Book first, Musical second.

Though this book doesn't necessarily answer any big questions left by the creators of The Wizard of Oz, the genius of this book is that it traces the roots of the characters so that you can see how Elphaba eventually becomes the wicked witch.
When one reads or watches the Wizard of Oz, one just comes to understand that there is a wicked witch, becuase every great story has a "bad guy". However, one would not expect for the witch to have been born good, but have chosen to become evil(star wars anyone?), the viewer likes to believe that those who are evil were conceived with evil DNA, and raised in an evil environment where she was allowed to put her elbows on the table.

i enjoyed the book because i chose to read it in preparation for the musical that came out with this storyline. the musical has great music, and if it follows the plot of the book well, it should be a great broadway hit.

A Tornado of Confusion

While the book definitely had a few highlights, there were too many unanswered questions and loose ends that were never tied up. Though Maguire has many creative ideas, they get lost in a sea of unnecessary events (e.g. Boq's extremely long attempt at wooing Galinda/Glinda) and superficial explanations for events in the classic version of the Witch's tale (e.g. how the flying monkeys came to be). Overall, there are too many plotlines/details that never tie together in a cohesive way, making Wicked a mediore read, at best.

The Rollercoaster Tale of the Wizard of Oz

Wow! This book was excellent from page one! With Elphaba (Wicked Witch) as a compelling character, you get emotionally attached to her and her beleifs. The book really picks up at their college life at Shiz University where Elphaba meets Galinda(later changed to Glinda) and they become good friends and roommates. She befriends a munchkin named Boq, who later finds Dorothy a charm, and Fiyero, the blue skinned Winkie prince who is later turned into the scarecrow. When Elphaba and Glinda go to the Emerald City to see the Wizard, things are bad from the get go, Elphaba and the Wizard don't agree on anything, being the reason he has Dorothy murder her. Later, Elphaba send Glinda back never to see her again for about 20 years, at the funeral of her sister Nessarose, whom which Dorothy dropped a house on. Being the girl only has a dog, Glinda hands over the slippers whom Nessarose promised Elphaba she could have if Nessarose were to die. Elphaba continues her growing rage for the shoes not for the girl. In the book ting die down during the part when Elphaba becomes a maunt(to my understanding, a nun) through her life till Nessarose is killed. In the end, she finally sees that the shoes can not come off Dorothy and how bad Dorothy has been wanting to take them off. This tale is excellent, I only wish the musical had followed the book.