Looking through Emerald Spectacles

Emerald Spectacles (The Hidden History of Oz, Book Three) cover

Emerald Spectacles prevented Dorothy and her friends from seeing the Emerald City as it really was. In a sense, the Emerald Spectacles are a form of of humbug – a deception. However, this exciting novel gives the real power of the magic glasses – they prevent the wearer from seeing magic. The Emerald Spectacles that Dorothy and her friends wore were to protect them from any dark magic they might see in the Emerald City.

Why would they see dark magic? Ah, that’s an excellent question. It goes back to the foundation of the Hidden History of Oz series:

Oz is a magical land powered by human dreams. What is dreamed on Earth is filtered through the Emerald Engine to become magic in Oz. When a dreamer from Earth came to Oz, his dreams changed the land around him. One such dreamer was given the title of Wizard. 

Emerald Spectacles is the third book in the Hidden History of Oz series.

This intense, imaginative story spans the magical land of Oz and delves into the mysterious conjoined dreamlands. To save the Wizard, and to preserve the Land of Oz, Glinda must join forces with her mortal enemy (The Wicked Witch of the East, Kalinya), forge a coalition of dangerous Witches (Kalinya, Mombi, and Locasta), battle those that she once considered friends, and challenge the immutable forces of time and magic.

In this spellbinding conclusion to the Glinda trilogy, time is running out for the Wizard. If he dies with his soul in the dreamlands, the Land of Oz will be host to his nightmares forever. However, success only guarantees survival, not a happy ending.

This book marks the completion of the foundational trilogy for The Hidden History of Oz saga. Glinda’s story, though far from complete, is established, and the foundation is laid for the future stories. This book, like the previous two novels, takes L. Frank Baum’s original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as its guiding star. Everything in these foundational stories points to Baum’s work.

There are many reimaginings of that original story. Some authors choose to branch off and do quasi-sequels. To the best of my knowledge, The Hidden History of Oz is the only series of stories that attempts to build the world that makes Baum’s vision possible.

For those readers interested in uncovering the history of Oz, reference material is provided in the Appendixes at the end of the book.