Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

I had a really difficult time finishing this.

As someone who came to the book only having heard the musical CD (yeah, i actually still bought that one on CD), I was positively surprised at the adult tone that Maguire has. This is not a children's book and it has little in common with the colorfull, cute version of Oz we know from our childhood movie/literature classics.
I preferred this dark, political version of the land and I enjoyed every page of gritty, sinister intrigue as well as the sexual undertones. If you've only seen the musical: Prepare for something very different, less comic but no less enjoyable.
Fully review here: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/gregory-maguire-wicked/

Slow and boring writing/plot. The first chapters describes the life of a pastor and his wife, as a new religion threatens to take over his flock. His religion is very strict, and the new one very liberal, encouraging the pursuit of pleasure.

Their daughter is the baby that will in the future be known as the Wicked Witch of the West. For some reason, her skin is green, and her teeth are very sharp.

The pastor looses the battle and is forced to flee, because his old congregation is told by the new priests that he must die.