Dorothy Must Die

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Danielle Paige has written a four volume series of books based on the characters of L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz series. The first volume Dorothy Must Die tells the story of how a misfit high school student named Amy Gumm, who lives in a trailer in Kansas with her alcoholic mother, gets swept away by a tornado and lands on the Yellow Brick Road in Oz. While this is Baum's Oz, it is a dystopian version of the magical land where Dorothy Gail, the Good Witch Glinda, the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Woodman terrorize the land. They are opposed by the evil witches who call themselves the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. As Amy tries to understand and make her way in this very different Oz than the one in Baum's books, everyone's advice to her is to not trust anyone. This first volume introduces the major factions of this world in conflict, as the Wickeds develop a plan to kill Dorothy.

Unlike Baum's Oz, Dorothy Must Die has a fair amount of violence and cruelty. The action is fast paced and I found the books compelling reading. Paige has done her homework and knows Oz very well. So although this is a very different time in Oz, there is a great depth of characters and locations that will appeal to loyal fans of Oz.

There are three more books in the series as well as a set of three volumes of Oz Stories that accompany the four volume series so this book is the bait designed to pique your interest enough to continue on through the rest of the series. This it does admirably well, with the expected ending that leaves matters unresolved and provides the opening 15 pages of the next title The Wicked Will Rise attached to the end. I know I will be reading it soon.