Wicked

How it feels

This is a dark fantasy revision of the Land of Oz, aimed at adults. It follows Elphaba Thropp as she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, exploring prejudice and political conflict in a cynical version of the magical world.

darkcynicalmaturepoliticaldystopiandramaticcomplexunsettling

What happens

The Wicked Years is a series of revisionist dark fantasy novels written by American author Gregory Maguire. It is inspired by L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with elements also based on the 1939 film adaptation by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and other Oz-related books. Unlike Baum's original novels, The Wicked Years is aimed at mature audiences and presents a dystopian, more cynical version of the Land of Oz than in other adaptations. The series explores several sociopolitical issues, namely the discrimination of sentient animals and racial tensions between various ethnic groups, and features many of the original Wizard of Oz characters re-imagined as antagonists or neutral parties. The first novel in the series follows protagonist Elphaba Thropp through her evolution into the Wicked Witch of the West, while highlighting the consequences her relationships and actions have on the land in her lifetime and beyond. In 2003, the first Wicked novel was loosely adapted into a stage musical, which became the second-highest-grossing stage musical of all time. Its success inspired its own two-part film adaptation, Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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