In the Brides of Maracoor, the readers get to return to Oz. I loved the Wicked novel, but I didn’t like Son of a Witch! However, when it was going to be about Rain, I was excited for this novel! This novel is everything I hoped it would be! Rain is a strong and compelling character. The story is slow but is mostly a character-driven story! I’m very excited for the sequel and to learn what happens to Rain and her friends! I recommend this for fans of Rachel Hartman!

I loved and adored this book! Maguire was able to go back to some of the darker characterizations and themes like I loved in Son of a Witch, my favorite in The Wicked Years series. I am elated he decided to do a spin-off series with Rain. I am eager to read the next book!

A spin off from the wicked series. As always Maguire has an eye for an interesting and different tale. We have a new generation: Elphaba’s granddaughter, Rain and her adventures.

A really enjoyable extension of the Wicked story. I dropped off Gregory Maguire's Wicked series a few installments ago, so I hadn't realized he'd let the series go fallow for a decade. This one's a very strong return to form, and easy to pick up without having read the others, even though it's following up on a cliffhanger from the previous book. It introduces a new setting and new characters, where the two established characters, Rain and her goose ally Iskinaary, are mysteries and fish out of water, so it's possible to discover them and their origins just as the characters do. The setup has Rain and Iskinaary landing on an island where a small group of women have been deliberately marooned to participate in a longstanding ritual whose significance only gradually becomes important. The women have their own hierarchy and culture and power struggles, which occupy a fair bit of the book and give Maguire time to build the characters to the point where, once everything changes, their losses and discoveries feel significant.

I wound up interviewing Maguire and publishing an excerpt of this book at Polygon.com. He's an absolute delight to talk to — funny and self-effacing about his giant success with Wicked, and insightful about his work and where it comes from. That piece is available here: https://www.polygon.com/22759657/gregory-maguire-interview-wicked-the-brides-of-maracoor

I am an absolute fan of anything from Gregory Maguire. A master storyteller who never disappoints. A book to be cherished, loved and dreamed about again and again.

"Multimillion-copy bestselling author Gregory Maguire unveils the first in a three-book series spun off the iconic Wicked Years, featuring Elphaba’s granddaughter, the green-skinned Rain.

Ten years ago this season, Gregory Maguire wrapped up the series he began with Wicked by giving us the fourth and final volume of the Wicked Years, his elegiac Out of Oz.

But “out of Oz” isn’t “gone for good.” Maguire’s new series, Another Day, is here, twenty-five years after Wicked first flew into our lives.

Volume one, The Brides of Maracoor, finds Elphaba’s granddaughter, Rain, washing ashore on a foreign island. Comatose from crashing into the sea, Rain is taken in by a community of single women committed to obscure devotional practices.

As the mainland of Maracoor sustains an assault by a foreign navy, the island’s civil-servant overseer struggles to understand how an alien arriving on the shores of Maracoor could threaten the stability and wellbeing of an entire nation. Is it myth or magic at work, for good or for ill?

The trilogy Another Day will follow this green-skinned girl from the island outpost into the unmapped badlands of Maracoor before she learns how, and becomes ready, to turn her broom homeward, back to her family and her lover, back to Oz, which - in its beauty, suffering, mystery, injustice, and possibility - reminds us all too clearly of the troubled yet sacred terrain of our own lives."

I don't think I can adequately explain my excitement about returning to Oz. Needless to say I preordered my signed copy ages ago.

Wicked is among my favorite books and Elphaba is my favorite character of all time. When I found out that Gregory Maguire was starting a new series that follows Elphaba's granddaughter I squealed with glee! The Brides of Maracoor is the first volume in the Another Day series and follows Rain and her adventures after leaving Oz. I do wish I had reread Out of Oz before starting this one as it picks up the story where the final Wicked Years book ends. A lot of time is spent introducing the characters and the setting of Maracoor, and the action truly only starts in the final third of the book. That being said, the ending definitely leaves you begging for the next installment. I am excited to see where these characters go from here!

The publisher's summary pretty much tells the entirety of this novel. There is no hidden storyline that wasn't included in order to keep the summary spoiler-free. As the first installment of new trilogy, the majority of this book is world-building and what I can only guess is the build up to the real action. To tell the truth, I was pretty bored by the lack of action but Maguire's talented storytelling kept me invested. While I was a bit let down by this book on its own, I have high hopes for the next releases. I absolutely LOVED and recommend this to anyone who loved the WHOLE Wicked series, not just the first book, because the later books have heavier ethical and political storylines which is where I see this series (Another Day) going.

I'm not an objective reviewer of this book by any means; I am a librarian who just happens to love the Wicked Years. Know that, when you read my review, I've taken up residence at the Chancel of the Ladyfish simply to read and be reunited with my Oz Compatriots. End of Dramatic Interlude.

This book is classic. There were moments in his latest books, Egg and Spoon being one of them, where I would be set adrift. Not so here. It is as if Maguire wished to return as badly as we did to the lives of Elphaba's ancestors and was just as eager to be with them as we. This book breathes. It breathes in ocean salt and pain and the same strength of character we have always loved. by reading it, we once again call the lost forward. Do not miss it.

I’m always eager to read Gregory Maguire’s work and was quite pleased to see the connection to the world he’s already immersed readers in. This new take works well, with Maguire’s inviting style, and promises to lead us to new literary adventures. Very nicely done.

*I was provided with an ebook copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in Exchange for an honest review*

When I first heard that Gregory Maguire was going to once again return to Oz for a new trilogy, I was thrilled! Wicked has been one of my favorite books since I read it a few years after it was published, and I cherish my signed first-edition copies of all four books in the Wicked Years saga. I even had the honor of meeting Mr. Maguire on his tour for the final book in that series, “Out of Oz”. But with this news came a bit of curiosity and a few reservations: how would he be able to return us to the world? After all, Rain had snuck away and left Oz for destinations unknown at the end of “Out of Oz”. When I read the description of “The Brides of Maracoor”, I felt my reservations peak out. This book doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Oz… is it going to be connected or satisfying? Thankfully the answer is a full-throated “Yes!”.

“The Brides of Maracoor” finds Rain washed up on an unknown shore with her Goose companion Iskinaary. She has lost all memories of who she is, what she was doing, and where she is from. All she can remember is being tossed out of the skies by a vicious storm and landing on the shores of Maracoor Spot. It is here that she meets the Brides of Maracoor, seven women who spend their lives in seclusion on the island, piously stringing together nets that represent time. They rub their feet raw until they bleed each morning in a sign of piety and discipline.

Their whole world is rocked to its core by Rains arrival. Some embrace her and seek to help. Others are wary and distrustful and want her gone. A power struggle ensues and ends in tragedy.

Meanwhile, the women receive their annual visit from Lucikles, a member of the Maracoor mainland who is charged with ensuring that there are still 7 brides on Maracoor and that they have all of the supplies they need. He arrives to chaos and confusion due to Rain and the power struggle. He leaves and promises to return to solve this issue.

Yet when he arrives home, he finds a country in distress after a massive attack from a foreign army. He travels across the country to find his family but is eventually called back to make his report on his trip. The leadership deem the attack the fault of Rain and her appearance and they send Lucikles back to Maracoor Spot to retrieve Rain and one of the brides to face charges. More chaos ensues after the trial, resulting in the rescue of Rain and the bride by the flying monkeys and the return of Rains memories.

That’s a very oversimplified recap but it the story. However, it was incredible! Do not go into looking for another Wicked or Out of Oz - this book is not that. This novel is a fresh story about memory and power and grief. It is about the power of misinformation and gossip. It is deep and makes you think but doesn’t get too stuck in the weeds to become overwhelming.

Gregory Maguire is an amazing world builder, and you can tell how much he really enjoyed doing that with this novel. It’s the first time he can wholly invent a brand new world on this book series as it is the first to not have basis in Oz or other fairy tales. The governing ideals of Maracoor are fascinating, and the Brides and their job are too.

Give this book a shot - you’ll be glad you did! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one!

Maguire takes us back to the land of Oz…or at least to an adjacent continent. Elphaba’s granddaughter Rain finds herself marooned on an island of women practicing obscure religious rituals while guarding a precious relic. Her appearance causes problems for a mid level civil servant just trying to get home to his family. Maguire’s excellent world building skills are on full display. The setting feels rich, inhabited, and plausible. I’m very excited to be back in the land of talking Animals, green-skinned women, and harrowing bureaucracy.