Title: The Wizard Returns
(Dorothy Must Die #0.3)
Author: Danielle Paige
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
First published: March 3rd 2015
Finished reading: June 11th 2015
Pages: 100
“I still don’t even know what I’m being tested for.”
“The future of Oz,” Pete said. “No pressure. Like I said, so far, your score is pretty low.”
I really enjoyed both Dorothy Must Die and The Wicked Will Rise, but these prequel novellas have really taken a turn for the worse. The Wizard Returns is the worst one so far. It seems like Danielle Paige is only trying to fill some pages in order to earn more money and this third novella doesn’t add anything at all to the main story. The wizard isn’t one of the most important characters and I don’t think he is interesting enough for a separate story. Sure, the prose is about the same as the actual series and it is a quick read, but I was actually bored by the end of the story. I have to be honest and I say this one is a waste of time… I don’t think I will be buying the next novella any time soon when it comes out.
Everyone in Oz seems to be sure that the wizard left Oz in a hot air balloon many years ago, but it turns out he didn’t. He wakes up one day in a field of poppies without his memories and he has no clue where he is or what he is doing there. He has to face various tests in order to win his memories back and possibly save Oz in the future… He slowly realizes he was quite a bad person in the past, and he is not so sure if he really wants the best for Oz. If only he could remember it all…
This third novella is a whole lot of meh. I really couldn’t care less what would happen to the wizard in The Wizard Returns and I only finished it because it was so short. It seems like Danielle Paige didn’t put any effort in this novella and I sure hope she will spend more time on the third book. I suppose she will though because the expected publish date is set for 2017… But I won’t be touching the fourth novella that is supposed to be published next month. If it’s anything like The Wizard Returns, it will just end up being a waste of time.
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