Book Review: “The Oracle of Maracoor” by Gregory Maguire

The Oracle of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire

Oracle is the sequel to Brides of Marcoor (2021), continuing the story of Rain, Elphaba’s granddaughter (see the Wicked books 1995-2011).

At the end of Brides, Rain and company were far from Oz, escaping from prison in Maracoor and on the run amid a sudden invasion.  The story continues at a furious pace.  Rain, Cossy, and the rescuers flee the capital and wind up at the farm of Lucikles—this cannot be coincidence.  Even more unlikely, one of the refuges is carrying the dangerous artifact recently returned from the island of the Brides.

The group gathered determines that the Ring of Power Fist of Mara must be evacuated and destroyed if possible.  They need to visit the Wizard of Oz Oracle of Maracoor.  Thus, the Fellowship of the Ring Company of the Scarab is formed.

Yeah, there’s some familiar tropes here.

The company moves swiftly, aided by local magical spirits including the Ents the Arborials, a ghost wolf, and movable mountains completely disguised by the name “The Walking Mountains”.

Anyway…

The members of the company overcome challenges internal and external, and reach the Tower in the Clouds.  Folks are hurt and die, the youngsters begin to fall in love (who would have seen that coming), the elders worry about the youngsters (not to mention the families and people left behind), and Rain’s memory begins to return.

The Oracle is less imposing that expected, and, sure enough, turns out to be connected to Rain’s forgotten past.  At the Tower the Oracle spins prophecies for each, and the Company dissolves. 

To be continued.

The pace is much, much faster than many of Maguire’s stories, and the plot vastly simpler.  Furthermore, the characters are revealed and develop fast.  By the end, we not only know a lot about the mysteries of the earlier Brides, but we know a lot about Rain and everyone else.

And, for once, we kind of like most of them, and deeply love some of them—not at all the case in all Maguire’s stories.  And the ending is relatively happy and relatively clear—also not necessarily typical for Maguire.

There is a third book projected, but honestly, he could stop here and it would be OK.  Which makes me wonder if Maguire is in a hurry to wind up this saga, or worried that he might not be able to.

Regardless, let’s be happy with another fine tale from Sensei Maguire, and look forward to learning what happens next when and if we get the next story.

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1. Gregory Maguire, The Oracle of Maracoor, New York, HarperCollins, 2022.

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