Category Archives: Phil Lewin

Pendexter’s Laboratory

Today, in my ongoing look at obscure Oz books, I’m looking at the work of Hugh Pendexter III. He dives into some unanswered questions from the series and includes quite a few references, although he mostly uses his own characters, … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Greek Mythology, Hugh Pendexter, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Places, Roman, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Enchanted Garden of Sedj

The 1994 Oziana has two stories that were written for the Oz Story Circle, run by Fred Meyer. I was a member back then, but it would take twenty more years for something I wrote around that time to appear … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Authors, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Chronicles of Narnia, Dennis Anfuso, Eric Shanower, Fred Otto, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Monsters, Music, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bringing the Magic Back

The Spellcasters of Oz, by Philip John Lewin – Following up on Lewin’s earlier Master Crafters, this book shows the Ozites dealing with most of the magic that sustains their country disappearing, making beings like the Scarecrow inanimate and animals … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Characters, Christianity, Eric Shanower, Feminism, Greek Mythology, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Prejudice, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Won’t You Die?

It would become a thing in the Oz books that no one in that fairyland could die, but it wasn’t immediate. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz mentions the threat of death quite often, in fact. The first book to establish … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Characters, Eric Shanower, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, March Laumer, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s All About the Shoes

On Facebook, there’s been some argument on the cover of the latest Baum Bugle, which I haven’t received. It’s possible my membership has lapsed, because it seems like I never get warnings about that. It isn’t a great design, as … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, Eric Shanower, Greek Mythology, Hugh Pendexter, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marin Elizabeth Xiques, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

We’ll Get Lost in Hoztory

The Lost Tales of Oz, edited by Joe Bongiorno – I guess this doesn’t count as a traditional review. I’m in this book, so of course I’m going to recommend it. I do want to take a closer look at … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Book Reviews, Characters, David Tai, Eric Shanower, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Places, Relationships, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Gnomic Utterances

I recently read Ruth Berman’s Dunkiton Pamphlet on Gnome Matters, including a history of gnomes, touching on their use in the Oz books. I’ve written about this topic before, like how the name might well have originated with Paracelsus, who … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Dulabone, Eric Shanower, Fairy Tales, German, Gina Wickwar, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Melody Grandy, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Plays, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Best of Inventions

If you’ve read the Oz books, you might remember Smith and Tinker as the creators of Tik-Tok, as well as the Giant with the Hammer and, as per Rachel Cosgrove Payes, the Hundred-Year Alarm Clock. I’ve written about them before … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, Hugh Pendexter, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Onyx Madden/Jim Nitch, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Automa-Tons of Fun

During a discussion of Ozma of Oz at the most recent OzCon International, Lee Speth proposed that, while Tik-Tok was not the first mechanical man in modern literature, he was perhaps the first artificial intelligence. L. Frank Baum himself had … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Eric Shanower, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This Tornado Loves You

There was a bit of a theme in the early Oz books about Dorothy reaching fairyland by means of natural disasters. We all know about the cyclone, then there was a storm at sea in Ozma of Oz and an … Continue reading

Posted in L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments