The witch of Maracoor A novel

As the third and final volume of the Another Day series begins (after The Oracle of Maracoor, 2022), Rain is finishing up her last pieces of business before heading back to her homeland of Oz in order to track down old friends and resolve old grievances. This book will be most intriguing for those familiar with the full sweep of Maguire's Wicked Years saga (starting with Wicked, 1995), pulling from the old relationships and storylines that powered Rain's life before the Another Day trilogy began--from Rain's old love Tip, who turned out to be the heir to the throne Ozma in disguise, to her father and their old homestead, including a new dragon pet. This character-driven story ties up old loose ends while introducing small pathways to new stories for Maguire to explore and dive into in the future--it's quite possible that Rain's story is not fully complete. Readers who picked up Maguire's books for the first time with The Brides of Maracoor (2021) might lose their footing with this one, but fans of the Wicked saga and Maguire's rich, multifaceted world will enjoy the references, heartaches, and conclusions.

Maguire closes out the Another Day series, a spin-off of his bestselling Wicked Years novels, with this memorable and satisfying adventure. Following the events of The Oracle of Maracoor, it's time for Rain, the adolescent greenish-skinned granddaughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, to return to Oz, where the Cowardly Lion rules as the absent Ozma's regent. The plot largely consists of a series of misadventures along the journey as Rain slowly overcomes her series-spanning amnesia and remembers her past life. Though she's coming back to herself, she's still struggling with the effects of the Grimmerie, a spell book with a strange level of control over her, despite having thrown it into the sea. She also pines for her young lover Tip, who is really the spellbound Ozma. Gradually, Rain tames her adolescent anger and loneliness by accepting the things she's lost while she's been away from home and realizing that the key to maturity is love. Maguire's edgy take on Oz is as much fun to visit as ever, full of sentient animal wisdom from Rain's goose familiar, complicated familial dynamics, and even some winged monkeys. Series fans will be thrilled. Agent: Moses Cardona, John Hawkins & Assoc. (Oct.)