The Emerald City of Oz - L. Frank Baum Book Review

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"The Emerald City of Oz"
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Review Summaries

"In the continuation of the Oz series, Dorothy Gale finally brings Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to the Emerald City. The family was in trouble in Kansas, so Dorothy asks Ozma to let her live in Oz. Just as her family is having hard times in Kansas, so is the Emerald City. The evil and angry Nome King is plotting to conquer Oz, enslave its people, and take over the Emerald City.

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. "
Jessica Marler, Resident L. Frank Baum Scholar

"Roquat the Red, the Nome King -- whom we first met in _Ozma of Oz_ -- is mad that Dorothy and Ozma took his magic belt. He decides to raise an army to conquer and enslave all of Oz, and retrieve the belt, and enlists as his allies the Whimsies (who have tiny, doorknob sized heads that they cover with fake, pasteboard ones), the Growleywogs (who are the strongest people of the world, and are determined to enslave the Nomes as well as the people of Oz), and worst of all, the Phanfasms (who by sorcery can change into almost anything but usually appear as hairy men with beast heads). Meanwhile, Dorothy has prevailed upon Ozma to bring Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to the Emerald City for permanent residence since the Kansas farm is about to be foreclosed by a bank. While the invading army tunnels under the deadly desert to Oz, Dorothy and old friends show the land off to her elderly relations, which enables the reader to meet the Cuttenclips (paper cutout dolls and their forever-childish maker), the Fuddles of Fuddlecumjig (people who shatter into pieces when other folks come near and have to be put back together), Utensia (inhabited by walking, talking flatware), and other odd communities. Although this plot is a bit better than several of its predecessors, Baum resorts to a rather cheap solution to the truly horrific threat he has conjured up. This, the sixth Oz book, dated 1910, proclaimed itself the last . . . but it turned out not to be.

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. "
David Loftus, Resident L. Frank Baum Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 50%

Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past - part earth & part fantasy world
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - exploring a wondrous planet or phenomena - exploring a CUTESY fantasy world
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Age: - a kid - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - Prince/Nobleman/King
Has magical powers? Yes
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - deluded - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Setting
Terrain - Domed/Underground City
Earth setting: - 20th century
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - big overbuilt futuristic city
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - mostly dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
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The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Magic City by Edith Nesbit

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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