Baum continues with the momentum he built in the Emerald City of Oz writing possibly the best book in the series thus far, which is unfortunately marred by the

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deus ex machina

ending. Still, very few of the endings of these books have been decent, so it's getting hard to keep deducting points rather than simply ignoring it.

I don't have much to say about the book beyond that, it was fairly typical Oz even though it is much improved, but, seriously, what did Baum have against music?

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First there's the Musicker getting snubbed and pitied in Road to Oz (I believe), and now Vic the phonograph being hated and abused here? Music may be annoying at times, but he's treating it like it's leprosy. A little bizarre for someone who clearly enjoyed a little poetry, which is the real leper of the performing arts. No?