The Wicked Years
Encyclopedia
The Wicked Years is a series of novels by Gregory Maguire
that present a revisionist
take on L. Frank Baum
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, its 1939 film adaption
, and related books. The first novel, published in 1995, was Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
, a book detailing the life of the infamous villain from Baum's books
, now called "Elphaba
". The novel was a huge success, and was later adapted into a smash hit musical
in 2003.
A sequel, Son of a Witch
, was published in 2005, and detailed the life of Elphaba's son Liir. A third novel was published in 2008, titled A Lion Among Men
; the protagonist being the Cowardly Lion
, now called 'Brrr'. Lion was the first book to introduce the title "Wicked Years".
A fourth and final book titled "Out of Oz" is set to be released on November 1, 2011 its promotional info reads "will feature all sorts of magical mayhem, with the Emerald City plotting an attack on Munchkinland, while the Cowardly Lion runs for his life. Young Dorothy pops in for 'something more than a cameo."
Though these books are set in the land of Oz it is a very different land of Oz than is seen in the book by L. Frank Baum, and unlike the land of Oz these books are not intended for children. This land of Oz is beset with many social problems like the discrimination of sentient animals (called Animals in the book) and discrimination between the Gillikin and other humanoid races in Oz. As many of the protagonists in the Wizard of Oz are now either antagonist or neutral it also takes a cynical look at the land of Oz.
The first book is told through the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West (called Elphaba), an outcast aspiring social reformer with an allergy to water. The second is told through the perspective of her son Liir who is trying to find his half-sister Nor and incidentally finishes some of Elphaba's work. The third was told through the Cowardly Lion.
' and 'gramarye') is a fictional book
of spells
in The Wicked Years universe. In both the original novels and the stage adaptation, the Grimmerie is written in a language
that the people of Oz
cannot read; in the novels, this is because the book came from Earth
and is written in English, whereas in the musical, it is said to be written in the "lost language of spells". The Grimmerie is also the title of a behind-the-scenes book about the musical, published in the year 2005 (ISBN 1-4013-0820-1).
In the novel, the Grimmerie contains information on various supernatural
creatures, including angel
s and an entire section on "Evil Particulars" (i.e. demon
s), methods of poisoning water and breeding a docile population, as well as diagrams of instruments of torture
and weapons which Elphaba considers "too vile to use". It also contains:
In the musical, the Grimmerie is a pivotal instrument in Elphaba's magical powers. It contains a variety of incantations, written in a strange language, that allow her to perform various spells throughout the musical; the contents are considerably less gruesome than those of its novel counterpart.
Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...
that present a revisionist
Revisionism (fictional)
In fiction, revisionism is the retelling of a story or type of story with substantial alterations in character or environment, to "revise" the view shown in the original work. Unlike most usages of the term revisionism, this is not generally considered pejorative...
take on L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, its 1939 film adaption
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, and related books. The first novel, published in 1995, was Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995 written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. It is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its sequels, and the...
, a book detailing the life of the infamous villain from Baum's books
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, now called "Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
". The novel was a huge success, and was later adapted into a smash hit musical
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
in 2003.
A sequel, Son of a Witch
Son of a Witch
Son of a Witch is a fantasy novel written by Gregory Maguire. The book is Maguire’s fifth revisionist story and the second set in the land of Oz originally conceived by L. Frank Baum. It is a sequel to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West...
, was published in 2005, and detailed the life of Elphaba's son Liir. A third novel was published in 2008, titled A Lion Among Men
A Lion Among Men
A Lion Among Men is the third novel in Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years and was released in the UK on October 2, 2008, October 8 in the US, and on October 14, 2008 in the rest of Europe....
; the protagonist being the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
, now called 'Brrr'. Lion was the first book to introduce the title "Wicked Years".
A fourth and final book titled "Out of Oz" is set to be released on November 1, 2011 its promotional info reads "will feature all sorts of magical mayhem, with the Emerald City plotting an attack on Munchkinland, while the Cowardly Lion runs for his life. Young Dorothy pops in for 'something more than a cameo."
Though these books are set in the land of Oz it is a very different land of Oz than is seen in the book by L. Frank Baum, and unlike the land of Oz these books are not intended for children. This land of Oz is beset with many social problems like the discrimination of sentient animals (called Animals in the book) and discrimination between the Gillikin and other humanoid races in Oz. As many of the protagonists in the Wizard of Oz are now either antagonist or neutral it also takes a cynical look at the land of Oz.
The first book is told through the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West (called Elphaba), an outcast aspiring social reformer with an allergy to water. The second is told through the perspective of her son Liir who is trying to find his half-sister Nor and incidentally finishes some of Elphaba's work. The third was told through the Cowardly Lion.
Grimmerie
The Grimmerie (a variation on the words 'GrimoireGrimoire
A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...
' and 'gramarye') is a fictional book
Fictional book
A fictional book is a book that sometimes provides the basis of the plot of a story, a common thread in a series of books, or the works of a particular writer or canon of work. A fictional book may also be used as a mode of conceit to illustrate a story within a story.-Prominent fictional...
of spells
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
in The Wicked Years universe. In both the original novels and the stage adaptation, the Grimmerie is written in a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
that the people of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
cannot read; in the novels, this is because the book came from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and is written in English, whereas in the musical, it is said to be written in the "lost language of spells". The Grimmerie is also the title of a behind-the-scenes book about the musical, published in the year 2005 (ISBN 1-4013-0820-1).
In the novel, the Grimmerie contains information on various supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
creatures, including angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s and an entire section on "Evil Particulars" (i.e. demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s), methods of poisoning water and breeding a docile population, as well as diagrams of instruments of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and weapons which Elphaba considers "too vile to use". It also contains:
- A recipe entitled "Of appleAppleThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s with blackBlackBlack is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
skin and whiteWhiteWhite is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
flesh: to fill the stomachStomachThe stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
with greed unto Death". - A recipe to overthrow a regime, which suggests spells for various methods of sabotageSabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
and assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
. - Spells for 'unleashing the hidden energies of matter'.
- Spells to tamper with time.
- A spell "On the Administration of Dragons". This page plays an important part in the plot of Son of a WitchSon of a WitchSon of a Witch is a fantasy novel written by Gregory Maguire. The book is Maguire’s fifth revisionist story and the second set in the land of Oz originally conceived by L. Frank Baum. It is a sequel to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West...
, where Shell Thropp, the Emperor Apostle, presents this page to Trism bon Cavalish. - Spells to encourage flight in originally earth-bound animals
- Various 'marginaliaMarginaliaMarginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
on how to keep awake', which Elphaba combines with home remedies to produce a powerful insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
potionPotionA potion is a consumable medicine or poison.In mythology and literature, a potion is usually made by a magician, sorcerer, dragon, fairy or witch and has magical properties. It might be used to heal, bewitch or poison people... - 'A spell to reveal hidden inscription [...]Perhaps even the location of individuals in hiding'. The reverse side of the page on the Administration of Dragons contains the second half of this spell.
In the musical, the Grimmerie is a pivotal instrument in Elphaba's magical powers. It contains a variety of incantations, written in a strange language, that allow her to perform various spells throughout the musical; the contents are considerably less gruesome than those of its novel counterpart.