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Oz Continued #25
Pirates in Oz
Book 25 in The Wizard of Oz
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1931
2 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Plumly Thompson
90 books52 followersAn avid reader of Baum's books and a lifelong children's writer, Thompson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began her writing career in 1914 when she took a job with the Philadelphia Public Ledger; she wrote a weekly children's column for the newspaper. She had already published her first children's book, The Perhappsy Chaps, and her second, The Princess of Cozytown, was pending publication when William Lee, vice president of Baum's publisher Reilly & Lee, solicited Thompson to continue the Oz series. (Rumors among fans that Thompson was Baum's niece were untrue.) Between 1921 and 1939, she wrote one Oz book a year. (Thompson was the primary supporter of her widowed mother and invalid sister, so that the annual income from the Oz books was important for her financial circumstances.)
Thompson's contributions to the Oz series are lively and imaginative, featuring a wide range of colorful and unusual characters. However, one particular theme repeats over and over throughout her novels, with little variation. Typically in each of Thompson's Oz novels, a child (usually from America) and a supernatural companion (usually a talking animal), while traveling through Oz or one of the neighboring regions, find themselves in an obscure community where the inhabitants engage in a single activity. The inhabitants of this community then capture the travelers, and force them to participate in this same activity.
Another major theme has elderly characters, most controversially, the Good Witch of the North, being restored to "marriageable" age, possibly because Thompson herself never married. She had a greater tendency toward the use of romantic love stories (which Baum usually avoided in his fairy tales, with about 4 exceptions). While Baum's child protagonists tended to be little girls, Thompson's were boys. She emphasized humor to a greater extent than Baum did, and always considered her work for children, whereas Baum, while first and foremost considering his child audience, knew that his readership comprised all ages.
Thompson's last Oz story, The Enchanted Island of Oz(1976), was not originally written as an Oz book.
Thompson's contributions to the Oz series are lively and imaginative, featuring a wide range of colorful and unusual characters. However, one particular theme repeats over and over throughout her novels, with little variation. Typically in each of Thompson's Oz novels, a child (usually from America) and a supernatural companion (usually a talking animal), while traveling through Oz or one of the neighboring regions, find themselves in an obscure community where the inhabitants engage in a single activity. The inhabitants of this community then capture the travelers, and force them to participate in this same activity.
Another major theme has elderly characters, most controversially, the Good Witch of the North, being restored to "marriageable" age, possibly because Thompson herself never married. She had a greater tendency toward the use of romantic love stories (which Baum usually avoided in his fairy tales, with about 4 exceptions). While Baum's child protagonists tended to be little girls, Thompson's were boys. She emphasized humor to a greater extent than Baum did, and always considered her work for children, whereas Baum, while first and foremost considering his child audience, knew that his readership comprised all ages.
Thompson's last Oz story, The Enchanted Island of Oz(1976), was not originally written as an Oz book.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 26, 2024
Thompson's books are like a roller coaster. After one bad story comes another good and interesting... Sometimes, I'm surprised how good it turns out to be a story after a really bad/boring one. So far, The Yellow Knight of Oz seems to me like worse Oz book I've ever read. But, Pirates in Oz is in a complete new level.
I loved the story from the beginning... This must have been the real book dedicated to [entitled] The GNome King of Oz . Despite his short role in this book, Thompson's paid some tribute to the wicked Nome King, mending a little the mess it turned out to be the 21st book.
Although I like the way Peter Brown traveled to Oz for the first time (or at least, to Ruggedo's Island... Something I can't say about his second journey to Oz with that magic sack of gold and the wish coin), this time, I liked more the way it was introduced in the story.
I loved all the new characters introduced in this book. I liked Clocker. But I especially liked the party of pirates and their adventures through the Nonestic Ocean. I loved Captain Samuel Salt, King Ato and Roger, the Royal Read Bird, and Pigasus... This book has everything.
I loved the story from the beginning... This must have been the real book dedicated to [entitled] The GNome King of Oz . Despite his short role in this book, Thompson's paid some tribute to the wicked Nome King, mending a little the mess it turned out to be the 21st book.
Although I like the way Peter Brown traveled to Oz for the first time (or at least, to Ruggedo's Island... Something I can't say about his second journey to Oz with that magic sack of gold and the wish coin), this time, I liked more the way it was introduced in the story.
I loved all the new characters introduced in this book. I liked Clocker. But I especially liked the party of pirates and their adventures through the Nonestic Ocean. I loved Captain Samuel Salt, King Ato and Roger, the Royal Read Bird, and Pigasus... This book has everything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2021
Bought for $4 in a used-book store in Saughteries, NY, near Woodstock. Enjoyable and funny with lots of intriguing characters including a flying pig, a clockwork man, a giant ogre, a reading bird, and islands with weird people. Peter from Philadelphia joins a misfit king and a misfit pirate as they endeavor to recover their rebellious subjects and crew respectively. The Gnome attempts to take over Oz for the umpteenth time and of course he is foiled (surprise!) I don't know what brings me back to Oz but a return is always fun.
June 12, 2013
If you haven't read many Oz books then you will probably enjoy it, but as someone who has read all 25 up to this point it's getting a little tiring. This is at least the third book that involves the Gnome King trying to take over Oz. I feel like the Gnome king should now be retired from the series, I'm hoping he doesn't make a return later. Although he is the most developed villain, it's just getting a little tiring to see him again and again. Peter also makes a return for the third time. He is probably one of the most underdeveloped protagonist of the Oz series. It's his third appearance and all I really know about him is that he plays baseball and has a grandfather. If he is going to continue to make appearances I wish they would develop the character more.
July 25, 2022
There are two narratives in this book PIRATES IN OZ. One is boring; the other is terrific.
The boring one is the usual Oz line: some good-guys wander, more or less aimlessly, around the terrain, visiting isolated communities of weirdos, each community characterized by one local trait or obsession. Here, instead of walking, the good-guys are sailing around in a pirate ship, whose crew have abandoned her and her captain, and instead of visiting walled towns, they visit small islands. The weirdos who live there are not very creatively conceived: "No-bodies" with no bodies, just heads, arms, and legs bound up by an empty space where the torsos and abdomens should be; "Shell people" who have, eat, and value shells, and discard everything else; and so on. There is one interesting new character: Pigasus, the flying pig, which is not a new idea, but this pig also has Pegasus' magical gift: whoever rides it is a poet. But since it's a pig, not a horse, the poet speaks in silly, childish jingles, not in masterful poetry which blessed the riders of the original horse Pegasus.
The other narrative in the book consists of less than 30% of it, but it's wonderful. Ruggedo, the deposed Nome King, still living as a wandering exile, is presented, for the first time ever, as a sympathetic character. He's just as evil and ambitious as he ever was, but you can't help liking him. You'll find yourself cheering for him when he does well and identifying with him when he faces obstacles and dangers. This is a whole new perspective on him, and it is the reason I give this book four stars out of five. (There's also some really cool magic.)
The boring one is the usual Oz line: some good-guys wander, more or less aimlessly, around the terrain, visiting isolated communities of weirdos, each community characterized by one local trait or obsession. Here, instead of walking, the good-guys are sailing around in a pirate ship, whose crew have abandoned her and her captain, and instead of visiting walled towns, they visit small islands. The weirdos who live there are not very creatively conceived: "No-bodies" with no bodies, just heads, arms, and legs bound up by an empty space where the torsos and abdomens should be; "Shell people" who have, eat, and value shells, and discard everything else; and so on. There is one interesting new character: Pigasus, the flying pig, which is not a new idea, but this pig also has Pegasus' magical gift: whoever rides it is a poet. But since it's a pig, not a horse, the poet speaks in silly, childish jingles, not in masterful poetry which blessed the riders of the original horse Pegasus.
The other narrative in the book consists of less than 30% of it, but it's wonderful. Ruggedo, the deposed Nome King, still living as a wandering exile, is presented, for the first time ever, as a sympathetic character. He's just as evil and ambitious as he ever was, but you can't help liking him. You'll find yourself cheering for him when he does well and identifying with him when he faces obstacles and dangers. This is a whole new perspective on him, and it is the reason I give this book four stars out of five. (There's also some really cool magic.)
April 2, 2020
I must be getting more critical because this one only earned three stars. Truth be told it is a great read. It focuses on a rogues gallery of characters. The first several chapters center on Ruggedo the Gnome King, eternal thorn in the side of Ozma, Dorothy, and friends.
Ruggedo discovers another heartless character in the form of Clocker, wiseman of the kingdom of Menankypoo. With Clocker's help and advice Ruggedo insinuates himself into a mutinous pirate crew as new leader and directs them to (what else) invade the land of Oz.
Samuel Salt, pirate captain, who was deserted by that very same crew for being "too nice" is introduced in the kingdom of The Octagon Island. Its king, Ato, has similarly been left by his subjects. Ato, Salt, and Philadelphia boy Peter Brown (back for his third visit to Oz and nearby lands) form an alliance and vow to seek out both groups of deserters. To tell anymore would be ... well ... telling, but it would spoil the story. Pigasus makes his debut in this book, too.
If you enjoy adventure, puns, silliness; check this one out.
Ruggedo discovers another heartless character in the form of Clocker, wiseman of the kingdom of Menankypoo. With Clocker's help and advice Ruggedo insinuates himself into a mutinous pirate crew as new leader and directs them to (what else) invade the land of Oz.
Samuel Salt, pirate captain, who was deserted by that very same crew for being "too nice" is introduced in the kingdom of The Octagon Island. Its king, Ato, has similarly been left by his subjects. Ato, Salt, and Philadelphia boy Peter Brown (back for his third visit to Oz and nearby lands) form an alliance and vow to seek out both groups of deserters. To tell anymore would be ... well ... telling, but it would spoil the story. Pigasus makes his debut in this book, too.
If you enjoy adventure, puns, silliness; check this one out.
March 27, 2023
Okay, so we’re up to the 25th book in the Oz series by this point, and while the formula is kind of tired by this point, it still somehow works.
So what do we have? Well, we have the Gnome King Ruggedo getting up to his usual mischief, even though he starts the book by not being able to talk. We also have a child from the United States of America who makes his way to Oz in an unusual way, as well as guest appearances from a bunch of the usual suspects.
We also have the usual set of puns and japes, none of which stands out but all of which are worth a little smile, even if it’s only at how bad they are. Still, I find that Thompson is better at doing those kind of gags than L. Frank Baum ever was, and while her plotting and execution is at about the same level, that’s not really saying too much.
All in all, it’s just some more of the same old same old, but repackaged with a new title and new cover. But given that I’ve got this far in the series, I’m used to that and I’ve come to expect it.
So what do we have? Well, we have the Gnome King Ruggedo getting up to his usual mischief, even though he starts the book by not being able to talk. We also have a child from the United States of America who makes his way to Oz in an unusual way, as well as guest appearances from a bunch of the usual suspects.
We also have the usual set of puns and japes, none of which stands out but all of which are worth a little smile, even if it’s only at how bad they are. Still, I find that Thompson is better at doing those kind of gags than L. Frank Baum ever was, and while her plotting and execution is at about the same level, that’s not really saying too much.
All in all, it’s just some more of the same old same old, but repackaged with a new title and new cover. But given that I’ve got this far in the series, I’m used to that and I’ve come to expect it.
December 7, 2020
Another fun Oz style adventure that is more stand alone and could be any kids book.
January 2, 2023
Wish this one was a tad longer and had more chapters about the villains
January 19, 2016
This is an ok Oz book. Peter is back from Philadelphia for some reason. Ruggedo the Gnome (formerly Nome) King is back and has his voice again. There are pirates. There's another mechanical guy, this time with a clock head. But Ruth Plumly Thompson continues to focus on new characters and her own characters and neglects all the characters created by L. Frank Baum that we really want to see. The Oz "celebrities" show up at the end, like an afterthought.
September 24, 2011
Nowhere close to the charm, magic, and inventiveness of the originals. These books should not be considered Oz canon.
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September 1, 2013Book 25
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews