Sorry for the pun, but I couldn’t resist. And where I come from, “wicked” as an adjective and adverb is a positive thing.
Anyway, the latest book in Gregory Maguire‘s Wicked Cycle was released today. For those not in the know, it all started in 1996 when Maguire published Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a retelling of L. F. Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Maguire’s book reimagined the Wicked Witch as Elphaba, a green-skinned and misunderstood free spirit. 10 years later, in 2006, Maguire published the sequal, Son of a Witch. Now we have the third book, A Lion Among Men: Year 3 in the Wicked Years.
Most people know Wicked because it was adapted into a popular and successful Broadway musical. Having read the book and seen the musical, I can tell you that they have little in common. The musical is very loosely based on the book, which is much more detailed and complex. (The musical is not bad; the music’s quite catchy. I just wouldn’t see it expecting a faithful interpretation.)
Maguire has such a fantastic imagination. He really did take these well-known characters and make them his own. He is adept at taking traditional stories and twisting them on their heads. Most of his adult novels are revisionist in this regards, but the Wicked Cycle books are by far the best known and the best selling.
Here’s a good interview with him from Barnes and Noble. Note the shelf display in the background of the video; it’s stacked with copies of his books. That’s a nice bit of synergy on behalf of that particular B&N.
