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A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years #3)

by Gregory Maguire, Douglas Smith (Illustrator)

3.29 · Rating details · 24,222 Ratings · 1,905 Reviews

In this much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion - the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in Wicked. While civil war looms, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, an enigmatic figure known as Brrr - the Cowardly Lion - arrives searching for information about Elphaba Th ...more

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Hardcover, 312 pages

Published October 14th 2008 by William Morrow

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Oct 28, 2008 zappernapper rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: fans of the series

Shelves: fiction, maguire, oz

To be honest... I'm getting frustrated with Maguire. His first book in the series (Wicked) has received national (if not global) acclaim, as it rightly should. I was originally entranced by Maguire's ability to reinvent Oz while still keeping the classical whimsical elements alive, in fact fleshing them out by putting them in a realistic and harsh reality of social commentary. However, with the introduction of Son of a Witch, about which he has said he never planned for, Maguire has gone on to t To be honest... I'm getting frustrated with Maguire. His first book in the series (Wicked) has received national (if not global) acclaim, as it rightly should. I was originally entranced by Maguire's ability to reinvent Oz while still keeping the classical whimsical elements alive, in fact fleshing them out by putting them in a realistic and harsh reality of social commentary. However, with the introduction of Son of a Witch, about which he has said he never planned for, Maguire has gone on to tell some other story. This latest installment does give some halfway disappointing closure on the characters of Yackal and the dwarf that still for some reason doesn't make all kinds of sense; however, the story of the lion is long and depressing, filled with themes all too similar to the last book - of course instead of exploring failure because of fate, we explore failure because of cowardice. In fact that seems to be the core theme of the entire series - exploring failure. Maguire seems to have finally mastered his tempo problems of the first two books: the action, dialogue, and introspection all blend seemlessly to make this an easy, engaging read. However the only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to get through the endless history, on to what would happen next. This book revisits too much of the old books to really be called new, except for about two chapters worth of actually interesting revelations. That which isn't already known to the reader, and has no relation to the mysteries of the past or goings on of the present, is all completely useless and fluff. The worst travesty is the complete lack of any more references to the original books. That was the best part of Wicked, incorporating talking Animals, Lurline, the deadly desert, Boq, and a variety of other elements into the rich work. With the second we got a cocktease in the form of Tip. This third only builds on what's already there, dropping the name of Mumbly (Mombi). If you fell in love with the first book but were apprehensive about the second, I say save yourself the time and money and stop where you are. Maguire ended the first one perfectly and appropriately, allowing the reader to draw their own fantastic conclusions. If you've read the second and loved it - by all means, read this as well. ...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Yes, A Lion Among Men has them all!

This is the Cowardly Lion's story in a nutshell...and a few other nuts are de-shelled as well. Watching cowards in action is hard to stomach. We forever wish them to be brave, to show some sign of courage. But that is not the Lion's way. Following him on his cowardly journey through life is taxing.

On the other hand, if you're a superfan of Oz - the sort who's at least read the Baum originals if not all of the myriad fanfic o ...more

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Jan 09, 2009 Kristen rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, own

So. The third book in what's now referred to as The Wicked Years. Alright. I adore Wicked, both in its written and musical forms. Son of a Witch was a decent sequel. And I was really excited when I learned that we'd get the Lion's perspective in all this.

Brrr is on Emerald City business, in search of the oracle Yackle, who was mentioned in Madame Morrible's notes. Why? Mostly in search of both The Grimmerie, Elphaba's book of magic, and Liir, her son. Yackle was often on the outskirts of Elphab ...more

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Dec 25, 2008 Sandi rated it did not like it

Recommended to Sandi by: Christmas present from my husband

Shelves: fantasy, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 30, 2008 Lindsay rated it liked it

Considering how much I enjoyed Wicked, and how much more I enjoyed Son of a Witch, I found A Lion Among Men disappointing. I was all geared up to find out what happens with Liir and you-know-what-from-the-end-of-Son of a Witch, but the third book in this series barely mentions him. Instead, this book focuses primarily on the Cowardly Lion and his life experiences, and touches a bit on Fiyero's daughter.
I found the author's language annoying, if not incomprehensible at times (or maybe I just did ...more

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Aug 14, 2008 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I really love Gregory Maguire's writing style, and I love where he has gone with this story over the three novels. The structure of this book, however, felt somewhat scattered--it wasn't until the end, the last few chapters, where I started to feel that it had any coherency, unlike in Son of a Witch, where, although it may not have always been clear what the connections were, exactly, they always felt like connections. I suppose this is due to the fact that the protagonist in this story had litt ...more

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Oct 11, 2008 Miles rated it it was amazing

After the rushed feeling of "Son of a Witch", MacGuire redeems himself with this novel... it made me feel as if some wounds were healed for both the reader and the characters.

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Feb 04, 2009 Jamieson rated it it was amazing

It has been three long years since we last traveled to OZ. And much has changed.

The land, once joined together, is now separated into two parties: those that support the current Wizard of OZ and the Munchkinlanders who long to be free and their own people.

It is not the OZ we’ve come to know. It is an OZ on the brink of war and on the cusp of social change. Whether it is change for the better remains to be seen.

Heedless of the turmoil of OZ that surrounds him, Brr, The Cowardly Lion, is on a miss ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I don't know what to think about this one. I've wondered why I've persevered with this series (although it has been a long time since I read the previous book). These books are too clever for their own good - or at least they think they are.

The central characters in this book are the Cowardly Lion (who briefly appeared in the original book as cub) and Old Mother Yackle - the Oracle. Yackle still lives with the maunts and she wants to die, but try as she might she still lives. She even had hersel I don't know what to think about this one. I've wondered why I've persevered with this series (although it has been a long time since I read the previous book). These books are too clever for their own good - or at least they think they are.

The central characters in this book are the Cowardly Lion (who briefly appeared in the original book as cub) and Old Mother Yackle - the Oracle. Yackle still lives with the maunts and she wants to die, but try as she might she still lives. She even had herself shut in a crypt for a year and she still didn't die. So Yackle is trying to figure out why.

The Cowardly Lion (his real name is Brr) comes to Yackle for information - he's looking for Liir and thinks she can help him. But what he's really looking for is the Grimmerie. As a servant of the court he has to find it - otherwise he'll end up in Southstairs.

But Yackle needs to know if she can trust Brr - so she gets him to share memories. So this book is mainly flashbacks of both their past - but mainly Brr's past. Nothing ever seems to have gone right for him, no memory of his family, no memory of his childhood trip to Shiz, no friends, the only Animal in Society - when it wasn't fashionable to be an Animal. He stumbles from one uncomfortable situation to another.

Yackle has no memory of being young - she was born old. Blind (after events in the previous book) - you're never quite sure if the visions she has are real or not. But she was always there on the outskirts of Elphaba's life.

But Yackle isn't the only one prone to prophecy's - as a certain clock is making its way to the mauntery - accompanied by a woman that many thought was dead. Her tale is also woven into the story.

The problem is, that this story feels like a bit of a filler, a way to manoeuvre characters in preparation for the finale. Because it also rehashes what happened to Liir and Candle - so the search can begin for them and their little girl. Because war has broken out and maybe a witches granddaughter is the only one who can put things right? ...more

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Jan 08, 2009 Bruce rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, literary-fiction

What a disappointment! Wicked was an act of amazing and original brilliance, taking a world that we are all familiar with, and turning it completely upside down. Brilliantly imagined and equally brilliantly realized, one of its strongest suits was the way in which Maguire took elements of the original books, (not just Wizard) and wove them together into a familiar and yet wholly new world.

Since then, his approach to the series feels labored and incomprehensible to me. Son of a Witch was weak, a ...more

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About Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children' ...more

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