Review: Across the Deadly Deserts, a new power threatens Oz...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2014
I was in the mood for a different sort of Oz and though I normally only buy Oz books that are based around Baum's Oz, I thought I'd give this prequel a chance.I went into it fully expecting it to be based closer around the MGM musical and to have very little connection to the lore from the books...especially since it's to be made into a TV series.Boy was I ever pleasantly surprised!This is Baum's Oz, but with a twist.WARNING 100+ year old spoiler alert!If you've read the Oz books then you know that after Dorothy returns to Kansas she soon find her way back in the third book and after three more adventures in that land she decides to stay for good.This book stays true to Baum's books but pretends that Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, Road to Oz and Emerald City of Oz never happened...or at least not in the way Baum recorded them. Characters from those stories are present while others are not, perhaps due to the fact that Dorothy wasn't around.Characters from later books also appear, such as the Frogman and the Patchwork Girl. I would love to read how they came to the Emerald City without Dorothy's participation in their adventures.There are also characters closely associated with Dorothy who are absent...no Shaggy Man or Tik-Tok, for example.Old Oz book spoilers end here!Dorothy is sixteen years old and misses Oz. It's been years since she traveled there and had her adventures and she wants to go back.Only Aunt Em and Uncle Henry keep her grounded in Kansas.After a very heart breaking scene at her sweet sixteen, Dorothy finds a mysterious gift from an old friend that takes her back to Oz.But Oz is not how she remembered it, Princess Ozma has taken the throne and has brought new life and magic to the land. Dorothy doesn't completely approve and sets out on a new mission, guided by a voice from her past...I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the full story if it's this good.I have to hope that when it makes it to TV they keep Oz intact as it is here, with the book characters and themes and that they keep the MGM references to a minimum!Danielle Paige knows her Oz and she has created a fantastic start to a new alternate Oz series!