Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Paradox in Oz by Edward A. Einhorn, Eric Shanower, L. Frank Baum, Edward Einhorn ISBN: 1-929527-01-2 Publisher: Hungry Tiger Press Pub. Date: December, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The perfect book to start the second century of Oz.
Comment: Since this year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", what better way to mark the occasion than with "Paradox in Oz", which expands upon Baum's magical world, while celebrating the continuing power of Baum's vision.
Einhorn manages to balance the innocence of Baum's creation with a new complexity of ideas involving time travel and alternate realities. There are some darker points to the story, indeed, but they serve the purpose of testing and reaffirming the essential goodness of the classic characters; more importantly, Einhorn's Oz never becomes the bleak nightmare world of the "Dark Oz" comics. The Dark Oz presented here is clearly the Oz which is not meant to be.
As a bonus we are introduced to delightful new characters, the best being Temporus, the time-traveling Parrot-Ox, a worthy addition to the Oz bestiary.
Eric Shanower's illustrations, as always, are a treasure; while matching the whimsical nature of John R. Neill's work, his originality and attention to detail often surpass Neill's. The wraparound cover illustration is classic Oz.
As the Oz centennial year progresses, there will doubtless be other books begging our attention, but this, so far, is the one to own.
Rating: 5
Summary: this book deserves **********10 stars**********
Comment: This is a wonderful book! One of my favorite books of all time, and one of my top favorite Oz books. Einhorn does a great job of explaining some of the inconsistencies in the large, multi-authored Oz series. We get to see an evil Wizard, a good (!!!) Mombi, and fully human Woodman, along with wonderful new characters such as Tempus (the Parrot-Ox) and Dr. Majestico. Plus, Ozma goes on an adventure, which doesn't happen very often! Eric Shanower once again provides brilliant illustrations, making this a truly beautiful book. Of note are the running Dr. Majestico illos, the Escher-esque endpapers and Absurd City, Mombi "T'd" off at the Nome King, the gorgeous dust jacket, and the double-page spread of Ozma and the multiple Ozziverses.
One of the most beautiful and touching scenes in book (both words and picture) is the meeting of Ozma and Tip, which took my breath away.
Very highly recommended!
David Larson, Student
Rating: 5
Summary: Oz Roars Into The 21st Century
Comment: A hundred years of after the publication of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, the Oz chronicle is alive, healthy, and better than ever. Edward Einhorn's Paradox In Oz (1999) is an intricate, fun, and respectful tribute to previous Royal Historians Baum, Ruth Plumly Thompson, and author / artist John R. Neill. Einhorn and illustrator Eric Shanower, who is also an editor, author, and the publisher of Hungry Tiger Press, have created the most intellectual of Oz books, though the story, which is a puzzle, can be readily understood by readers of all ages and backgrounds.
Appropriately, Paradox In Oz is concerned with time and time travel; the novel addresses the physical laws of Baum's fairyland, which alter slightly from book to book and author to author. Longtime fans of the series know the inhabitants of Oz do not age, and time, while it does not stand still, seems to exist in only in terms of infinity, making the fairy kingdom not unlike the Christian concept of heaven. Paradox In Oz tackles these concepts head on: as the book opens, Munchkin, Winkie, Quadling, and Gillikin citizens of all walks of life, including several members of the Emerald City's royal family, have discovered that they have suddenly begun to age. Perceptive readers will be delighted to find that, unlike in most of the previous titles in the series in which the physics of Oz lay comfortably and unquestioningly in the background, Einhorn reveals that fairy ruler Ozma and sorceress supreme Glinda the Good have little if any idea of how the spell of timelessness originated. Forced into immediate action, Ozma, who is no longer a preening little girl, discovers the existence of a strange, magical animal named Tempus, who is, of course, a hybrid of a parrot and an ox. Tempus, though a living creature, is also the manifestation of a time - bending mathematical equation realized after endless difficulty by the anxious, continually harried Dr. Majestico.
In classic science - fiction fashion, Ozma mounts Tempus and naively sets off into the past in search of The Man Who Lives Backwards, thus precipitating a series of chronal disasters and finding herself lost in a cosmos of alternate Oz fairylands, one of which is a grim, hellish Oz ruled by evil doppelgangers of the Oz royal family. Throughout, the plot is incredibly crisp, bright, and stimulating, making Paradox In Oz perhaps the greatest page - turner of all the novels in the series. The narrative moves backward, down, sidewise, up, and forward, but never loses its thread, and there are absolutely no superfluous chapters or incidental characters. Ozma's complications never become the reader's, for Einhorn's Ozma is a cautious, reflective, intelligent, and emotionally mature young lady who continually practices common sense (often to her detriment here) and independence of spirit.
Longtime readers devoted to Oz' witch population will be happy to find classic villain and crone Mombi, in both good and evil forms, an essential part of the narrative.
Throughout, Shanower's excellent illustrations suit the mood and tone of text perfectly, and are so satisfying that readers will not find themselves longing for, or even thinking of, the late, great John R. Neill. Paradox In Oz belongs with the other great Oz classics... Highly recommended.
 |
Title: The Rundelstone of Oz by Eloise McGraw, Eric Shanower, L. Frank Baum ISBN: 1929527047 Publisher: Hungry Tiger Press Pub. Date: 15 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
