Last year I gave you Wonderland; today, welcome to Oz!
My novel Wonderland relied heavily on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, with some characters borrowed from The Oz books by L. Frank Baum, and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Okay, I took a few creative liberties. Wonderland is the ultimate stream of consciousness novel, much like its namesake. In Carroll’s original stories, there’s no plot or conflict: Alice goes to a strange place, encounters weird people, and returns home – or, as we called it in the 60s, a wild LSD trip. When I embarked on adapting the Oz books, I hit a snag: they were not stream of consciousness novels. They each had a plot, albeit the same one – the Hero’s Journey: a protagonist who goes on an adventure, overcomes a conflict, and returns changed by the experience. Following this formula results in a book with a completely different “feel.” Since Oz is a sequel to Wonderland, I worried the difference would be too jarring for the readers.
Nevertheless, some beloved, perhaps lesser known, characters from Oz made their way to Wonderland, the “city of tomorrow” whose art deco skyline is filled with skylights and skyscrapers. But where the previous novel focused on the gleaming city, Oz reveals what lies in the shadows of the glitz and glamor of the art deco architectural marvel of Wonderland, deep within the dark underbelly of the city of tomorrow. It follows the Yellow Brick Road through the dangerous Tenement Row, home of Old Mombi who sells abducted children and young women to the highest bidder; the local brothel, Glinda Goodwitch’s Palace of Pleasure; The Quadling, the seedy bar belonging to ex-prizefighter Jack Pumpkinhead, whose face resembles a smashed gourd; and the territory claimed by Gen. Jinjur and her army of punk rock lesbians. In short, another acid trip. Enjoy.
Oz available December 1, 2021 in paperback, Kindle, or ebook.
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