Review | Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond edited by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen

I can’t help but feel fortunate each time I open my front door to find the tell-tale rectangular shaped package that promises to contain a book. It’s a promise of a new story, a new adventure, and I look forward to opening the book and diving in.

Last month, I found one such package containing  Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond, edited by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen, with illustrations by Galen Dara. In 2011 I  had read and enjoyed Brave New Worlds (Dystopian Stories), also edited by Adams, and I had been impressed by the mix of short stories.

Featuring a foreword by Gregory Maguire, each story in the collection is inspired by Frank Baum’s Oz, (in contrast to the Oz of Judy Garland fame). However, as the editors note in the introduction, the authors were not asked to revisit Oz, but rather to reimagine it. The result is a collection of stories that are colorful, occasionally sad, often delightful, and always creative. 

You don’t necessarily need to buy the full collection to read a particular story by an author you follow. Each is available on Amazon in electronic format for individual reading, as well as in the full collection.


Overall Rating4 of 5 stars false

Parent’s guide:

  • Sex: A few mentions, one instance of a lesbian relationship, a couple mentions of sexual abuse or rape.
  • Violence: Several stories implicate murder, one instance of gruesome death, and some violence appears regularly.
  • Language: Profanity in one or two stories, but not regularly.


 

About Daniel

Dan Burton lives in Millcreek, Utah, where he practices law by day and everything else by night. He reads about history, politics, science, medicine, and current events, as well as more serious genres such as science fiction and fantasy.

Verified by MonsterInsights