In L. Frank Baum’s original book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” the Land of Oz is surrounded by the terrible Poisonous Desert. Over five hundred years ago, the Fairies created the beautiful Land of Oz. To protect it from the outside world, they surrounded the land with the vast Poisonous Desert. They intended the desert to protect Oz from evil influences.
In “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we take up the story just after the so-called “Great and Powerful” Wizard of Oz has flown away in his balloon, leaving poor Dorothy behind. Glinda discovers he has taken the most powerful magical talisman in the Land with him.
She hires a bounty hunter named Strigand to track down the missing wizard and get the talisman back. To Glinda’s dismay, Strigand discovers the wizard has crossed the desert. This means they will have to leave Oz to find him.
Surprisingly, this does not bother Strigand in the least. He calmly tells her, “I am widely traveled, my lady. There’s a lot of world beyond Oz.” His words suggest that there are many undiscovered lands and adventures waiting to be explored.
These quotes spark the imagination and invite readers to envision the rich and diverse landscapes that lie beyond the Land of Oz, promising a wealth of new tales and mysteries ready to be unraveled.
Many of the lands beyond Oz are just as remarkable as Oz itself. In “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we catch glimpses of these intriguing places. For instance, we find that a powerful witch named Brannagh, who calls herself Queen of the Dark Heart, rules one such land, far to the west of Oz.
As if Oz didn’t have enough problems within its borders, this new threat has hired the Gnomes to dig a tunnel into Winkie Land, the westernmost kingdom in Oz.
Permeability of Oz’s Borders
In the original Oz books by L. Frank Baum, the barriers surrounding the Land of Oz are not as impenetrable as they may seem. Throughout the series, various characters are able to devise clever methods to cross the desert and reach the lands beyond Oz and vice versa.
This allows for a great deal of interaction and exchange between the magical land of Oz and the wider world, opening up intriguing narrative possibilities.
What Lies Beyond the Land of Oz
Kingdom of Ix and the Land of Ev. L. Frank Baum wrote a “non-Oz” book called “Queen Zixi of Ix” (1905), which features both the Kingdom of Ix and the Land of Ev, which are both to the north of Oz, across the Poisonous Desert. However, “Queen Zixi of Ix” has no connection to the Oz books.
The Island of Pingaree. Mr. Baum’s tenth book in the Oz series was “Rinkitink of Oz” (1916). Almost none of the action takes place in Oz. Rather, the story is set on the Island of Pingaree, which is in the ocean near Oz but still across the poisonous desert. Toward the end of the book, Dorothy travels from Oz to help rescue the royal family of Pingaree, who are being held captive by the wicked Gnomes.
Land of the Gnomes. The Gnomes are the best-known and most formidable of all the enemies of Oz. They appear in numerous Oz stories, both in the original Baum canon and in several Oz books written by other authors.
The “Real” World: Oz appears disconnected from the everyday world, with Dorothy’s home in Kansas on the other side of the desert. In fact, we are never told where the real world is in relation to the Land of Oz. Apparently, it is somewhere over the rainbow.
