The Baum Trust (which used to handle the money generated by the original L. Frank Baum Oz books before they entered the public domain) commissioned Sherwood Smith to write brand new stories set in the original Oz series continuity.
Sort of.
These may be the first new Oz books I've read in a long, long time that were aimed at modern children instead of adult Oz fans.
The big differences between these and the original series are as follows:
1. Dorothy Gale has been missing for some time now, and the normally unflappable Ozma has started to grow worried.
2. Two 21st century girls named Dori and Em are the main characters...dysfunctional "kids with issues" who don't quite believe the family tradition that they're related to -that- Dorothy Gale.
The second book in the series was much more satisfying to me than the first. Smith used more of the post-"Wizard" Oz characters, and didn't feel the need to reference the plot points of that book so much.
Plus, a couple of interesting new characters are introduced in both books...one -really- surprising, to a diehard Baum fan.
I sort of hope the series continues...the mystery of what happened to Dorothy Gale is left unresolved, and I love seeing the lesser-known Oz characters in action again.
(Two more books are planned, but Smith has hinted on her blog that they may not get published if sales don't improve.)
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I hadn't heard that they were publishing more... I only just got the rest of the series for Christmas and have to read the latter half. I may have to give these two a looksee, though, if they are decent.
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I haven't seen them, but it's not too surprising. Fantasy fiction has become quite popular again in recent years, and many of the original Oz books were written by people other than Baum himself. Of the original forty books which are considered cannon Baum himself wrote 14, Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote 19 and the remaining 7 were written John R. Neil (3), Jack Snow (2), Rachel Cosgrove (1), and Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw (1). Wikipedia has an Oz Portal where you can get all kinds of other information on the Oz universe, if you're a geek like me.
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I think part of the reason why Books 3 & 4 will most likely never see the light of day is this: Harper Collins hasn't really advertised them much.
In fact, if it weren't for an article in the Baum Bugle, I wouldn't have even known they existed!
Children's/YA Fantasy is indeed huge these days. The original Oz series was the "Harry Potter" of their day.
While I don't think the new series may -quite- match the record of the "Famous Forty", it'd be nice if the publisher got the word out.
The Wizard of Oz is the basis of one of (if not -the-) most famous movies in the entire world. The current world wide touring and playing musical smash is Wicked. The Baum Books of the original series went back into print from 1999 on...
...surely they can generate some interest based on that.
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