to kill him by making him accidently fall off of a windmill. But a stork catches this and saves the boy. He also wings the foster parent for good measure.

So the stork takes the boy to live with him and his wife on top of a house. They teach him how to stand on one leg and cover his face with his arm, but they can't seem to convince him to fly. Finally, the stork wife whacks him to get him to fly, but he just ends up falling into a chimney. This was, however, a house full of rich people! He ended up having a great life after that! Yes, Peter was very lucky! Haha!

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"The Enchanted Tree of Oz"

An Oz story! Well, don't get your hopes up too high, because this one is a bit broken. I'm not mad, but I do need to explain what's going on here. But firstly, I do wanna say that this story actually has a cover drawn by Dick Martin. It was cool!

So in this story, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion are all just having a walk and talking about how they first met. They get a little tired and Dorothy gets hungry, so they detour into a forest looking for food.

They find a tree with fruit and the Scarecrow climbs up to get it, but the branches grow out, causing him to disappear. Nobody can hear him either.

Now, here there is a page missing from the story, but there is an editor's explanation that Dorothy goes up too and is similarly lost. This is only the first way this story is broken. The second way is a doozy.

The Tin Woodman finally decides to just chop the tree down, but when he does this, a dwarf appears and says that he needs to chop up the entire tree before nightfall or else he will lose his friends forever. Panicking, the Tin Woodman begins chopping the tree up as much as he can, but it keeps growing as he is chopping it. The Cowardly Lion runs off towards the Emerald City to get help. And then it rains! It rains, and now the Tin Woodman freezes up. So what happens?

Whelp! Nothing. Nothing happens. Apparently, this was a contest story. People were supposed to write their conclusion to the story so that it could be printed. Sadly, whatever the winning ending was has also been lost. This story will always be a rather frightening unfinished Oz adventure. Crazy, huh?

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"The Apple Pie Princess"

A cute narrative poem about the prince of Pumperdink (a country in Oz) who goes missing. Everyone tries to find him, but nobody can. But apparently a girl makes an apple pie so tasty that he just sort of comes back... for the pie... and then marries her. Yep, that's pretty much it.

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"The Wizard of Way-Up and King Ripitik the Tenth"

This may very well be the best story in the whole book. It is the actual sequel to the original "The Wizard of Way-Up." King Ripitik decides he wants to visit his daughter who was married in the first story, but he doesn't want to use magic to get there. He wants to walk there like regular people no matter how bad things get.

Woff the wizard absolutely hates this idea. All he has to do is just cast a spell and teleport them, but instead he is forced to endure all sorts of bad things along the way, simply because his king is way too adventurous for his own good.

And, hoo boy, do they deal with some bad crap along the way. King Ripitik is such a naive silly person! He is just so forgiving! He takes every bad situation and tries to find the fun in it. Meanwhile Woff is miserable. He just likes to be comfortable.

I loved this one. This story alone makes the whole book worth getting.

*****

That's it! Although the book is very hit and miss, I still recommend it mainly for the Wizard of Way-Up and the few King Kojo stories. They are really good and still fun to read as an adult. Not much Oz content here, but it was nice to see some of it show up. Whelp! One more to go!

This blog was written on February 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

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