Son of a Witch

By: Gregory Maguire

Narrated by: Gregory Maguire

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Ten years after the publication of Wicked, beloved novelist Gregory Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz. There he introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts.

What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape, but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?

For the countless fans who have been dazzled and entranced by Maguire's Oz, Son of a Witch is the rich reward they have awaited so long.

Listen to an interview with author Gregory Maguire.

©2005 Gregory Maguire (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Masterfully imaginative....Ten years after Wicked (which is still on Broadway), fans will once again be clicking their heels with wonderment." (Publishers Weekly)
"A tale that adroitly mixes drama, humor, and political satire into a well-knit examination of good and evil." (Library Journal)

Writers do not (always) good readers make!

The awful narration of what is possibly a good story made it a proper task to finish this book! Between the horrible attempts at accents, the ridiculous affectations, the jerky cadence, and the... oh I don't know, it was just hard to listen to. I almost quit at least a dozen times. I'd love to say the story was worth it in the end, but I'm left with nothing but an unfortunate "meh" feeling. I am disinclined to continue with the series, but I will soldier on.

Poor narration

the author is brilliant; his narriation is awful. I could not enjoy or follow this storyline as easily as the other Wickd volums, Read by John McDonough .

Fascinating, brilliant, extremely detailed...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Gregory Maguire has created the world within the original story of Oz. Wonderfully detailed descriptions which creates a very long story. Although some of the unnecessary details could have been cut and still have the same outcome to be shorter version. I would recommend Out of Oz to my friends, but this is not a book you can listen to all in one sitting!

What does Gregory Maguire bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrative by Gregory Maguire brings the passion, excitement and details to the story which he intended while writing the story that you cannot get from reading alone.

Could you see Son of a Witch being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

The Oz serioes by Gregory Maguire would make a great TV series simiar to the recent amazing Once Upon a Time series.

Interesting in a weird way.

I found myself not really liking the character at times and wishing he'd make some decisions... but that's kinda the point. He's lost, in the same way that many of the main characters in this series ...are. And, this is his, the Son Of A Witch's, story.

Fantastic writing and story

If you could sum up Son of a Witch in three words, what would they be?

engaging, loved it, recommed it

What other book might you compare Son of a Witch to and why?

Wicked because it is an OZ book and because it diverges in a facinating unique way from the traditional story.

What about Gregory Maguire’s performance did you like?

Speech was clear, the voices of the characters were identifiable when there. Emphasis and cadence were great.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Story of Oz! A new perspective!

Half good

I enjoyed Wicked so much I decided to listen to it a few years after reading the book. My girlfriend was interested in to so we listened to it concurrently, and upon it's completion we thought that it was a great story and thought the sequel must be great. We were mistaken. Maguire may be a good writer, but reader he is not. His soft breathy borderline raspy voice with peculiar inflections and intonations and over pronunciation were tolerable since listening to a book by the author one would think some insight would be gleaned. However, to add insult to injury the voices for various character's accents were just terrible! Moreover, the story just doesn't compare to Wicked. It was good until about half was or so, good tension and kept my attention, but it all went down hill afterword. I have less than an hour left and am only listening because I want to know how it ends, I'm the type no matter how bad the movie I have to finish it, and in this case the book. I guess I just need lots of closure. LOL. Due to this experience I don't believe my girlfriend and I will listen to the next story in the series, at least not for a long while.

WONDERFUL

I thought this was a wonderfully written book. It was full of suprises and twist and turns. I thought the plot was well written. The story did not drag at all. The ending was nice as well.

Please don't ready any more books

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It's incredible to me now what a difference the reader makes to a story. I'd already read this is book form years ago, but really enjoyed listening to Wicked recently. I dread looking at books 3 and 4 to see who the reader is, but I pray it's not Mr. Maguire. Excellent writers are NOT always good readers. Please don't do that again.

What didn’t you like about Gregory Maguire’s performance?

Terrible reader, reads as if he just started reading last week. Character voices are horrible, inconsistent, accents horrible and inconsistent. Just don't do it.

Son of a witch

Excellent follow up to the first.The ending left me with alot of unanswered question though. hope to see another book in the series.

Not a legacy builder

Not having to do any world building other than stripping out all of Baum's visions of Oz, I would have expected a more than just an angst story. Maguire's additions include a sprinkling of descriptions that you ought not to speak of in an office (unless you want a summons by your HR office to answer complaints). I guess such is de rigueur for a child unfriendly book. While working through Maguire's works, I went back to the Baum corpus to rediscover the real Oz. So glad I did.

Most critiques have been about the Maguire's narration, but I find the story pretentious. Even the overly long "Out of Oz" kept my attention better than this. At this point, my experience with Maguire's Oz is out of duty to be literarily informed, not out of pleasure. Hope the professor does not require me to read it again.