A Lion Among Men: The Wicked Series Continues (Wicked Years Book 3) by Gregory Maguire

New York Times Bestseller

Focusing on the Cowardly Lion, the third in the Wicked Years series which started with Wicked, the multimillion-copy bestseller and basis for the #1 smash hit movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

In A Lion Among Men Gregory Maguire continues to flesh out the world of Oz, seen this time through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion—remembered from Wicked as a tiny cub defended by Elphaba.

While civil war looms in Oz, an ancient and tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before she can return to dust, however, the Cowardly Lion—an enigmatic figure named Brrr—arrives in search of information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. As payment, Yackle who hovered on the sidelines of Elphaba’s life, demands some answers of her own.

Abandoned as a cub, Brrr’s earliest memories are only gluey hazes. But his path from infancy in the Great Gillikin Forest is no Yellow Brick Road. Seeking to redress an early mistake, he tumbles through a swamp of ghosts, becomes implicated in a massacre of trolls, and falls in love with a Cat princess. Sidestepping the laws that oppress talking Animals, Brrr cannily avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the warmongering Emperor of Oz.

A Lion Among Men traces a battle of wits between adversaries distracted by the armies approaching on either side of them. What does the Lion know of the whereabouts of the Witch’s boy, Liir? What can Yackle reveal about the auguries of the Clock of the Time Dragon? Is destiny ever arbitrary? Can those tarnished by infamy escape their sobriquets—cowardly, wicked, brainless, criminally earnest—to claim their own histories, to live honorably within their own skins before they’re skinned alive?

Review

“Maguire’s work is melodic, symphonic and beautiful; it is dejected and biting and brave. . . . In fabulous details and self-mocking language, Maguire displays his gift for whimsical portrayals of the broken, the powerless, the hopeless, the bad.” — Los Angeles Times

“Much to savor, laugh at, and think about. . . . A page-turning fantasy and a timely political allegory.” — USA Today

“Entertaining....The author mixes some relatively weighty existential themes—the search for self, faith, redemption—into his whimsical story line. [A] darkly enchanting saga” — Publishers Weekly

Cover1 Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0755348222

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Headline Review (3 Sept. 2009)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780755348220

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0755348220

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.2 x 2.9 x 19.7 cm

Cover2 Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (August 13, 2024)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063398389

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063398382

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches