Out of Oz was published by William Morrow in 2011, completing the Wicked Years tetralogy that began with Wicked in 1995. The final volume centers on Rain — Elphaba’s granddaughter and Liir’s daughter — a young girl caught up in the civil war that has been building across the previous three novels.
Rain inherits both Elphaba’s magical abilities and her political burden: she is hunted by both sides of the conflict, each of which wants to use her powers for its own ends. Her story is a fugitive narrative — she is hidden, disguised, passed from one guardian to another — and it gives Maguire the opportunity to show Oz in its final crisis: armies marching, cities burning, the political order collapsing.
The novel’s conclusion — which brings together surviving characters from all four volumes — attempts resolution without false optimism. Oz is not saved; it is simply exhausted. The wars end not because justice prevails but because everyone is tired. Rain’s ultimate fate involves a return to Kansas — the “out of Oz” of the title — suggesting that the only escape from Oz’s cycle of political violence is to leave entirely.
Collecting Out of Oz
First edition (William Morrow, New York, 2011): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $10–$25
- Complete Wicked Years set (four first editions): $250–$600