The Wicked Years - The Novels

The Novels

There are four books in the series.

The first novel, published in 1995, was Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a book detailing the life of the infamous villain from Baum's books, now called "Elphaba". It is told through the various perspectives of those who knew Elphaba (who would become branded as the Wicked Witch of the West), an outcast aspiring social reformer with an allergy to water. The novel was a huge success, and was later adapted into a smash hit musical, which opened on Broadway on October 30th, 2003.

A sequel, Son of a Witch, was published in 2005, and detailed the life of Elphaba's son Liir. It is told through the perspective of her son Liir who is trying to find his half-sister Nor and incidentally finishes some of Elphaba's work. It begins not long after the end of "Wicked."

A third novel was published in 2008, titled A Lion Among Men; the protagonist being the Cowardly Lion, now called 'Brrr'. His history from cubhood to current time of the book is given in parallel with the history of the oracle Yackle, who was introduced in "Wicked." Their stories overlap with "Wicked" and "Son of Witch", carrying the story about eight years past "Son of a Witch." Lion was the first book to introduce the title "Wicked Years".

The fourth and final book, Out of Oz, was published in 2011. It begins immediately after the end of "Lion" and focuses on Liir's daughter Rain. The promotional info stated that the novel "will feature all sorts of magical mayhem, with the Emerald City plotting an attack on Munchkinland, while the Cowardly Lion runs for his life. Young Dorothy pops in for 'something more than a cameo."