Son of a Witch (2005) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Liir Thropp: The protagonist of the story, Liir, is not a conventional storybook hero, being filled with self-doubt.
• Candle: A Quadling girl who rarely speaks, and only in her native tongue, Qua'ati (though she understands other speech).
• Mother Yackle: A mysterious crone who comforts Elphaba when she arrives at the motherchapel in Emerald City after the death of Fiyero in Wicked.
• The Superior Maunt of the Cloister of Saint Glinda: The Superior Maunt during Elphaba's seven-year stay at the Cloister.
• Chistery: The snow monkey Elphaba taught to speak and gave wings (making him a Winged monkey).
• Nanny: A devout Lurlinist who raised Elphaba and her siblings (as well as their mother Melena).
• Princess Nastoya: An Elephant who availed herself of a witch's charm to disguise herself in human form; leader of the Scrow tribe. She asks Liir for his assistance in returning her to her disguise-less Elephant form before she dies.
• Lord Shem Ottokos: An old Scrow who acts as Princess Nastoya's chief translator and major domo.
• Nor: The daughter of Fiyero, Prince of the Arjikis, and Sarima.
• Shell Thropp: Elphaba's half brother, Shell is a fop and gigolo (and perhaps a sex addict).
• Commander Cherrystone: The officer leading the Gale Forces that abducted Nor and her family in Wicked.
• Oatsie Manglehand: A woman who runs a horse-and-coach caravan that transports passengers along the Grassland Trail through the Vinkus.
• Lady Glinda Chuffrey: Née Arduenna of the Uplands: Glinda is appointed interim ruler of Oz after the overthrow of the Wizard, but abdicates in favor of the Scarecrow.
• Trism bon Cavalish: Trism comes from a Gillikinese farming family, and attended St. Prowd's school.
• Sisters Doctor and Apothecaire: Maunts in the Cloister of Saint Glinda, and professional rivals who do not think highly of the other's medical skills.
• Chyde: The under-mayor of Southstairs.
• Jibbidee: Chyde's assistant, an elf.
• Ansonby and Burny: Two soldiers in the Seventh Spear.
• General Kynot: The short-tempered Cliff Eagle who is the President of the Conference of Birds.
• Dosey: A motherly Wren at the Conference whose arguments persuade Liir to help the Birds.
• Sillipede: An old cabaret performer who Liir and Trism see perform at the "Cherry and Cucumber."
• Iskinaary: A Grey Goose who follows Liir back to Apple Press Farm after the Witch formation over the Emerald City. Iskinaary is a beautiful bird, and his egocentric attitude shows that he is aware of this fact.
• Tip: This character appears in Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz, where his full named is given as "Tippetarius."
• Candle's baby: The infant daughter of Candle (and supposedly Liir).
• Elphaba: The Wicked Witch of the West, and possibly Liir's mother.
• Fiyero: Prince of the Arjiki.
• Sister Cook: A maunt who runs the kitchens at the St. Glinda Mauntery.
• Wren: One of the Birds at the Conference of Birds
• Dorothy Gale: The heroine of the original Oz books.
• The Scarecrow: This character has a more substantial role in Son of a Witch than the Tin Man or the Cowardly Lion.
• Lurline: A mythical Goddess that some of Oz believe in.
• Tunkle: Add a description of this character.
• Nessarose: the (late) "Wicked Witch of the East", ruler of the independent state of Munchkinland. She is accidentally killed by Dorothy in the previous book of the series.
• Lurlinemas
• Saint Aelphaba
• Sarima
• Kumbricia
• Mother Maunt
• Tin Woodman
• Kipper
• Manek
• Shem Ottokos
• Sister Apothecaire
• Lord Chuffrey
• Burny
• Melena

Quotes edit see section history

• “Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny.”

• “What will I do if I find myself with a heart?" "Lose it constantly, I imagine.”

  Tin Woodman

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Wisdom is not the understanding of mystery, she said to herself, not for the first time. Wisdom is accepting that mystery is beyond understanding. That’s what makes it mystery.

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• Not everyone is born a witch or a saint. Not everyone is born talented, or crooked, or blessed; some are born definite in no particular at all. We are a fountain of shimmering contradictions, most of us. Beautiful in the concept, if we’re lucky, but frequently tedious or regrettable as we flesh ourselves out.

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• “Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our heart pumping. It is memory that reminds our bodies to work, and memory that reminds our spirits to work, too: it keeps us who we are. It is the influence that keeps us from flying off into separate pieces like”—she looked around—“like this peel of orange, and that clutch of pips.”

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• We are loping sequences of chemical conversions, acting ourselves converted. We are twists of genes acting ourselves twisted; we are wicks of burning neuroses acting ourselves wicked. And nothing to be done about it. And nothing to be done about it.

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• “We are one and one,” she said. “In Quadling thinking, one plus one doesn’t equal a single unit of two. One plus one equals both.”

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• The world is the womb now, and the Afterlife waits for one to be born into it.”

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• The colossal might of wickedness, he thought: how we love to locate it massively elsewhere. But so much of it comes down to what each one of us does between breakfast and bedtime.

  Highlighted by 49 Kindle customers

• It’s the job to be done that’s important, not who does it.”

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• Everything said something, and it wasn’t her job to consider the merit or even the meaning of the message: just to witness the fact of the message.

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• A capacity for interiority in the growing adult is threatened by the temptation to squander that capacity ruthlessly, to revel in hollowness. The syndrome especially plagues anyone who lives behind a mask. An Elephant in her disguise as a human princess, a Scarecrow with painted features, a glittering tiara under which to glow and glide in anonymous glamour. A witch’s hat, a Wizard’s showbiz display, a cleric’s stole, a scholar’s gown, a soldier’s dress sartorials. A hundred ways to duck the question: how will I live with myself now that I know what I know?

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Emerald City
• Scrow lands in the Vinkus
• Yunamata lands in the Vinkus
• Kiamo Ko: A castle belonging to the royal family of the Arjiki in the Vinkus. Later inhabited by the Wicked Witch of the West.
• Southstairs: A prison in the Emerald City
• Bengda
• Munchkinland
• Kells
• Gillikin River
• Shiz: Known for its universities
• Quadling Country
• Qhoyre: The largest city in Quadling Country

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Wicked, and followed by A Lion Among Men.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Gregory Maguire (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3563.A3535 S66 2005
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Teen/Adult

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history