The Emerald City of Oz
1910
The Emerald City of Oz
1910
The book where Dorothy finally stops leaving Oz. After years of being pulled back to Kansas, she brings Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to live in the Emerald City permanently. But even as Dorothy finds her forever home, dark forces gather beneath the mountains. The Nome King, still smarting over his lost Magic Belt, has spent years assembling an army of metal men and rock creatures, plotting to conquer Oz from below. Baum weaves two parallel stories: one of Dorothy's joyful settling into a world that finally feels like home, the other of creeping menace as the Nome King's invasion inches closer. The result is the most emotionally complex Oz adventure yet, where childhood wonder coexists with real stakes and the genuine terror of watching your paradise threatened. It was Baum's intended farewell to Oz, and it reads like one, packing every ounce of tenderness and inventiveness into these pages.
Editions
X-Ray
“To be angry once in a while is really good fun, because it makes others so miserable. But to be angry morning, noon and night, as I am, grows monotonous and prevents my gaining any other pleasure in life.””
— L. Frank Baum
“In this world in which we live simplicity and kindness are the only magic wands that work wonders””
— L. Frank Baum
“People often do a good deed without hope of reward, but for an evil deed they always demand payment.””
— L. Frank Baum
“...it is folly for us to try to appear otherwise than as nature has made us.””
— L. Frank Baum
“...it seems to me the Land of Oz is a little ahead of the United States in some of its laws. For here, if one can’t talk clearly, and straight to the point, they send him to Rigmarole Town; while Uncle Sam lets him roam around wild and free, to torture innocent people.””
— L. Frank Baum
“No one has the right to destroy any living creatures, however evil they may be, or to hurt them or make them unhappy. I will not fight, even to save my kingdom.””
— L. Frank Baum
“Now then, Mr. Crab," said the zebra, "here are the people I told you about; and they know more than you do, who live in a pool, and more than I do, who live in a forest. For they have been travelers all over the world, and know every part of it.""There's more of the world than Oz," declared the crab, in a stubborn voice."That is true," said Dorothy; "but I used to live in Kansas, in the United States, and I've been to California and to Australia--and so has Uncle Henry.""For my part," added the Shaggy Man, "I've been to Mexico and Boston and many other foreign countries.""And I," said the Wizard, "have been to Europe and Ireland.""So you see," continued the zebra, addressing the crab, "here are people of real consequence, who know what they are talking about.””
— L. Frank Baum
“Because the Nome King intends to do evil is no excuse for my doing the same,””
— L. Frank Baum
“The reason most people are bad is because they do not try to be good. Now, the Nome King had never tried to be good, so he was very bad indeed.””
— L. Frank Baum
