The fourth book in the original Oz series is the weirdest so far, and that’s saying something! The premise of this one is that Dorothy, Zeb the farm boy, Jim the cart-horse and Eureka the kitten fall through the ground during an earthquake in California and find themselves in some bizarre countries with unfriendly inhabitants. They happen to meet up with their old friend the Wizard and his nine tiny piglets. Their quest to find the way out is mainly a series of battles, in which the Wizard’s revolvers, sword and humbug magic are very useful against such foes as vegetable people, invisible bears and wooden gargoyles. Towards the end of the story, they manage to reach Oz with the help of Ozma, the ruler, and reunite with all their friends before Dorothy, Zeb, Eureka and Jim have to go home. There is an interesting dialogue between Jim and the Saw-Horse as to whether a real horse or a wooden one is superior.
It felt like the visit to Oz was added in to justify having ‘Oz’ in the title and that maybe it should have come earlier in the book to give us more time with some favourite characters. I liked that there is more background on the Wizard and an explanation of why Oz is named so. The author’s introduction suggests that many elements in the Oz sequels are inspired by readers’ suggestions, so perhaps readers asked for more about the history of Oz.
Published in 1908. I read the copy from Project Gutenberg.