Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Of course in my heart it gets all the stars because it's an Oz book, but as far as my “First Fourteen” journey goes, this one has been my least favorite so far.

As is to be expected, there's a lot of imagination here with plenty of weird and whimsical places and creatures to found, but the plot is very loose and doesn't quite hang together as anything beyond a vaguely episodic mash of ideas. There are some moments here and there that set up for later events, but nothing that's super important to the plot in general.

There are some welcome and charming reappearances of characters from previous books, but they don't get too much to do. The ending is quite strange with a court trial that is quite silly with some of the usually warm-hearted characters making some rather mean-spirited actions, but this is thankfully over quickly.

There's some continuity issues here and for the most part it's unclear if this just wasn't a big deal or whether it's deliberate retcon.

Probably what I found most unappealing was the “rehabilitation” of the Wizard's character. I preferred when was kind of a reckless jerk, but here some of his larger sins are rewritten out of continuity, particularly his part in the fate of the royal family of Oz. It seems like Baum was trying to hero him up for future appearances, but I feel that is was a disservice to the grey morality and nuance of his earlier actions. Definitely far less interesting.

Dorothy is also shortchanged and not given much to do. Her mispronunciation of words is incredibly cute and serves to remind us that she is supposed to just be a small girl in spite of the grand adventures she's had, but she isn't given any opportunity to show the plucky pragmatism and agency that we've come to know her for. Here she just comes across as a bit precocious and bland which is disappointing.

With the negatives out of the way, it is still an enjoyable read with some wonderful moments of whimsy and heart.