Elphie (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Wicked Childhood (Wicked Years)

One of my favourite books. Maguire creates a credible Oz with believable politics, social unrest and cultures. An absolutely remarkable tale, written by a true expert of the written word. I love Elphaba so much, thankyou for doing The Wicked Witch of the West justice and giving her such a personalised tale. Would recommend to all fantasy lovers! Book arrived in perfect condition also and was well packaged.

Absolutely loved this book, brilliant,

A great book to show what happened to Elphie in her earlier years. Slow in some parts

Thirty years after his novel 'Wicked' was first published, Gregory Maguire has come up with a prequel covering in detail the childhood of his green skinned protagonist, Elphaba (later known as the Wicked Witch of the West). Many readers will likely come to the series, like I did, via the musical version - but readers should be aware that the story in the books is quite different, the tone darker, and the characters less likeable. If you love the musical, there's a fair chance you will dislike the books in the same way lovers of a book often dislike the filmed version because of the inevitable changes. And there are a lot of very big and fundamental differences between Maguires books and the musical. In 'Elphie', the story focusses on the future witch between the ages of about four and sixteen, time spent following her missionary father around the humid swamps of southern Oz. The problem with this concept is that the same ground is covered - albeit in much less detail - in the original novel 'Wicked'. Whilst there is clearly a lot more depth here, if you've already read 'Wicked', you know that anything truly momentous would have to have been covered in 'Wicked'. So there are no surprises and no suspense. If you haven't already read 'Wicked', I would recommend reading this one first - although you will have to rehash the same ground in the first part of 'Wicked'. As such, it's a bit of a strange story and I can't help wondering if it's only been written to cash in on the film release. Not that I blame the author if that's the case - nothing wrong with trying to earn a living. But as a reader I can't really understand what the point was of writing this particular story other than making the most of a golden opportunity. Maguire's style is interesting - more wordy and 'literary' than is generally found in the fantasy genre. It seems a bit incongruous at times when it's talking about a green witch living in the land of Oz. But he is very good at vividly conjuring up place, and I could clearly visualise every setting. He also writes more nuanced, complex characters than those who appear in the musical version. There's a certain darkness and strangeness that underlies the book, just as there is in 'Wicked', which some readers will relish. I would recommend this book cautiously if you haven't already read 'Wicked' and enjoy unusual, dark fantasy. I don't think it's worth reading if you have already read the novel 'Wicked'. If you've only seen the musical version, it would still be worth reading as the stories are so very different it will cover new ground - but set your expectations accordingly. If you absolutely love the musical and don't think the storyline can be improved, you might not like the novels at all - even though they did come first.

Brilliant origin story! Well written and in depth characters. I just wanted more!

Absolutely LOVE the Wicked universe. Seen the musical more than 18 times, own the books, love the movie! Purchased this to read before reasoning the full wicked series again. Unsure if it was random or not but I received a wet ink author signed copy which made this purchase even more special for me as a Wicked superfan! Really enjoyed what I’ve read so far, goes a little more in depth about Elpheba and her younger years growing up different!

I was apprehensive at first about being pulled back into the world of Wicked. It's been years since I read Out of Oz and I honestly thought I'd have forgotten everything that happened and no longer be able to connect with the characters the same way. But, luckily, this wasn't the case. Gregory Maguire has filled in a lot about Elphaba's backstop we didn't already get from the first book (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West) like where her understanding of animal rights came from, how others reacted to her appearance and abilities pre-Shiz and how she finally came to study at Shiz, which we all know is where she meets Glinda, Boq, Fiyero and all the other characters from the first book. Gregory Maguire kept Elphie true to how she is in the book/s as well as all the other characters. For everyone who stuck with The Wicked Years through all the books, this mid-equal will not disappoint.

Deffo another side to a fantastic story

I still have to read it (haven't the time yet unfortunately). I'm giving 4 stars out of 5 because the cover of the book arrived with some superficial scratch that made me question if it is really new or if it was returned and then resold.

Another great book by Gregory Maguire. It elaborates on the childhood of Elphaba Thropp and to some degree her sister Nessarose. If you've enjoyed Wicked you will like this too.

Now we know what young Elphaba was up to in her early years

Loves the book. My eldest loves it.

Everything look good