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A Lion Among Men Gregory Maguire 9780060548926 Books

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A Lion Among Men Gregory Maguire 9780060548926 Books

"A Lion Among Men" is the 3rd book in Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked' series. it focuses on 2 major character concepts from the series - the cowardly lion (whose name we finally find out is Brrr), and Yackle, the old blind woman who is somewhat of a mystery throughout the series. The book uses a primary plot of a discussion between the two, but also uses flashbacks to provide Brrr's background. Like in Son of A Witch, we meet many of Oz's interesting creature characters.

The book portrays Brrr as a wandering soul who gets caught up in something he isn't happy about and is somewhat vivid in its imagery. Brrr's relationship with a tigress is particularly descriptive and somewhat disturbing.

The book ends on a real high note, as it answers a few lingering questions from the other books. It leaves us on the edge of our seats for the final book in the series, 'Out of Oz'.

Overall, if you are going to read the others, you have to read this one, but it's just not as exciting as the others. At times, because it is about telling a story and reliving flashbacks, it's not as interesting as the others, but there are many redeeming sections which make up for its shortcomings in other areas. All in all, it's a good read and one which helps to tie the loose ends of the Oz fable up.

So, go ahead and read it...it's pretty good but it will whet your appetite for book # 4. Enjoy!


Tags : A Lion Among Men [Gregory Maguire] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. > 11/11/2011 3:47:53 PM: 9780060548926, A LION AMONG MEN:VOLUME THREE IN THE WICKED YEARS, HC,Gregory Maguire,A Lion Among Men,William Morrow,0060548924,Fantasy - General,Fantasy fiction,Fantasy fiction.,Oz (Imaginary place),Oz (Imaginary place);Fiction.,AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,FICTION Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology,FICTION Fantasy Contemporary,FICTION Fantasy Epic,FICTION Fantasy General,Fantasy,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction-Coming of Age,GENERAL,General Adult,Monograph Series, any,United States

A Lion Among Men Gregory Maguire 9780060548926 Books Reviews

I'd give it a 3 3/4 stars if it'd let me. Only because after reading the first in the series, Wicked, which was a spellbinder all the way through; then the second, Son of A Witch, which also held your attention and ended up making you want more - A Lion Among Men did take a slight detour in order to paint a story about the cowardly lion that would be needed to follow the 4th book in the series through better. Not a bad story - Out of Oz (the 4th book) would've been a bit confusing without Lion Among Men - it just seemed to have a little "too much information"......more than you really needed to know.....here 'n there. It's saving grace was it was a short book to read.
Definitely do recommend reading it 'tho!
If you were as excited by the style and language as much as the story of the first two installments of the series, "A Lion Among Men" will be another delightful read for you. Clearly, this volume in Maguire's "Wicked" series deals with the Cowardly Lion, Brrrr. As with the previous books, Maguire suffuses his characters with life and meaning that runs against what appears to be his natural inclination for glibness. As the book progresses, many of the questions that "Wicked" and "Son of a Witch" present are answered and moved forward to the next step.

Maguire's language is as enjoyable and fluid as ever, though it feels as though his characters are increasingly more likely to use modern colloquialisms as the series goes on. In every instance, the linguistic anachronisms cause the eye to catch just a little bit longer on the words than necessary. This is most pronounced with Dorothy's dialog, of which there's perhaps more than in any of the other books.

Misplaced colloquialisms aside, I loved this book. For me, Maguire's writing falls in that same space as is occupied by Neil Gaiman and Douglas Adams in its ability to combine the sublime and the comical into one neat and surprisingly profound package.
I love the beauty of the language with which the author writes. So much is said in just a few words. It’s soul rending, mind boggling. Who would ever have thought so much could be learned about oneself from reading such a novel. It pretends to tell the backstory of the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz and Wicked but it does soooo much more. I highly recommend it.
I find Maguire's writing to be self-indulgent, and often needlessly vague. He creates complex, deep characters and then refuses to reveal them to his reader. He sets up subplots that don't seem to go anywhere. He created a fully-developed world with a political scheme, mythology, and socioeconomic structure, then forces you to try and guess what is happening with it based on his chosen narrator's limited point of view.

This book, particularly, felt needless, as it only barely touches on the Elphaba story. For me, Maguire has chosen to hand the story over to a witless, un-compelling character, forsaking the reason for his original success.
I love the Wicked series. Many years ago I read the first book and loved it! Immediately I read the second book; I loved it too. This book.....not so much. I felt it was a rehashing of the first two books. The plot takes an interesting turn around page 200 or so but then it just ends. I hope the final volume in the series is better than this book.
{4.25 stars}

ALAM doesn't have quite the impact of WICKED, but that is to be expected, WICKED being the first of the tetralogy which laid out Maguire's entire alternate mythos of Oz. Still, this third book holds its own in the series. The characterization of the Brrr the "Cowardly" Lion is keen He's not cowardly, just thoughtfully indecisive, ambivalent about loyalties, and subject to blame no matter what he does, qualities often confused with cowardice. His low status as an Animal in Oz's caste system has obvious parallels in our world. ALAM has all the layers of the first two books, richly expanding on certain details and locations of Maguire's Oz. The separate threads of the book often seem unrelated to each other, but it all comes together in the very satisfying ending. The biggest detraction is the amount of space spent on Brrr's interrogation of Yackle, which could have been condensed a bit.
"A Lion Among Men" is the 3rd book in Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked' series. it focuses on 2 major character concepts from the series - the cowardly lion (whose name we finally find out is Brrr), and Yackle, the old blind woman who is somewhat of a mystery throughout the series. The book uses a primary plot of a discussion between the two, but also uses flashbacks to provide Brrr's background. Like in Son of A Witch, we meet many of Oz's interesting creature characters.

The book portrays Brrr as a wandering soul who gets caught up in something he isn't happy about and is somewhat vivid in its imagery. Brrr's relationship with a tigress is particularly descriptive and somewhat disturbing.

The book ends on a real high note, as it answers a few lingering questions from the other books. It leaves us on the edge of our seats for the final book in the series, 'Out of Oz'.

Overall, if you are going to read the others, you have to read this one, but it's just not as exciting as the others. At times, because it is about telling a story and reliving flashbacks, it's not as interesting as the others, but there are many redeeming sections which make up for its shortcomings in other areas. All in all, it's a good read and one which helps to tie the loose ends of the Oz fable up.

So, go ahead and read it...it's pretty good but it will whet your appetite for book # 4. Enjoy!