The Lost Princess of Oz

The Lost Princess of Oz was published in 1917 and turns on a high-concept premise. Princess Ozma, ruler of Oz, has disappeared overnight. Glinda the Good’s Magic Book of Records is also missing, along with most of the major magical artifacts in the Emerald City palace. Without these tools, the kingdom is essentially defenseless. Dorothy organizes search parties to comb every corner of Oz for the missing princess.

The book splits into multiple party narratives. Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin, Trot, the Wizard, Button-Bright, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and various others fan out across Oz, eventually converging in Yip Country on the trail of the magician Ugu the Shoemaker, who has carried out the theft. The book gives nearly the entire Oz cast something to do, which Baum had been struggling to manage since the cast had grown so large. The reveal of Ozma’s hiding place and the way her appearance has been altered is among the cleverer plot devices in the series. Strong late-period entry.