Category: Ozblogging
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 6
The final battle has arrived! The combined armies of the Nome Axis march through the tunnel toward Oz. As they march, the Nome King and General Guph do a little scheming of their own. It turns out Guph has given some thought to ways of dealing with the terrifying allies he has recruited, and he…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 5
The Grand Tour of Oz concludes with a visit to the two "Defensive Settlements" of Oz. These are the towns inhabited by the Flutterbudgets and the Rigamaroles, respectively. Flutterbudgets are the easily-panicked people of Oz, who go into fits of terror worrying about everything bad which might happen. Their neighbors the Rigamaroles are calmer, but…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 4
Dorothy and her traveling companions camp for the night after visiting the Fuddles, and we get to see the Wonderful Wizard do some actual wizarding. Agent Diggs is evidently a quick study, for in just a year of Glinda's tutoring he has mastered some pretty impressive magic. He's still a humbug at heart, though. His…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 3
Since Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have come to Oz for good, it only makes sense for them to see some of the country. Accordingly, Dorothy, the Wizard, Em and Henry, Omby Amby (the commander of Oz's all-officer Army), Billina the Hen, and the Shaggy Man all set out aboard a wagon drawn by the…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 2
Ozma uses her magic to summon Dorothy's Aunt Em and Uncle Henry right into her throne room. They are, understandably enough, completely freaked out by the sight of such an opulent room crowded with strange beings — including a gigantic lion and tiger. Dorothy reassures them that they're perfectly safe before either one can drop…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 1
The Emerald City of Oz (1910) was L. Frank Baum's sixth Oz book, and marks a major departure from the stock plot he used in the previous three stories. Where all the books after Land of Oz involve Dorothy traveling to Oz and having adventures en route, Emerald City permanently installs Dorothy and her family…
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Ozblogging: The Road to Oz, Part 6
Party Like It's 1909! The guests begin to arrive for Ozma's birthday party, and L. Frank Baum demonstrates an early mastery of the Superhero Crossover subgenre. All the guests are either characters from other Oz books, or from some of Baum's non-Oz fantasies. This book solidly cements all of Baum's fantasies into a single fictional…
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Ozblogging: The Road to Oz, Part 5
We're going to summarize a lot here, because there's a long boring section between the time Our Heroes get into Oz and their arrival at the Emerald City. Most of it is taken up with introductions. Dorothy introduces her companions to Tiktok and Billina, who have come to welcome them. Then she introduces everyone to…
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Ozblogging: The Road to Oz, Part 4
After escaping the Scoodlers, Dorothy and Company come to the end of the road, literally. It reaches the edge of the Deadly Desert, an expanse of gray sand which completely surrounds the Land of Oz. In the course of the books the Deadly Desert becomes more and more Deadly. The first time we see it,…
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Ozblogging: The Road to Oz, Part 3
Our Heroes continue along the road, which they now know to be the Road to Oz. (The reader knew that from the book title.) The landscape is pleasant — if you haven't noticed, this journey is considerably less perilous than Dorothy's past exploits. The travelers have spent every night in bed, and aside from involuntary…
The Cambias Digression 