A Lion Among Men By Gregory Maguire Reviewed

The Third Instalment In The Much Acclaimed Wicked Years Series

Apr 2, 2009

Gregory Maguire's A Lion Among Men follows the tale of Brrr, the lion who asked the Wizard for courage and by the time A Lion Among Men is through, he'll likely need it!

The Wicked Years series has led us through the life and death of the iconic green skinned witch Elphaba, drawn our gaze to the hapless yet hopeful Lirr as he traipsed through his destiny before finally learning all that it means to be the A Son Of A Witch, and now it is the turn of The Cowardly Lion, Brrr, who, in revealing his life to the prophetic if slightly unhinged crone Yackle, will take his place as A Lion Among Men.

Events in A Lion Among Men occur some eight to ten years after those in Son of a Witch and there is mounting civil unrest in the Land of Oz, culminating in a territorial war as Emerald City soldiers attempt to quash rebellion against the reign of Oz's tyrannical king, Elphaba's brother, Shell.

Brrr is forced to try and track down Lirr, Elphaba's son, for Shell or face life imprisonment for being an Animal (an anthropomorphised animal capable of speech and human like thought, deserving, therefore, of capitalisation) leading to an interview with old as dirt Yackle, who, it appears, has been waiting for him.

There she teases out of Brrr his life story, from his days in the wild to his affair with a strong willed Cat princess, and so too does Yackle reveal her true part in Elphaba's life and her own personal journey, a pivotal revelation in understanding the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Maguire's Brrr Fails to Roar in the Third Installment of The Wicked Years Series

Brrr is perhaps the least interesting aspect of A Lion Among Men. This instalment in the Wicked Years series went through four publicised title changes, the first being A Cowardly War, the second Watermark, and lastly The Deposition of an Oracle, before Maguire settled on A Lion Among Men. Perhaps this explains the haze Gregory Maguire's third instalment fights against, almost as if, looking through the crystal ball, he was unable to decide where a true focus should lie.

In fact, despite Brrr being the main character, oracle Yackle is the one that truly intrigues in A Lion Among Men. A woman who came into the world already infirm and crumbling, and who, in true Gregory Maguire style, was at first a charlatan prophet only to accidentally become the real thing later on. Her snippy character, her defiance of the grave and her deep affection for Elphaba, as well as her true, hidden nature, make her devilishly intriguing.

Although Brrr is the central focus of A Lion Among Men, he could be seen more as the dense material that an array of Gregory Maguire's other more dazzling characters orbit around. The Time Clock, a device featured heavily in Wicked, returns and reveals some, but not all, of its arcane secrets as well bringing along its goblin keeper who's tarty and terse attitude are simply a delight.

Nor, who, as a young girl, was stolen away from Elphaba and who, in Son of a Witch, Liir desperately searched for, returns as a mature woman and attendant of the Time Clock. She is damaged, she is changed, but she remains alive, and there is more than a little bit of Elphaba in her, provoking pride in her survival and subsequent return in A Lion Among Men.

A Lion Among Men serves as a platform for a fourth novel and the possibility of the long hinted return of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the son of the witch, Lirr. It also lays down the groundwork for an epic battle that will shake Oz to its very foundations and one that will no doubt be as entertaining as it is perceptive of current political happenings.

And whilst perhaps not as sharp as Gregory Maguire's previous offerings in The Wicked Years series, A Lion Among Men is, nonetheless, a necessary step that leaves the reader scrambling around for a potion, spell or charm to call up more of this delicious, irreverent and at all times intelligent world. Whatever dimension you are in, be it Oz or closer to home, this is story telling that works like magic.

(Number of Pages: 336; Number in the Wicked Series: 3; Publisher: William Morrow; Date Published: October 14, 2008 Hardback; Language: English; ISBN-10: 0060548924; ISBN-13: 978-0060548926)

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