Three Oz Books

Three Oz books I will probably not write:

• Dorothy in the Frozen South of Oz: The Wizard sends Dorothy, the Tin Soldier*, and the Glass Cat to explore the new fairyland he's discovered at the South Pole, where they have many adventures with the creatures and tyrannical ruler of Uq. Featuring Ominable the Snow Monster and Franklin, the cast iron man with a stove in his belly.
• The General of Oz: The General of one of the militaristic little subkingdoms of Oz (Battleburg, possibly) gives Ozma, the Princesses of Oz, the Wizard, and Glinda, gifts (diadems and the like, with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, topazes, and amethysts to symbolize the four regions of Oz plus the Emerald City) that control their minds. Soon he is engaged to Ozma and ruling Oz. It's up to Omby Amby, the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, to find allies, start a rebellion, and save the day.
• The Warlock of Oz: Ozma grants a charter for a Good Witch of the West, so Nick Chopper (the Tin Woodsman, King of the Winkies) starts a competition to find someone for the role. A boy disguises himself as a girl (or transforms himself into a girl) in order to take part in the competition. Harry Potter, Oz-style, slash The Apprentice, as the winner will become a trainee under Glinda and/or the Wizard. There's room for some reprise of the denouement of The Marvelous Land of Oz, too, original or reversed.

*Not the Tin Woodsman, but another guy who had the same thing happen to him. It's not as rare as you think.

It wouldn't be a horrible idea to merge the first two of these, either. The takeover in Oz strands Dorothy in Uq since the Wizard isn't available to retrieve her. The ruler of Uq becomes friends with the General and they plot the takeover of other fairylands. Dorothy is able to escape, hook up with Omby's team, and save the day. Thematically, bringing in Queen Zixi of Ix and King Evardo of Ev would be appropriate. At the end, tease the fairylands of Aj and Yk.

Posted by Greg at January 24, 2008 9:07 AM