Book #102: Tik-Tok of Oz (Wizard of Oz #8) by Frank Baum

This is the eighth book in the Wizard of Oz canon. It features a lot of characters introduced in previous novels:

Tik-Tok - a copper machine who was first introduced in Ozma of Oz, actually one of my favorite characters in the series

The Shaggy Man - a wandering mortal man from the USA, first introduced in The Road to Oz, who is the owner of The Love Magnet (yeah, I find this talisman's name and use a bit creepy too)

Polychrome - daughter of the rainbow who was first introduced in The Road to Oz

The Nome King (Ruggedo) - a reoccurring villain first introduced in Ozma of Oz and who is also featured in The Emerald City of Oz







I didn't like this book as much as I have enjoyed the others in this series. It felt more like a wrapping up of loose ends novel more than anything else. Since most of the main characters where ones I didn't care that much about or were new (and not particularly memorable) I just didn't feel invested in the story.

Overall Rating: ★★★

There were a couple interesting things that caught my attention. First is the mention of a "wireless telephone" near the end of the store. How forward thinking was Baum??? The other thing that peaked my interest was the introduction of a dragon character in this volume. Now I have read the Wickedseries by Gregory Maguire and although it has been awhile I faintly remember dragons being in the final installment. I would love to reread Wicked and Wizard of Oz together sometime and compare characters and plot lines. I feel like there is so much I missed the first time around since I had not read the original Wizard of Oz series before reading the Wicked series. Anyways, this book was one that I wasn't overly excited about or that I had any particular dislike for so it is a solid three-star read. Good for people who like to know the endings for every character in a series.