A Sequel to Gregory Maguire's "Wicked"
 

So, whilst futzing about on the internet, I stumbled upon the news that Gregory Maguire has written a sequel to Wicked, His best-selling novel and the inspiration for the Broadway musical of the same name.

It follows the story of Liir, the supposed son of Elphaba, as he runs through a different course of Ozian history as originally told by L. Frank Baum. You can read more about it here:

Linky

Having seen and read both versions of Wicked, I am interested to read what he's done with the world this time around. I myself am more a fan of the storyline and ending presented by he musical, more than the ending Maguire himself originally presented, but there's not much to be done about that.

Also, as well-written as Wicked the book was, the last 100 pages or so completely fell apart. He had developed a wonderful story arc, but it seemed as if he just lost interest and dropped the ball in order to finish the novel quicker, so I'm hoping that this sequel does not fall victim to that ill, this time around.

Your thoughts?

I agree wholeheartedly. It also seemed that the closer he got to the original (movie/book) text, the more it constrained him, and in this case the constraints didn't help his creativity. I discussed this with our own Elphaba; she said that his "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" did not suffer from the same problem. I haven't picked up a copy yet. I'm not sure if I'd want to read the new book ("Son of a Witch"); is he just cashing in on the previous work, or does he have real ideas on this? I don't even remember the kid from the first book...

From what I can tell, it follows the same path as Wicked, Or, at least the part of Wicked forced to conform to Baum's vision. That is, the books Baum wrote afterwards, of the Emperor, and of the Scarecrow being in charge of Oz, all of these things that occur in The Marvelous Land of Oz and some of the other originals as well. So, possibly, it could be very constrained, as you suggest, or, hopefully, he'll learn how to use these original stories to his advantage.

And Liir played a very minor role in the first book, so it's no surprise you don't recognize his name. the name Nor, in the synopsis I posted, forced me to run back and look at who she was, as well.