- Format: hardcover, 270 pages (Books of Wonder)
- Published 1907
- Genres: children, fantasy, series
Ozma of Oz, the third book in the series, is one of my favorites. It introduces a lot of new characters, including one of Baum’s best villains, the Nome King. It continues the story of Ozma, begun in The Marvelous Land of Oz, and it brings back Dorothy, in even stronger form than when we saw her the last time.
Dorothy is ready for adventure and can’t stop talking about her friends in Oz. She’s traveling to Australia with her ailing Uncle Henry. Dorothy is more of a caretaker than a child being cared for, as we’ll see when her uncle leaves her alone during a storm to go back to his room and sleep (but that is likely the typical perception of children of that time). Dorothy, worried that her uncle may have gone above deck, goes upstairs to find him.
From the first few pages of this book, Baum establishes Dorothy as not only sensible and brave, but with an inner longing for adventure. “The little girl found it was as much as she could do to mount the stairs to the deck, and as soon as she got there the wind struck her so fiercely that it almost tore away the skirts of her dress. Yet Dorothy felt a sort of joyous excitement in defying the storm.” As she is swept overboard, she “didn’t lose her presence of mind even for a second” as she grabs hold of a chicken coop and floats to safety in a mysterious land.
While Dorothy is a girl, she is rarely described in gendered terms, though she’s critical of her new friend, a yellow hen who goes by the name of “Bill”. For some reason, Dorothy feels Bill should behave like a female and have a female name. But then Dorothy also thinks it’s horrid that Billina eats bugs, when that is clearly her nature. As in Baum’s other books, his main characters often reveal biases and must learn to become tolerant of each other’s differences, which nearly always turn out to be a strength of some kind. In this book, Billina’s cleverness as well as her nature as a hen (to roost in a dark place and to lay eggs) will end up saving them all.
In addition to Billina, Baum introduces us to Tik-Tok, a mechanical man who has three distinct abilities: thinking, speaking, and acting. Baum was fascinated with robotics and Tik-Tok is in many ways ideal. He’s strong and loyal. He’s not alive but is frequently more knowledgeable than the other characters.
Ozma of Oz is more Dorothy’s story than Ozma’s (for all his creativity, Baum was not terribly good with titles) but this book does establish Ozma more as a character. She’s brave and compassionate, but also quite prideful and as she will learn, she’s not all-powerful. Indeed, she’s traveled to a realm where her powers are quite limited. Notably, she fails to gain entry to the Nome Kingdom because she will not plead with him, while Dorothy has no qualms about asking nicely.
This book has some of the most memorable moments in the series, and parts I found genuinely chilling, like when Langwidere takes off her head and then casually tells Dorothy she plans to take her head instead, and when the characters are wandering through the Nome King’s palace trying to avoid being turned into an ornament. This book is full of moments that seem terrifying but aren’t; the Wheelers and Langwidere and the iron giant don’t turn out to be much of a threat, while the jolly Nome King is much more dangerous than he seems.
One thing I’ve noticed in this book and the previous one is that Baum tends to give away what is going to happen in his chapter titles, like “Ozma of Oz to the Rescue” (after Dorothy is imprisoned by Langwidere) and “The Scarecrow Wins the Fight” (while facing the Nome King’s army). I think he must have done this as a way to keep his books from being too scary for children. So even when he is setting a genuinely scary tone, it’s clear that things are going to get better. This is consistent with his explanation in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that he finds classic fairy tales too dark.
I think of The Marvelous Land of Oz as being the real start of this series but I learned that even with the second book, and the creation of Ozma, Baum didn’t have a fixed intention to create a series. In 1906, he entered into a contract to write multiple Oz books, and at the end of this one he builds in a way to bring Dorothy back to Oz any time she’d like to visit.
You can find a more detailed analysis of the book at Entering the Enchanted Castle as part of Ozathon 2024, and links to other reviews. If you joined us in the Ozathon this month, please share your thoughts about the book and a link to your post.
