What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wicked Years #1-4
The Wicked Years Complete Collection: Wicked / Son of a Witch / Out of Oz / A Lion Among Men: A Special Collection of the Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture—Now Streaming
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.
Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.
But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.
Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch.
With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.
Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.
But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.
Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch.
2628 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 26, 2013
2578 people are currently reading
2328 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Maguire
112 books9,164 followersGregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England (a non-profit educational charity).
Maguire has served as artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Hambidge Center. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 3, 2025
WICKED
Rereading this series as it’s been sixteen years and I needed the refresh lol. This follows the story of Elphaba, an intersex green child who is considered a beast. Her parents are horrified and as they both continue in affairs, a sister and brother come after her before Elphaba attends Shiz University and meets Galinda, Boq, and Fiyero as they navigate right and wrong. Years later, Elphaba tries to find her purpose in revolution, silence, penance, forgiveness, and revenge…
Reasons I Recommend:
1) A dark telling of Oz before Dorothy
2) Revolution, racism, sexism, violence, war, and magic and
3),Understand that the play is very different from the world Maguire writes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quote 1: “Ask me no questions and I’ll spell you no lies,”
Quote 2: “Fiyero, you disaffected fool, the tragedy is all around us. Worrying about anything smaller is a distraction. Any casualty of the struggle is their fault, not ours. We don’t embrace violence but we don’t deny its existence-how can we deny it when its effects are all around us?
Quote 3:“The real thing about evil isn’t any of what you said. You figure out one side of it— the human side, say — and the eternal side goes into shadow. Or vice versa. It’s like the old saw: What does a dragon in its shell look like? Well no one can ever tell, for as soon as you break the shell to see, the dragon is no longer in its shell. The real disaster of this inquiry is that it is the nature of evil to be secret.”
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #thewickedyearsseries #wicked #gregorymaguire
THE WIZARD OF OZ BY L FRANK BAUM
Part of the Wicked collection but it was fun to go back and reread the original story. It’s been decades since I did and seeing Dorothy arrive by cyclone, killing the Wicked Witch of the East and getting her silver shoes before embarking on a trip to meet the wizard was so fun. After rereading Wicked, you really see how Maguire emphasized the world giving Boq a larger backstory, more history of the kingdoms and realms Dorothy travels through and more.
Reasons I Recommended:
1) My mom’s favourite movie so it always held a special place in my heart
2) How the movie was adapted, the darker elements left out, and which parts were enriched and
3) How the adventure of Dorothy can be seen as a blip in the war the Wizard brought to Oz after reading Wicked.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #classicliterature #reread #thewizardofoz #wickedcollection #lfrankbaum
SON OF A WITCH
Reread. Tells the story of Liir, the son of Elphaba and Fiyero who doesn’t really know his own parentage. With Elphaba’s broom, he attempts to find his half-sister Nor, falling from the sky and being rescued and nursed back to health by Candle. When he once again embarks on hi journey, he tries to find purpose and finds love with a fellow soldier…
Reasons I Recommend:
1) Ending bringing everything full circle
2) Trism & Liir’s connection and
3) Liir’s constant battle with right and wrong and what he knows to what he thinks.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #reread #fiction #wizardofoz #wickedyearsseries #sonofawitch #gregorymaguire
A LION AMONG MEN
Reread. We get to see how the story of the lion crossed over between Elphaba’s time at Shiz and continued with Dorothy and beyond. How he became cowardly and beyond and how Yackle’s story and her prophecy followed the Thropp family…
Reasons I Recommend:
1)If you already love the Wicked universe, it delves into deeper detail
2) Tells more about who Liir is and his search for Nor and
3) The lion trying to find his place in an ever changing world.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #thewickedyearsseries #alionamongmen #gregorymaguire #thewizardofoz
OUT OF OZ
Reread. The final chapter in the Wicked series brings Dorothy back to Oz, reunites Liir and Trism, and has Rain and Glinda working to discover truths about Oz, about Elphaba, and about the Grimmerie.
Reasons I Recommend:
1) Wraps up the world well with Elphaba’s granddaughter
2) Answers questions from the first and
3) Brings the story full circle.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quote: “I leave the front door unlocked for one of them and the back door unlocked for the other.They know where I am. I’ve cherished them both, Rain, and I do still. Whoever they are. I love both Trism and Candle. It isn’t impossible for you to love both Tip and Ozma.”
“What’s impossible,” she said, “is to know the truth inside someone else’s heart if they don’t tell you.” He agreed with that. “Well, I love you. Just in case you ever wondered. And don’t forget that I’ve spent some brief time of my life as an Elephant. They say Elephants never forget, and as I live and breathe, I’m telling you that this is true of humans no less than Ele-phants. Now, listen. I’m being serious, my desperate sweetheart. What about if a message arrives for you?Where shall I say you’ve gone?”
She threw an arm about airily. “Oh, way up high. Over the rainbow somewhere, I guess.”
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #worldofoz #wizardofoz #thewickedyearsseries #outofoz #gregorymaguire
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ overall! Definitely recommend!
Rereading this series as it’s been sixteen years and I needed the refresh lol. This follows the story of Elphaba, an intersex green child who is considered a beast. Her parents are horrified and as they both continue in affairs, a sister and brother come after her before Elphaba attends Shiz University and meets Galinda, Boq, and Fiyero as they navigate right and wrong. Years later, Elphaba tries to find her purpose in revolution, silence, penance, forgiveness, and revenge…
Reasons I Recommend:
1) A dark telling of Oz before Dorothy
2) Revolution, racism, sexism, violence, war, and magic and
3),Understand that the play is very different from the world Maguire writes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quote 1: “Ask me no questions and I’ll spell you no lies,”
Quote 2: “Fiyero, you disaffected fool, the tragedy is all around us. Worrying about anything smaller is a distraction. Any casualty of the struggle is their fault, not ours. We don’t embrace violence but we don’t deny its existence-how can we deny it when its effects are all around us?
Quote 3:“The real thing about evil isn’t any of what you said. You figure out one side of it— the human side, say — and the eternal side goes into shadow. Or vice versa. It’s like the old saw: What does a dragon in its shell look like? Well no one can ever tell, for as soon as you break the shell to see, the dragon is no longer in its shell. The real disaster of this inquiry is that it is the nature of evil to be secret.”
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #thewickedyearsseries #wicked #gregorymaguire
THE WIZARD OF OZ BY L FRANK BAUM
Part of the Wicked collection but it was fun to go back and reread the original story. It’s been decades since I did and seeing Dorothy arrive by cyclone, killing the Wicked Witch of the East and getting her silver shoes before embarking on a trip to meet the wizard was so fun. After rereading Wicked, you really see how Maguire emphasized the world giving Boq a larger backstory, more history of the kingdoms and realms Dorothy travels through and more.
Reasons I Recommended:
1) My mom’s favourite movie so it always held a special place in my heart
2) How the movie was adapted, the darker elements left out, and which parts were enriched and
3) How the adventure of Dorothy can be seen as a blip in the war the Wizard brought to Oz after reading Wicked.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #classicliterature #reread #thewizardofoz #wickedcollection #lfrankbaum
SON OF A WITCH
Reread. Tells the story of Liir, the son of Elphaba and Fiyero who doesn’t really know his own parentage. With Elphaba’s broom, he attempts to find his half-sister Nor, falling from the sky and being rescued and nursed back to health by Candle. When he once again embarks on hi journey, he tries to find purpose and finds love with a fellow soldier…
Reasons I Recommend:
1) Ending bringing everything full circle
2) Trism & Liir’s connection and
3) Liir’s constant battle with right and wrong and what he knows to what he thinks.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #reread #fiction #wizardofoz #wickedyearsseries #sonofawitch #gregorymaguire
A LION AMONG MEN
Reread. We get to see how the story of the lion crossed over between Elphaba’s time at Shiz and continued with Dorothy and beyond. How he became cowardly and beyond and how Yackle’s story and her prophecy followed the Thropp family…
Reasons I Recommend:
1)If you already love the Wicked universe, it delves into deeper detail
2) Tells more about who Liir is and his search for Nor and
3) The lion trying to find his place in an ever changing world.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #thewickedyearsseries #alionamongmen #gregorymaguire #thewizardofoz
OUT OF OZ
Reread. The final chapter in the Wicked series brings Dorothy back to Oz, reunites Liir and Trism, and has Rain and Glinda working to discover truths about Oz, about Elphaba, and about the Grimmerie.
Reasons I Recommend:
1) Wraps up the world well with Elphaba’s granddaughter
2) Answers questions from the first and
3) Brings the story full circle.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quote: “I leave the front door unlocked for one of them and the back door unlocked for the other.They know where I am. I’ve cherished them both, Rain, and I do still. Whoever they are. I love both Trism and Candle. It isn’t impossible for you to love both Tip and Ozma.”
“What’s impossible,” she said, “is to know the truth inside someone else’s heart if they don’t tell you.” He agreed with that. “Well, I love you. Just in case you ever wondered. And don’t forget that I’ve spent some brief time of my life as an Elephant. They say Elephants never forget, and as I live and breathe, I’m telling you that this is true of humans no less than Ele-phants. Now, listen. I’m being serious, my desperate sweetheart. What about if a message arrives for you?Where shall I say you’ve gone?”
She threw an arm about airily. “Oh, way up high. Over the rainbow somewhere, I guess.”
#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #fiction #reread #worldofoz #wizardofoz #thewickedyearsseries #outofoz #gregorymaguire
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ overall! Definitely recommend!
July 29, 2020
Loved them! A lil dark and twisted but good.
September 24, 2023
I discovered this series years ago after seeing the musical Wicked. I think I actually stopped at the bookstore on the way home from the theater, so I preface this by saying that I was already bias. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book that followed the life of The Wicked Witch aka Elphaba from birth thru the events that were recounted in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The second and third book were not quite as gripping but were a nice follow up. The second was about the witch's son, Liir and how he grew up after the end of Wicked and the third followed the lion, Brr, and the dispensation of a prophesy of Sister Yackle. The fourth book closes out the series nicely wrapping up loose ends with Dorothy, Brrr, Liir, and Liir's daughter Rain all featuring prominently in an adventure tale. It is not always a fast moving adventure, but then time moves at its own speed in Oz. The author does a fine job of paying tribute to Baum's original stories (there are some references that go beyond the first book in the Oz series) and even incorporating snippets from the 1939 movie. I wholeheartedly recommend at least the first book to any adult who wants a slightly slant on a favorite children's story.
February 4, 2025
Good series! This was a bit outside my normal reading bubble but I have this thing where I have to read the book before watching the movie. The broadway Wicked is a very tamed down more or less inspired version of these novels. His writing is quite dark compared to the Hollywood take on Wicked. This wasn’t an easy, quick read by any means but I don’t have any regrets sitting down with this series. I find the author’s ability to take a story like the wizard of oz and completely spin off a whole other series is pretty neat!
June 2, 2025
It’s fine…
The series is fine—interesting enough that I wanted to see how it all played out, but not a favorite. I didn’t feel that “can’t-put-it-down” pull that I get from most books I really love. The world-building is unique, and the take on Oz is clever, but I often found myself passively listening or reading rather than fully engaged.
I did really enjoy hearing the author narrate Book 2—his voice and rhythm matched the tone of the story well. The other narrator just didn’t work for me and made it harder to stay connected.
Glad I finished it, but I wasn’t obsessed.
The series is fine—interesting enough that I wanted to see how it all played out, but not a favorite. I didn’t feel that “can’t-put-it-down” pull that I get from most books I really love. The world-building is unique, and the take on Oz is clever, but I often found myself passively listening or reading rather than fully engaged.
I did really enjoy hearing the author narrate Book 2—his voice and rhythm matched the tone of the story well. The other narrator just didn’t work for me and made it harder to stay connected.
Glad I finished it, but I wasn’t obsessed.
October 2, 2025
Honestly, I feel like it went in too many directions, had way too many things left unanswered. This is one of the few times, I feel like the media version(movie/play) of a story is the better version. I knew going in they were very different but the unanswered questions truly annoyed me. I gave it 2 stars since there were times when it peaked my interest but often fell flat.
December 26, 2025
god this series put me in such a reading slump; it definitely reads like a series that was continued due to the popularity it garnered from the musical. to be clear, i thought the commentary was thoughtful if not particularly interesting and the first one is the best by far. loved the lgbtia+ and polyamorous representation
August 23, 2025
Gregory Maguire is my favorite fiction author. I have spent untold hours reading the Wicked Years Series. I would highly recommend it to anyone. His brand of storytelling is unique, imaginative, and thought-provoking.
September 13, 2025
These books give you a look at OZ in a new and darker light. In wicked it’s about Elphaba and how she meet Glinda. At first they are friends but the truth of Oz changes things between them. These are more political. But you see the characters in a new light and better understand them.
March 24, 2024
Great collection! Unfortunately, "A Lion Among Men" isn't as great as the others
November 16, 2024
Wicked Series
I loved it!!! I thought the story was great ant it was great to hear about the characters before The Wizard of Oz.
I loved it!!! I thought the story was great ant it was great to hear about the characters before The Wizard of Oz.
November 30, 2024
I wish we could sue authors for writing bad books.
January 24, 2025
All the Wizard stories reinvisioned in one massice collection.
February 22, 2025
Dnf. 3hrs left and I just never got fully into it due to my own distractions…which told me it didn’t engage me.
February 25, 2025
Fantastic Read!
What started with the release of the movie has tailspun into the whole series obsession! A must keep on the shelf!
What started with the release of the movie has tailspun into the whole series obsession! A must keep on the shelf!
April 2, 2025
Did not even get half way through the first book. Too slow and to much going on that did not seem relevant.
Read
August 14, 2025dnf
August 17, 2025
Have read many times. Will definitely read again.
October 11, 2025
Finished the last book October 11, 2025.
See individual books for their reviews.
See individual books for their reviews.
dnf
October 22, 2025dnf…. Might pick up again and continue reading from where I left off
November 18, 2025
not what I was expecting. too much lore to remember. I am not trying to relax not remember politics. especially in the days of Donald Trump.
February 5, 2025
I loved Wicked but the series was just too long and went into too many different directions which lost focus on the storylines I actually cared about.
June 10, 2021
So very different from the theatrical production. This book is for adults. Otherwise, it's a very interesting book. It can be a challenge to read as a lot is left for the reader to figure out, mostly the motivation of the characters. You don't get much in what they are thinking, so you have to work out why they say and do what you read. It can be slow at times as it is character driven and not action driven. I'm glad to be reading it.
August 2, 2021
A well-crafted story, at times told to unwarranted length. The first book in the volume (Wicked) was quite compelling as was the second (Son of A Witch). The third and fourth (A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz) dragged a bit in the middle but got better at the end.
October 26, 2019
Love it
August 4, 2022
It's been around two years since reading this collection, and I still think about it. If that doesn't tell you it's a great story, nothing will.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews