Land of Oz

by M.R. Carey, Paul Kane (Editor), Marie O'Regan (Editor)

13 original stories of dark fantasy inspired by the classic tales of L. Frank Baum and the land of Oz, from the masters of fantasy and science fiction, including M. R. Carey, Christina Henry and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Journey beyond the yellow brick road, click your heels together and enter the dark heart of the tornado... if you dare.

Join the award-winning Marie O'Regan & Paul Kane as they bring together some of genre fiction's bestselling and acclaimed authors as they explore the wild imagination of L. Frank Baum and his wonderful Land of Oz.

Featuring stories by
Simon R. Green
Caitin Rozakis
Louise Carey
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ian Whates
M. R. Carey
Paul Magrs
Delilah S. Dawson
Robert Shearman
Stark Holborn
Christina Henry
Una McCormack
Jonathan Maberry

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Retellings

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2026

About the author

Mike Carey is the acclaimed writer of Lucifer and Hellblazer (now filmed as Constantine). He has recently completed a comics adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is the current writer on Marvel's X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. He has also written the screenplay for a movie, Frost Flowers, which is soon to be produced by Hadaly Films and Bluestar Pictures.

Also writes as Mike Carey

Reviews

[Holden Wunders]

I absolutely love an anthology series and when I saw one based off of The Wizard of Oz, I was truly tempted. After seeing a few of the names attached, I was sold. I recall the first time I ever saw The Wizard of Oz and own all the books. But I am particularly partial to Gregory Maguire and his Wicked series so I figured why not? My star rating is based off the book as a whole and then I have written snippet reviews of each story for perusal with their own star ratings. I will try to put spoilers before each one that I delve deeper into for your edification. Enjoy, I know I did.

The Door to Oz by Simon Green ⭐️
This was truly a dismal beginning and I hate to sound harsh but man I was immediately regretting my choice in getting this book. I do not know this writer but I will never partake. The story is reminiscent of a fifth grader thinking of fan fiction of Oz, it is filled with exposition, and the writing is in desperate need of editing let alone more drafts. I hoped this would be the worst of the bunch because it’s first so hopefully it’s only uphill from here (spoilers: it is).

Rose and Emerald by Caitlin Rozakis ⭐️ ⭐️
Okay this was better than the first and I’m still a bit tentative about this series but it is better than the first while a bit forgettable. The writing is a bit juvenile and the story is not anything special but hopefully we will keep trekking. There’s bound to be hit and misses and it’s better to have the misses at the beginning. The point of this story was to hone in more on philosophical aspects for life and humanity that wasn’t the most effective because it was too shoehorned. There is a balance that wasn’t quite captured. However, I did enjoy the two main characters with their found friendship and sapphic illusions.

The Poor Workman by Louise Carey ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
THIS IS WHAT IM HERE FOR. My god if it doesn’t get better than this, is it even possible?? It is filled with whimsy and the writing is truly beautifully articulated and well rounded. The snippets of rhyming poems are so much fun and the cadence is so whimsical and full of Oz-ness. I am so enamored by the characters, the plot, the writing, structure and I could truly read any entire book of this.

Heartless by Adrian Tchaikovsky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I know of Tchaikovsky and their writings in the science fiction world but he tends to be a bit more war oriented than I like so I haven’t read his stuff. However, this made me want to look more into his works. It is still very political and war centered but his writing is well rounded and easily accessible. I felt lost in this story in the way that I could’ve just kept reading endlessly. I enjoyed his takes and this story felt wildly different from any of the others. It has a darkness to it that many of the other stories didn’t touch and I ended up enjoying it much more than I anticipated.

The Blue Jay by Ian Whates ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a breath of fresh air at this point of the series and wholly unexpected. Taking place from the perspective of a Blue Jay that is swept into the tornado and brought to Oz in the same way Dorothy was. It is one of the shortest stories but so very Oz in all of its delights. It is incredibly bright and adventurous and I could clearly see it all. It felt like watching The Wizard of Oz but the camera drifts somewhere unexpected and delightful.

Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair by M.R. Carey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SPOILERS
In a short story collection there will always be a few that stand out so much that you KNOW this is why it was made, this is one of those stories. I had absolutely no idea M.R. and Louise Carey did separate stories for this series, let alone a continuation. I was absolutely floored when I realized my favourite story so far was continued by another authour. I am enthralled by the characters, plot, everything so to have this thread be continued throughout the series felt astonishing and exciting. No spoilers about the actual story but my god, THANK YOU! They work so well together that I truly thought the same authour had been given the opportunity to write multiple stories. The thread is carried over masterfully and I truly cannot pick which one I like better because it really is one cohesive plot. There is a reason this story carries over, this is the heart of this book.

The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus by Paul Magrs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh how this story made me feel so sad and also so full of hope. The incredible hopefulness and bitterness that you find in older children stories and in The Wizard of Oz is so prevalent here. The writing is wreathed in a kind of sadness that breeds a togetherness that can only be found in lost souls meeting. This is reaped in nostalgia and I hope it moves you in the same ways.

The Lost Princess of Zo by Delilah Dawson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yay finally some horror!!! I was hoping that because there are so many authours who specialize across the board in genres that we would get some really unique pieces and I was so thrilled and horrified to find this one. Something that can start so quaint can turn horrific so quickly and I loved every single bit of this story. It will remind you of Sid in Toy Story. Yes we are in a cute children’s story but things get dark very quickly and suddenly it’s not all fun and games. Dawson is a stunning writer and incredibly vivid in her details which makes this story all the more horrific.

Heart’s Desire by Robert Shearman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one has had me on the fence for a few days and I’m still undecided, but I also think that speaks a lot to this piece. Sometimes you’re not sure if you really love something but if it stays in your head and heart, it did its job. We are sat squarely in the middle of a regular man’s grief at the loss of his wife and finds Oz invading into his garden. I truly do not have a lot of words for this one except it’s one to read and feel yourself. It was indeed well written and unique and I give the writer all his dues. I am very much not anti this story but I also do not know how much I enjoyed it either.

The Other Foot by Stark Holborn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SPOILERS
This is a really fun piece as it is very much written in the vein of a cyberpunk noir piece but with magical snippets because, hello, Oz. Tonally this was such a fun shift and dark in a way we haven’t gotten in this series. There were hints it was connected to another story and I was chomping at the bit for the confirmation and when it came I nearly screamed. I absolutely love when authours work in conjunction with each other in the same anthology to tie pieces here and there but in their own voice. I truly want this team up again in the future and whoever had the idea to do this needs a raise. It truly sets this book apart from so many who have tried to do short stories and makes it so complex and so interactive for readers. Truly impeccable and tonally so different than the others plus an incredibly fun way to end the thread.

Silver and Gold by Christina Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Truly the reason I picked up this series in the first place because Christina Henry is the QUEEN of reimaginings ie taking an existing story or fairytale and writing it anew. I have been in love with her work since her Alice series and while she’s been writing books completely of her own creation as of late, I was thrilled to see her name here for another reimagining. I love the setting here in the circus with the scamming twin palm readers intermingled with real magically talented performers. Having it from Dorrys POV really made this tale so much darker and the cleverness of the characters from East and West *cough* Essie and Wessie just goes to show how intricately woven Henry’s ideas are. She deserves her place in the end of this book along with the best of the best.

General Jinjur’s Last Stand by Una McCormack ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was truly so quintessential and quaint and nostalgic, I am entranced. There is such a warm feeling you get in reading this book that adults try to capture by rereading their childhood favourites again. McCormack was so successful in capturing that feeling and injecting it into story form. It felt like Stranger Things and Halloweentown without just relying on the nostalgic aspect to carry her story. And to do that in such a short span of time? Making you absolutely fall in love with these characters like you’ve known them all for years? A genius is at work here.

The Little House on the Kansas Prairie by Jonathan Maberry ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sadly this wasn’t my favourite story and wish the second to last story was the last in the series instead. I do appreciate what the writer was going for here and loved the idea. Ending the series with a story about Dorothy coming home but not everything quite being as expected. But it didn’t land in terms of execution. I’m not sure why because the writing wasn’t bad by any means but it just didn’t fully commit to the intention.

Overall this was a truly excellent reimagining of Oz and the authors here gave it their all. I love tonally and genre it was across the board but what made this was the through line of the intermingled stories.

[Books_the_Magical_Fruit]

I was excited about this anthology of stories about Oz, but unfortunately, it did not really pan out. I found some stories I read to be offputting and not at all what I had expected. Hopefully, my next anthology experience will be better.

However, some standouts for me were Louise and M.R. Carey’s two short stories, as well as Delilah S. Dawson’s little horror piece. I wish I had liked more of them! Maybe the themes were too gritty and grown-up for me, considering I was hoping for more Land of Oz children’s fantasy nostalgia (although I’m certainly aware of the darker themes in Baum’s subsequent books). Hey, at least I can warn other readers who might be thinking the same!

3 generous stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for an advance copy. I am writing this review voluntarily.

[Ryan]

The Land of Oz edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane is an anthology about Oz, the wonderful world that can also be quite terrifying. The stories explore different genres like mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. You will be delighted, terrified, heartbroken, and enthralled.

Oz comprises 40 books that are considered the “canon” for the series. Though most audiences only know one, the first book of Oz, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum wrote the original 14 books, and other authors completed the rest of the 40.

Oz to some is just a children’s book, but others view it as a satire about America, with the Scarecrow representing the farmer, the Tin Man the steel industry, the Lion the factory workers, and the Yellow Brick Road the railroad. The short stories view it as both.

The most memorable and best stories, in my opinion, were the stories that took chances and did not play it safe in the world of Oz. Delilah S. Dawson’s story imagines the brutal world of Zo, which is the haunted mirror image of Oz where everything is broken and put back together. Louise Carey’s story is about a worker who was turned into a machine for his family, where the story becomes a satire of coal miners.

No stories in this collection are bad. I enjoyed parts of all of them. Of the ones I didn’t enjoy as much, it was more about pacing and the stories taking too long to get to the point.

The book had five standout stories. Two were from authors I have read before, M.R. Carey and Christina Henry. Two were authors I’ve been wanting to try, Delilah S. Dawson and Jonathan Maberry. And one author that was not on my radar at all, Louise Carey.
The Land of Oz edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane is an anthology about Oz, the wonderful world that can also be quite terrifying. The stories explore different genres like mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. You will be delighted, terrified, heartbroken, and enthralled.

Oz comprises 40 books that are considered the “canon” for the series. Though most audiences only know one, the first book of Oz, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum wrote the original 14 books, and other authors completed the rest of the 40.

Oz to some is just a children’s book, but others view it as a satire about America, with the Scarecrow representing the farmer, the Tin Man the steel industry, the Lion the factory workers, and the Yellow Brick Road the railroad. The short stories view it as both.

The most memorable and best stories, in my opinion, were the stories that took chances and did not play it safe in the world of Oz. Delilah S. Dawson’s story imagines the brutal world of Zo, which is the haunted mirror image of Oz where everything is broken and put back together. Louise Carey’s story is about a worker who was turned into a machine for his family, where the story becomes a satire of coal miners.

No stories in this collection are bad. I enjoyed parts of all of them. Of the ones I didn’t enjoy as much, it was more about pacing and the stories taking too long to get to the point.

The book had five standout stories. Two were from authors I have read before, M.R. Carey and Christina Henry. Two were authors I’ve been wanting to try, Delilah S. Dawson and Jonathan Maberry. And one author that was not on my radar at all, Louise Carey.

Just a reminder that there was not truly a bad story in the anthology. I rate and do a mini review on each story as I finish it. I will show my thoughts and a small non-spoiler summary.

13. Al Jinjur's Last Stand by Una McCormack

Al Jinjur's Last Stand is a story about a group of girls in Oz who are convinced their neighbor is a witch. Two girls are dared to find out, and it leads to surprising results.

This story was okay. I liked the message that being different is okay. The story was very girl power, which I liked. I did not like the title at all.

This is another story that went on too long. The story fills in events from a different perspective that weren’t needed.

12. Heart's Desire by Robert Shearman

Heart's Desire is about an old widowed man dealing with his loss. He wants to restore his wife’s overgrown garden. He gets angry at a stone and removes it, but it wasn’t an ordinary stone. It was a yellow one.

Soon Dorothy comes through, having lost her way, and asks about a yellow pathway that the old man lies about.

The story is about grief and loss. It was good, but it went on too long. This is the saddest story and has a lot of metaphors about home.

I liked the beginning and the writing. The story comes full circle, which I appreciated, but it took too long to make its point.

11. Rose and Emerald by Catlin Rozakis

Rose and Emerald is a story about the Tin Man’s first love before he lost his heart.

Rose is a girl who was given rose-colored glasses that stay on her head. That is the way she views the world. She finds out that the Tin Man did not have an accident, but it was a spell. Rose is on a mission to find the Tin Man and see where their love stands.

The story had a great beginning. It used passages from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz about the Tin Man and his lost love. I liked the first half of the story, then it lost its footing.

The ending has a bit of a surprise that I liked but was not expecting. The story nails the rose-colored outlook and the idea of only having so much love in your heart.

10. The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus by Paul Magrs

The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus is about a bus library that an old retired man created. His readings of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from memory are fun since he keeps forgetting parts.

The town already has a library and wants the bus gone. The story is told from a boy’s POV who is having trouble at home.

The story is kind of about the loss of magic, with reality coming in. I loved the old man. I wanted a more solid ending.

I thought the story was trying to do a little too much for a short story, but it was a good attempt.

9. The Other Foot by Stark Holborn

The Other Foot is a noir set in Oz that reminded me of Roger Rabbit, because the detective is a boot brought to life by the Power of Life.

He investigates a murder with items missing. The story has fun with the premise but could have gone farther. There’s a good gumshoe vibe in there, and he likes a leg.

The writing style took a bit to get into, and it was hard to picture at first. I ended up enjoying most of the story.

8. The Door to Oz by Simon R. Green

The Door to Oz is a story where everything in Oz was true. When Dorothy returns, she writes a memoir that is turned into The Wizard of Oz movie.

Dorothy gets rich from the movie and merchandising. Twenty years later, she is head of her own global organization, the Oz Foundation. She gives access to a young local reporter from the Kansas Star.

The story had good world building and a good idea. The story has fun with what happens when someone comes back from Oz and how it changes you in surprising ways.

There are a lot of great reveals involving characters from Oz hidden in our world. I thought the story was decent.

7. Heartless by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Heartless is about AI robots and a system called Heartless.

This story is a stretch to include in this anthology. It does not involve Oz at all. Heartless robots and the Tin Man are the connection.

The story is about developers who have to go to war because someone is changing their AI and helping the insurgents. The story is about morality and who is the enemy.

It is a good story, but as a reader, I was waiting for an Oz connection that does not show up.

6. The Bluejay by Ian Whates

The Bluejay is the story of a bluejay making his way to Oz in the same cyclone that Dorothy did.

The Bluejay gets to be the hero of the story and interacts with some of the characters in Oz. I thought the story was very clever.

The dialogue could have been better, but it was a cute story overall.

5. The Little House on the Kansas Prairie by Jonathan Maberry

The Little House on the Kansas Prairie is a story taking place after Dorothy comes back from Oz.

This story was a creepy fever dream horror story. It reminded me a little of the expanded The Stand, when you think the danger is over but it still lingers.

I love what the story did with the house falling on the Wicked Witch of the East. Even though we saw no blood, it didn’t mean the house wasn’t stained with it.

4. Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair (by Scraps, the Patchwork of Oz) by M.R. Carey

Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair is about a master thief and con man meeting a frustrated magician from Oz.

The magician is in London at a bar. He shows the man his magic powder that can make inanimate objects come alive. The thief swindles him and sets about making action figures into thieves.

The story is crazy and about creation and God. The story is very humorous and has a lot of fun with morality.

It is a little lost in its connection to Oz, but it is better than some of the other stories.

M.R. Carey’s writing really shines. I love the way he wrote the Patchwork Girl in rhyming poetry.

3. Silver & Gold by Christina Henry

Silver & Gold is a reimagining of Dorothy meeting the Wizard and others in the real world before Oz.

There’s a lot that can be spoiled, so I won’t say any more.

This story is a horror story. I was the most excited to read Christina Henry’s story, and she delivered. I love her reimagining and where her mind goes.

There are so many little Easter eggs. The story went in ways that I did not expect. Good character work all around.

2. The Poor Work Man by Louise Carey

The Poor Work Man is about a miner named Mr. Drill who has been changed like the Tin Man, with drill fingers and more machine than human.

He works in the hope that he can get back to his family. He meets someone from the world up above, and it changes his life.

This story was my favorite so far. It was heartfelt, original, and fit well in the land of Oz. The story had a lot of twists and turns.

I thought the story had the heart of Oz, where there is the surface level fantasy, but more under the surface about the miner being a slave, and really playing into the satire of Oz.

The only thing that I didn’t like was the report at the beginning. I didn’t feel it was necessary for the story, but it was very brief.

1. The Lost Princess of Zo by Delilah S. Dawson

The Lost Princess of Zo is a brutal horror tale of Dorothy trapped in the opposite land of Oz, a land called Zo.

It is a land ruled by stuffed bears that want you to look just like them. Dawson has a lot of fun with being cruel.

This story is terrifying. It is the most memorable story so far.

Even though this is a horror story, it is one of the stories closest to the original Oz. This story is so dark, and I loved it.

[Will Swardstrom]

***This review can also be found at: https://fanfiaddict.com/review-land-o...

Don’t let the bright green cover fool you on the short story anthology Land of Oz — these are dark fantasy tales, even verging on dystopian sci-fi or horror in some cases. Not that there isn’t magic or whimsy to be found in the pages of the collection edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, but the various writers stepped off the Yellow Brick Road and into the dark woods more than a few times as they crafted their Oz-inspired stories.

When I first heard about this upcoming anthology, I wondered how deep they would go into Oz lore. Of course, everyone is familiar with the movie The Wizard of Oz…but fewer people have read the novel that it was based on. And then even fewer know that the original author, L. Frank Baum wrote an additional 13 books following Dorothy’s original adventure and that the publisher kept going after Baum’s death to publish a total of 40(!) total books that are considered canon. That doesn’t include the various other iterations from films to Gregory MacGuire’s Wicked and subsequent musical and so on and so on…

When I was growing up, we had the original 14 Baum books on my bookshelf thanks to my father (to be honest, we may have had a few more beyond those 14, but I can’t remember each of them). I read all of them when I was in junior high and high school and really liked some of the characters and the twisted stories and fates that some of them endured. If you go back and look at some of them, I have to imagine that Tim Burton was heavily inspired by a few in particular for many of his films.

This collection has a few stories that are scraped only from that first novel, but more often than not, there is a deeper knowledge of Oz at play — deep cuts into Oz lore, if you will. Characters like Scraps, the patchwork girl; Dr. Pipt, the creator of the Powder of Life, and General Jinjur, all feature into multiple stories — but for me, some of the best stories simply used Oz as a launching pad, leaning into each author’s specialities. This is a wonderful collection of stories — some with only tenuous connections to Oz, but others with both feet set firmly on the roads of the Emerald City. Throughout it, the authors play with the characters, the settings, and even the words themselves — dropping Easter Eggs like crazy throughout the book. It’s a fun collection, but I have to imagine that having that deeper connection and knowledge to expanded Oz books would certainly enrich your reading experience.

I always like to narrow in on a few of the stories that I really liked or that really connected with me. One is the entire reason I pushed the overall rating on this book up to 5-star territory while the other two offer up some true horror vibes that really work in the context of the original as well as the extended Oz Universe.

Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair by M.R. Carey. I was really enjoying this story a lot as it started. I really don’t want to get into the specifics too much on this one. Carey doesn’t involve any early Oz characters, instead only tangentially including Scraps and Dr. Pipt (both of whom first appear in the 7th book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz). For me, the ending of this story was the best part of the entire anthology. If it were not for this story and its ending, I don’t think I would have rated it as high and I made audible noises of joy and revulsion during the climax of the story. I absolutely loved this story and I imagine most readers will as well.

The Lost Princess of Zo by Delilah S. Dawson. Definitely a story that takes firmly established characters (in this case, the O.G. — Dorothy) and places them in a mirror universe where the colors don’t pop off the screen, there isn’t a merry band of munchkins ready to sing of your arrival, and there is no well-meaning but hapless wizard at the end of the yellow brick road. Instead, Dorothy somehow descends down a tunnel that takes her to Zo — a place that is literally trying to kill her with each new revelation. This one takes some dark turns and is a true opposite to what Baum originally gave us with Dorothy’s story.

The Little House on the Kansas Prairie by Jonathan Maberry. I thought this was a fitting endcap to the collection, bringing all the stories back to the basics. Maberry creates a moody piece that could have served as an alternate ending to the original novel. When Dorothy gets back to Kansas, her house is there…but if she truly went to Oz, then her original home should still be in Munchkinland…shouldn’t it? Over the course of Maberry’s story, Dorothy is gaslit by her aunt and uncle, all while recognizing that she isn’t as innocent as she used to be — how her experiences in Oz toughed her up and made her into a different person than before the tornado. The ending is dark, but hopeful and fitting for the story and the entire anthology.

Land of Oz is a fantastic collection of stories where authors were able to dip into a century-old literary universe. The results don’t all hit the highest of heights, but when they do, they’re as golden as a certain road in an alternate world. It may not be for everyone, but if you love L. Frank Baum’s creations, you have to check out Land of Oz.

Land of Oz, edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, will be published on September 1, 2026.

Thank you to Titan Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Alex Sarll]

Requested from Netgalley chiefly because I wanted to see what Adrian Tchaikovsky in Oz would look like. Truth be told, his Heartless is one of the collection's most oblique responses to L Frank Baum, set in a near future warzone not unlike those in his Dogs Of War, and if it's perfectly plausible that autonomous drone swarm tech would be called Heartless ("because if you're designing a military drone program then you have to have some edgelord name for it, because all your potential buyers have the emotional maturity of twelve-year-olds"), that title plus being in this book do give away what's gone wrong with the system pretty much instantly. Still, better that than something like Simon R Green's opening story, a baffling position given it's comfortably the worst thing here, a by the numbers sequel/restatement in which Dorothy has set up a charitable foundation back on Earth and which reads like an early attempt at fanfic rather than someone who's been writing professionally for decades. But then, perhaps it's something about Oz which inspires a certain topsy-turviness in the outcomes. True, some of the other names who attracted me were highlights (Robert Shearman sending the Yellow Brick Road through a bereaved man's garden; a poignant autobiographical vignette from Paul Magrs). But I would generally call myself a moderately big Mike Carey fan, even if I've not read much of his prose work as MR Carey, while being fairly sceptical of his daughter and sometime collaborator Louise. And yet here they both turn in separate stories where his felt pretty tenuous in its relevance to Oz, more a Toy Story or Small Soldiers riff, and also included the almost self-assessment "he's never really been a details man" regarding a protagonist who got into crime precisely because he was an interior decorator, which doesn't work at all, except maybe as irony falling flat. Whereas hers is a far more convincing nightmare, especially when the tormented lead feels "hope, a raw, jagged thing that was worse than the fear". And both of them are starting, perhaps as a family challenge, with the same toys from the box, Scraps the Patchwork Girl and Dr Pipt's Powder of Life. Because, yes, this is the Oz of the books, not the films; you can tell by how many stories find a chance to mention the slippers being silver, not ruby like you think, aaaah. And I'm honestly not sure whether I've ever read any of the books, or if I did it was a very long time ago, so I couldn't always tell you how faithful or otherwise the versions here are, though I'm pretty sure the other story heaviest on the Powder of Life, Stark Holborn's The Other Foot, runs a lot more noir and bleak than Baum. Which is not necessarily a direction I favour – hasn't turning everything dark been done to death now? Do we really need it when the real world already has that so thoroughly covered? – but I forgive a lot for a detective yarn where the gumshoe is literally a gumboot, inadvertently brought to life. And at least it isn't quite as Blood & Honey about its revisionism as Delilah S Dawson's The Lost Princess Of Zo, which is mostly just nasty. Other contributions include one taking the Certain Point Of View approach and showing the surprising key role of a blue jay in the original story; a sapphic romance for the lost love the Tin Woodman forgot all about when he got a taste of power; Dorothy coming back to Kansas and finding her aunt and uncle's house suspiciously intact; and a dark reflection of the tale in a carny setting just around the corner from Nightmare Alley. The penultimate story, though, was the one which left me feeling most conflicted, Una McCormack's General Jinjur's Last Stand. It has a wonderful Ray Bradbury atmosphere of small-town autumn, but I'll always recoil a little from a future where you can have the refrain "everyone knew there wasn't any magic done these days. Not in Oz."

[Laura]

The Oz books were the very first series I fell in love with as a small child, alongside the original film, the 1982 animated version, the English-language version of the Japanese anime series The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz that aired on HBO in the early 1990s, and of course the terrifying Return to Oz (1985). But I've never returned to, nor read about, this world since, so I feel like I'm a big fan while having only a patchy memory of the actual texts. Having said this, I did think that Land of Oz, a collection of short stories inspired by this mythos and edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane, was a missed opportunity. As so often with this kind of anthology, there were issues with the editing. It's tonally incoherent, with stories ranging from the utterly saccharine (Simon L. Green's 'The Door to Oz', Caitlin Rozakis's 'Rose and Emerald') to the satisfyingly dark (Louise Carey's 'The Poor Workman', Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Heartless'). One could argue that this very much mirrors the original Oz books, which veer from moralising to weird and wonderful fantasy to body horror, although I still think stories like the Green and Rozakis don't work in their own right.

A more frustrating result of the lack of editorial vision is the ways in which a couple of aspects of the original novels continuously reoccur, while other rich seams of Oz mythology remain untouched. Most obviously, many writers don't reach beyond the first novel, despite how much more there is to Oz, and some barely engage with even that, instead writing not-very-good stories that just have a couple of Oz references (Ian Whates's 'The Blue Jay', Paul Magrs's 'The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus', Robert Shearman's 'Heart's Desire'). Others focus on Dorothy and Kansas, which... is that what anyone comes to Oz for? Still others reach further but unintentionally repeat each other. This anthology is obsessed with the Powder of Life, which has the ability to give life to inanimate objects, first introduced in The Marvellous Land of Oz (1904), but especially cemented in my memory by The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913). The Patchwork Girl herself and her creator, Dr Pipt, are also recurring characters. These themes lead to some great stories - as mentioned, I especially liked Louise Carey's chilling contribution, and Stark Holborn's 'The Other Foot' and MR Carey's 'Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair' work well. But it's such a shame that contributors weren't encouraged to branch out. My favourite Oz settings and characters are all missing - most notably pretty much everything from Ozma of Oz (1907), from Tik-Tok to the scary Wheelers to Princess Langwidere with her detachable heads to the Nome King and his habit of turning people into ornaments. Perhaps because much of this book was already adapted by Return to Oz, writers were put off - but there are still ten more books written by Baum outside the ones I've mentioned.

Although I struggled with Land of Oz as a whole, the best works here do show the potential of Oz as an inspiration for horror and weird fantasy. I hope that writers in future venture further into the canon and pull out some more interesting Oz stories. 3.5 stars.

I received a free proof copy of this collection from the publisher for review.

[Courtney]

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for this eARC!

Land of Oz takes you on an adventure through Oz if you were living in a fever dream. This book compiled some of the biggest horror and sci-fi authors to compile a book of some of the best stories about an alternate Oz. It has 13 different stories that have one thing in common, they are based on the Wizard of Oz. Some stories lean more into the original stories. Others focus on the bizarre. Some even make their own path in this tale. There are a lot of different authors, and there is something for anyone who likes the dark and twisty side of Oz.

One thing I love about anthologies is being able to learn about new authors in bite-size stories. I had some surprises and some validation included throughout these stories. I think I've found some new favorite authors in M.R. Carey, Robert Shearman, and Christina Henry. I've been dying to read Christina Henry so this wasn't a surprise at all for me that I loved her tale. I was surprised however to like M.R. Carey and Robert Shearman's stories so much. Both authors lean more towards sci-fi, but I guess when you have Doctor Who on your resume like Shearman does, miracles can happen. I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, but I loved these stories. My biggest upset was definitely Delilah S. Dawson. I'm so glad that I read Bloom last month, or I may not have picked her up again. I didn't really enjoy this story as much, but it didn't really feel like her writing either. So my PSA is that if you don't love her story in this, do not give up on her writing because it is incredible. Because this is an anthology, you'll find stories you love and some you love less, but you're guaranteed a good time!

[Kath]

Not the biggest fan of short stories, unless it's part of a series I already follow, but I have to say that I do love me a themed anthology. And what better bandwagon to hitch yourself on to, but the global phenomenon that is all things L. Frank Baum and his wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Now... I think you'll probably have a better time with this book if you are a bit of an afficionado of said phenomenon. I am not there, but I am no novice either. I have read quite a few of the original series as well as some of the Gregory Maguire series. That said, a few of what I read herein, came across a bit out of left field and I can't help but wonder if I would have better connected with them, had I known more about the characters / original stories...
Another thing I also love about an anthology is all the authors I haven't yet discovered and adding more books to my totally out of control TBR.
I'm not going to review every story. I haven't got time and my review would probably end up bigger that one of them if I do... But I will just say that there is a certain connectedness to a couple of the stories! And also I have to say what a cracker to open with.
So yeah, bottom line, not a bad bandwagon to hitch your ride to. They weren't all for me... I do admit to dnf-ing a few along the way, but the wheat definitely outweighed the chaff, and, as I said, I have a few new authors to look out for, which I think was the point...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

[Annie]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Land of Oz is a sandbox anthology with 13 fantasy stories, edited by Marie O'Regan & Paul Kane. Due out 1st Sept from Titan Books, it's 368 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a nice collection of varied short stories set in Oz and with many characters featured in the canonical Oz books.

The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which were less engaging, but all were well written and competently plotted. They were mostly in the 4 star range(ish). This is a well curated solid anthology of stories in the 3-5 star range. There are 13 stories in the anthology and all are previously unpublished fiction from very well known and some lesser known authors.

One reason collections and anthologies are so fun is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the authors don't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. Also, if one story doesn't really grab the reader, there's another story just a few pages away.

Four stars on average. It's a diverting read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Robin]

I'm always tempted by a good anthology, and especially couldn't resist one about 'The Wizard of Oz.' I don't have a great deal of knowledge of the inner lore, having only read the first Wicked book and watched the original Wizard of Oz movie, but someone who has gotten further than I will likely really enjoy this collection. As is, I love seeing all the different genres and creative ways people adapt this established universe into their own stories, even if not every single one of them is a hit.

My absolute favorites were:
• The Poor Workman by Louise Carey, and its continuation, Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair by M.R. Carey. While I wasn't familiar with most of the characters, this short story and its followup are so satisfying to read.
• Heartless by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is fairly light on its 'Wizard of Oz' element but tragically bittersweet and so good.
• Little House on the Kansas Prairie by Jonathan Maberry is creepy yet oddly hopeful. A killer ending for the anthology.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and all the authers who collectively make up this book, for allowing me to read it in exchange for an honest review.

[Tammy Burton]

This is a collection of stories inspired by L Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz.

I am a lover of all things Wizard of Oz inspired. I love the original musical, I love Wicked and I have read and enjoyed The Wizard of Oz. I haven’t read any of the other novels inspired by this world but I don’t think that matters to enjoy this collection.

As with all anthologies, there were ones that stood out to me more but as a whole, I felt that each writer brought a unique take on classic stories and characters and captured the magic of the original world.

The trouble with short stories/novellas for me personally is just that I always feel like I need more time to connect with the story and characters so it does detract from my overall enjoyment.

A few stand outs for me were:

- The Blue Jay by Ian Whates
- The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus by Paul Magrs
- General Junjur’s Last Stand by Una McCormack

Thank you to titanbooks for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Cat Treadwell]

A truly magical anthology, this book takes us in whole new directions around Oz, working from Baum's original tales and expanding on them to open our minds just that bit further from the Yellow Brick Road.

From Kansas to the Big City in this world, to the fields and mines and the Emerald City, we travel between this world and that, with every author a steady hand on the way. The genuine emotion in some stories particularly struck me, as if Oz brings out an intensity of feeling that we perhaps felt when watching the movie for the first time, seeing that colour seep in to saturate the black and white world. This is a matter of opening our eyes, removing our tinted spectacles and seeing the magic and mundanity on both sides.

I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinions are entirely my own.

[D Dyer]

This is a mixed bag with some stories, more successful than others, as is often the case within anthologies but benefits from the editors, loose interpretation of the theme, every story concerns Oz, but the range we get is quite impressive, with many though not all of the stories, pulling inspiration more directly from the original book series than any of the films and a few attempting to revisit the story through a realistic and consequently disturbing lens as Christina Henry does in “silver and gold.” Other successes feature a somewhat noir inflected Oz, “The Other Foot” by Stark Holborn with its mystery solving shoe and “Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair” by M. R. Carey which features a report from the patchwork girl.

[Chrys]

A richly diverse collection of short stories, all of which have captured some of the essence of Oz. From the gentle to the vicious, there are so many wonderful aspects to Oz and I think it holds a place in the hearts of many.
This is an adult collection with some darker elements but I think some of the stories are suitable for young readers, I do advise parental caution though.
It’s hard to choose a favourite but it’s probably Heartless by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which was absolutely heartbreaking.

[Raymie]

I’m not a short story fan but I thought it would be different since I am a Wizard of Oz fanatic. It was not.

With most short stories there are some good ones and some that can be skipped.

I think my favorites were The Lost Princess of Zo and Hearts Desire.

I think with most short stories felt unfinished with happens a lot with short stories

I also think that some people think that Oz means they can write weird stuff and leave out the whimsy of Oz


Genre: Fantasy
APK: Ebook
Pages: 368
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Standalone

[Jeffrey Riley]

I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This is an interesting anthology. I enjoyed quite a few of the stories, but I feel some of the others would have been more enjoyable had I been more familiar with the entire Oz series. The Door to Oz was a winner and I really liked Heartless, but I’m still unsure how well it fits the theme. It’s not a bad effort, just a touch erratic in its hits and misses.

[Kayleighreads]

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc for an honest review.

I have had such a fun time with this read. I love seeing classic stories reimagined and these darker takes on the Land of Oz were imaginative and so much fun to read.

As with any collection I definitely had some jump out to me more than others but I honestly enjoyed most of the stories. Each author brought something different which is always a good thing.

[Autumn Kotsiuba]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc.

Enjoyed this more than I expected. I picked it up not because Im a fan of Oz (Im not, really) but because Im a fan of some of the authors.

3 stars because, like many short story anthologies, some stories were better than others. Favorites: Heartless, Final Report, Heart's Desire, and Other Foot. Some of the others like Blue Jay and Door to Oz, were a bit too on the nose.

[David]

This collection of Oz adjacent short stories is full of wonderful, inventive tales based on the Oz books written by Baum. There are a couple really dark stories in here, which is fine by me. There was at least one that I struggled to find an Oz connection (other than the title), but I'd recommend this collection to any reader who remembers reading the original Oz books.

[Helen]

A great collection of stories set in the magical world of Oz, although a lot darker than the original story. Each one is different, but all are evocative reimaginings of the books by L. Frank Baum. An enjoyable, dark fantasy read that I highly recommend.

[Tammy Buchli]

Being a fan of the Baum Oz books since childhood, I was excited to read this collection of short stories. I was pleased to see that the stories, almost exclusively, dealt with the books and not the film. All of the pieces are worth reading and some were very good indeed. I particularly enjoyed The Wrong Foot, which dealt with sentience in Oz. I’d love to read a novel-length version of this story’s version of Oz. Another standout was General Jinjur’s Last Stand, which had a Bradbury-like feeling to it. Highly recommended.

[Lizardley]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an excellent collection. I loved the Oz books when I was a kid (I read all of the L Frank Baum books on a weird little app), and it was so lovely to see stories that engaged with that wider catalogue, not just the first book/the movie. The only story that felt actively out of place was Tchaikovsky's "Heartless", but it fortunately did not commit a simultaneous sin of being boring. My two favorites were easily "The Poor Workman" and "Final Report on the Rex Rembrandt Affair". Scraps was an excellent choice for a framing device there. I also quite liked "The Wizard of the Bookish Omnibus" for its more relatistic take on the power of stories through the lens of a man retelling The Wizard of Oz. I would highly recommend to any fan of Baum's Oz setting, though you will get more out of it if you are familiar with the wider canon.