![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareila posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
kareila_booksAfter waiting two years for the final book of this trilogy to be released, I decided it would be best to reread the first two books before finishing. I am glad I did, because several minor details from the previous books were referenced that I would have struggled to remember.
Again, I don't want to say much about the particulars of the plot because so much of the delight of this series comes from the wonder of Eva's discoveries. The first book chronicles her growing understanding of her planet following her isolated upbringing in an underground shelter. The second book brings her into contact with another society which comes into conflict with the one from the first. This final book covers Eva's attempts to find a peaceful solution to that conflict. It starts out rather slowly, with a desert journey that hearkens back to the first book, but the second half of the book brings all the other supporting characters from the first two books back into play and provides a satisfying resolution.
I expect that I would appreciate the story even more if I were familiar with the books of L. Frank Baum. Everything I know about Oz, I learned from the movies, including "Return to Oz" from the 1980's. The parallels between Eva and Dorothy are unmistakable, as are the identities of her three companions, and CAP reminded me of the Wizard with his Emerald City. The ultimate villain, though, reminded me more of that Gnome King from "Return to Oz" than the Wicked Witch of the West, despite the fact that there were four of them. And I suspect the VV animus would be the analog of Ozma.
Again, I don't want to say much about the particulars of the plot because so much of the delight of this series comes from the wonder of Eva's discoveries. The first book chronicles her growing understanding of her planet following her isolated upbringing in an underground shelter. The second book brings her into contact with another society which comes into conflict with the one from the first. This final book covers Eva's attempts to find a peaceful solution to that conflict. It starts out rather slowly, with a desert journey that hearkens back to the first book, but the second half of the book brings all the other supporting characters from the first two books back into play and provides a satisfying resolution.
I expect that I would appreciate the story even more if I were familiar with the books of L. Frank Baum. Everything I know about Oz, I learned from the movies, including "Return to Oz" from the 1980's. The parallels between Eva and Dorothy are unmistakable, as are the identities of her three companions, and CAP reminded me of the Wizard with his Emerald City. The ultimate villain, though, reminded me more of that Gnome King from "Return to Oz" than the Wicked Witch of the West, despite the fact that there were four of them. And I suspect the VV animus would be the analog of Ozma.
