A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, Book 3)

In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion.

While civil war looms in Oz, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, a figure known as Brrr—the Cowardly Lion—arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. Abandoned as a cub, his path from infancy is no Yellow Brick Road. In the wake of laws that oppress talking Animals, he avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the warmongering Emperor of Oz.

A Lion Among Men chronicles a battle of wits hastened by the Emerald City's approaching armies. Can those tarnished by infamy escape their sobriquets to claim their own histories, to live honorably within their own skins before they're skinned alive?

Gregory Maguire's new novel is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad but deviates too far from the first two books

The second book ends with a sort of bittersweet cliffhanger, and I was disappointed when this book didn't pick up from there. This series is essentially the story of the Wicked Witch and her family, but only a small part of this book really deals with that.

Ultimately, this book feels like the author wanted to get one more paycheck before getting back to the conflict between Liir and his uncle and finishing the series.

Hopefully the next book will focus on Liir or possibly his child. If it's Nick Chopper: The Life and Times of the Tin Woodman, I'm probably going to pass.

2009-01-08

Disappointed

Granted it has been some time since I read the first two books in this trilogy; however, the third book seemed to be entirely unrelated to the first two, both in plot and writing style. I forced myself to finish it because I am my father's child and hated the idea of having wasted money. I thought the first two books were brilliant and I had high hopes for the newest offering. I just finished Pillars of the Earth and World without End, page turners that prove that it is possible to write a sequel even better than the original. Would I recommend A Lion Among Men? No; however, I will pass it on because as I already mentioned I am my father's daughter.

2009-01-08

Gift

My son and I love Wicked and I thought this would be a great Christmas gift to give. We have not read it yet, but I am sure it is Awesome !!!!!

2009-01-07

Another angle of Wicked

It was okay---not as good as the first two. In fact, I had forgotten much of the originsl detsils and felt I would have gotten more out of this book if I had recently reread Wicked. A lot of the time McGuire assumed you would remember more than you did.

2008-12-27

a lion, indeed~

Third in the series... it ties up ALOT of loose ends, and makes your heart ache for those of us who do not 'get' things done quite right. It leaves you thinking, "perhaps , I need to go back and re-read 'Son of a Witch'". Do you think there will be a fourth book? ? ? I need to know more about 'the Dwarf'...EXCELLENT read!

2008-12-26