Book Review – Maguire, Gregory. “Son of a Witch” (2005)

Overall Quality 3.5 / 5.0 (recommended)
Gay Content 1.5 / 5.0 (protagonist has brief gay relationship)
Gay Positivity 4.0 / 5.0 (Trism seems resistant to a gay relationship; Liir just seems confused)

“Son of a Witch” is Gregory Maguire’s follow-up (more “companion book” than sequel) to “Wicked,” his phenomenally popular adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West (AKA Elphaba). Here we follow the exploits of young Liir, who may or may not be the Witch’s son, as he tries to piece together his life following the death of his maybe-mother. His ostensible conflict is to find Nor, Liir’s friend who was kidnapped by the Wizard’s military; and to help an Elephant (yes, capitalized) Princess named Nastoya; but the central focus on the story is on Liir finding himself.

Here’s a good example of my hopes and expectations getting the better of me. Before I read “Son of a Witch,” I had heard that protagonist Liir was gay, so I was looking forward to a gay fantasy novel. I then read and read and read, all the while wondering, “Hey, where’s the gay?” When the gay finally showed up, and then went away again, the book clarified itself to be a fantasy novel with a bicurious protagonist who has a gay fling as a minor and brief subplot.

Maguire himself says:

“he has never felt obligated to write gay characters or situations simply because he himself is gay. ‘I’d always thought Liir had a gay side,’ Maguire says. ‘But it wasn’t going to show up just to titillate me. I could do that in the privacy of my own bedroom!’ In ‘Son of a Witch,’ Liir’s same-sex desire serves to sharpen his conflict with Oz’s religious regime. ‘This book was … more and more about the way governments can harness false piety in order to preserve their own power,’ Maguire explains. ‘And one of the things piety does best is to issue pronouncements about what constitutes moral behavior. Plus,’ he adds, ‘it was fun and I liked it and I found it romantic and sexy.’” (1).

Hm. Romantic and sexy? Try fleeting and unexplored.

On the plus side, the novel is populated by many interesting characters, and Liir’s journey is fast-paced and twisting as circumstances around him continually shift. The book also contains much thinly veiled political commentary, including a despotic leader called only the Apostle who may remind many readers of a certain contemporary world leader. The book even contains imagery of a military campaign that was partially inspired by the images from Abu Ghraib, according to Maguire.(2)

Liir makes for an unusual hero. Not only does he not know his own destiny, he seems to actively resist possessing one. The reader might see him from two perspectives. One, he is a young man struggling to understand and make a place for himself in the world with absolutely no one to support or guide him. On the other hand, Liir occasionally comes across as willfully naive, if not just plain dumb.

The novel’s single greatest flaw is the lack of a compelling central story. At several points the book seems to approach a narrative that readers can sink their teeth into, but most of the plot threads are like the depiction of Liir’s relationship with Trism: frustratingly brief and shallow. Meanwhile, the plot developments that sometimes seem twisty, will then meander into aimless narrative wandering.

Despite its flaws, I liked it. It was entertaining, like an unusually sophisticated fairy tale, but unfortunately some of the story elements (plot and character, notably) fail to captivate.

In all honesty, a big reason I read the book in the first place was that I had heard Liir was gay, and I wanted to read a fantasy novel with a gay main character. Unfortunately, the sole gay relationship is an all-too-brief and isolated affair, and Liir’s sexuality is far from clear cut. One senses the relationship with Trism was as much experimentation as genuine longing.

Check it out if you’re a fan of Maguire’s previous work or starved for gay content in fantasy fiction. I have to admit, the many allusions to Elphaba and the previous book have seriously tempted me to read “Wicked” next.

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(1) Regina Marler, “Back to Oz,” The Advocate, 27 September 2005, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2005_Sept_27/ai_n15654046 (4 April 2008)

(2) Bob Minzesheimer, “‘Wicked’ author Gregory Maguire casts his spell,” USA Today, 12 October 2005, http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-10-12-gregory-maguire-interview_x.htm (3 April 2008)

Tags: Gay Fantasy