I read Wicked several years back, around the time the play was gaining popularity, and it took forever to read. In my mind it took forever because I was in college and a lot of my reading was for class not for pleasure. After reading Son of a Witch I realize my memory must have been kind to Wicked if it was anything like its sequel. Maybe I just like catchy musicals, not what they’re based on… I was only able to read a few pages a day and by the time I finished the thing I’d forgotten the first half of the book’s events.
Son of a Witch picks up after Dorothy kills Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) and Liir, who is most likely her son with Fieyro, leaves the castle and begins his travels, the story spans about 10 years. His primary goal is to find out what happened to his (most likely) half-sister Nor, daughter of Fieyro and his wife, who disappeared when they were children.
The pacing is awkward, I’m not a fan of things that aren’t chronological and the first part of the book doesn’t follow a linear line of thinking. Also, there are too many people involved and since it’s not set in the real world all the names of people and places are needlessly confusing.
I read both of those books and didn’t care for them either. I read Wicked before it was turned into a musical and was sort of surprised when I heard they were doing it. Loved the musical though.
I’m glad somebody else didn’t get into these books. I tried with Wicked but it just didn’t sit well. Like you said, the pacing was bad and there were too many characters to keep track of. I’m not a huge musical fan, but I definitely think the play is better than the novel.