Mombi is a second-tier wicked witch with ambitions to rule all the Land of Oz. She first appears in L. Frank Baum’s second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz” (1904) where we see her as a harsh, disagreeable old hag living in the northern kingdom of Oz, the Land of the Gillikins. In my book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we see her again as a minor witch with important connections throughout the Land. She is an influence peddler and seller of information and magical items.

Sometimes you need a Mombi.

In “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” Glinda needs something only Mombi can get for her: The bounty hunter, Strigand Nightflyer, who can help her find the missing Wizard. Mombi strikes a hard bargain, but delivers the bounty hunter, as promised.

Connection with Tip.

When Glinda first arrives at Mombi’s miserable little hovel in the woods, she is greeted by a delicate looking little boy named Tip, who is living with the old crone. Mombi chases the boy away, leaving Glinda puzzled as to the relationship between them. Despite living under the same roof, there doesn’t seem to be any warmth or affection between them. Very puzzling. Glinda will learn more about him in another book.

Gayelette: Good Witch of the North.

After Glinda leaves on her quest with Strigand, Gayelette, the Good Witch of the North and Glinda’s younger sister pays a visit to Mombi to find out what her sister is up to. She is worried about her. Mombi doesn’t want to share what she knows, but reluctantly submits to her queen. Gayelette is surprisingly kind to Mombi and offers to have a wagonload of firewood delivered to her to guard against the coming winter.

Why is Gayelette so kind to Mombi? There is more to the old hag than meets the eye.

No work of American fiction has connected to our imaginations more than L. Frank Baum’s original book, “The Wizard of Oz.” Like millions of others, I have loved it since I was a child. My sequel, “The Lost Wizard of Oz” is a heartfelt tribute to the original story line, while introducing fresh faces and brand-new adventures.

New Characters, New Adventures: Meet the Additions to Oz

The Wizard is gone, and Glinda must find him! She will need a lot of help getting him back and will face daunting challenges along the way. Here’s a list of new characters introduced in my book “The Lost Wizard of Oz.” Some will help and some will hinder, but rest assured, nothing will stop her.

Roderick: The Wicked Witch of the West’s former Captain of the Guard. Having been freed from her tyranny, he now faithfully serves Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.

Irina: Roderick’s barren wife, cursed by the Wicked Witch of the West.

Strigand: A bounty hunter Glinda hires to find the missing Wizard of Oz. He has a dark past and might not be trustworthy.

Nightflyer: A giant owl who hunts by sound. Can he track the Wizard?

Empedocles: A twenty-five-hundred-year-old Greek philosopher imprisoned under the poisonous desert surrounding the Land of Oz. How did he get there?

The “God of Earth”: A monstrous creature standing between Glinda and the missing wizard.

Queen of the Dark Heart: An ancient evil determined to conquer Oz. How is she connected to the Wicked Witches of the East and West? Are they her allies or enemies?

Keerghall: The Dark Queen’s self-serving spy master. What has he done with the Wizard?

Root: The most mysterious creature in all of Oz. Even Glinda has never heard of him before. He says he serves “Lord Strigand,” but who can tell?

Revisiting Childhood Favorites.

Introducing new characters to the Wizard of Oz saga is a heartfelt expression of deep love and reverence for the original story. This book is dedicated to honoring and expanding Mr. Baum’s work and introducing the tale to new audiences.

Conclusion

“The Lost Wizard of Oz” brings back the wonderful feelings we had when we first experienced the Wizard of Oz. It tells a whole new story while keeping the plot line of the original intact. This book reminds us how powerful stories can be, taking us on adventures that stay with us forever.

The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum have a lot to teach us about life. We should take a moment to think about those lessons.

My new book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz” presents Glinda the Good Witch of the South, as powerful, compassionate, dedicated to her cause—everything Mr. Baum wanted her to be, and yet she still has some things to learn. Like everybody else, she can become more than she is.

Question: Why is everything so hard?

Here’s a question for you: Why didn’t the Good Witch just tell Dorothy how to use the magic slippers to take her home in the first place? It would have been much easier on her. There are a lot of answers to this question. Here are three:

First, her new friends needed help. Dorothy’s friends; the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion; would have been left where they were in frustration and despair if she had not come their way. Now they are free, happy, and productive.

Second, the Wonderful Land of Oz needed help. In just a few short weeks, this little girl disposed of the two most dreadful witches in Oz. What a blessing for the Munchkins and the Winkies! Also, think of all the good the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion were able to do throughout the Land of Oz because they happened to bump into a little girl from Kansas.

Third, Dorothy wouldn’t have learned anything. If she had not traveled to and through Oz, she would never have realized how strong she really was or could become. Just as importantly, she would have gone right back to Kansas without learning how precious her family was to her. This is the real point of the story.

Life is often like that. We have to go through hard times to grow and become better people.

What about the Good Witch?

Here’s another question for you: Why didn’t the Good Witch go with Dorothy on her quest?

Well, the answer is that she didn’t need to learn anything…at the time.

But now is a different time. Now is the time for Glinda to learn a few things and grow a little along the way. We don’t usually think of Glinda as needing anything. After all, Mr. Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” presents Glinda as the most powerful, intelligent, beautiful, and beloved person in Oz. How can you improve on that?

Everybody needs something, or maybe somebody?

Glinda has protected the Land of the Quadlings (the southern portion of Oz) for five hundred years, all by herself. Sometimes she travels around the Land of Oz with a few friends helping out where she can. But friends, even good ones, aren’t exactly family. In the end, she always goes home alone. At times, her loneliness gets the better of her.

I invite you to read “The Lost Wizard of Oz” and join Glinda on her latest quest to save Oz. Who knows, maybe she will learn something herself.

In L. Frank Baum’s original book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” the Wizard’s calm and solitary lifestyle is completely upended when Dorothy and her three friends show up and request an audience. He tries to ignore her but soon realizes she won’t take “No” for an answer.
Eventually he promises to help her, but only on condition that she first slay the powerful Wicked Witch of the West. Remarkably and unexpectedly, she returns in triumph and insists on payment: Brains for the Scarecrow, a heart for the Tinman, courage for the Lion, and a ride home for herself.
He manages to convince Dorothy’s friends that he has given them their requests, as promised. They are completely happy with the results. Then, in a brief moment of self-reflection, the Wizard says to himself, “How can I help being a humbug when all these people make me do things that everybody knows can’t be done.”

Some things you just can’t fake

Dorothy is a different kind of problem. You can fake brains, caring, and courage, but you can’t fake a trip back to Kansas. The Wizard has no way to get her home. In desperation, he concocts a plan to fly over the Poisonous Desert and back to Kansas in a hot air balloon. Dorothy gets left behind and the Wizard is filled with regret over his failure to help the little girl.

Redemption is tricky

Throughout the original Wizard of Oz series, we see hints that the Wizard does feel bad about how he has acted…and we discover that he has done some terrible things as King of Oz. Nevertheless, he does seem to make some progress towards being a better man. He admits some of his misdeeds and apologizes, yet we are left to wonder if he has really changed.
In my new book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we see the Wizard struggling with his own character flaws as he is thrown into a dangerous situation in which he will have to survive by his wits and natural cunning. It turns out that being a conniving little conman has its advantages.

The Hidden Message in the Balloon’s Departure

The Wizard’s sketchy balloon plan represents his own doubtful character. He hopes to float above his troubles and find the easy path back home. This is contrasted with Dorothy’s journey in which she learns the importance of courage, friendship, and hard work.

In “The Lost Wizard of Oz” the Wizard will need to learn this in order to survive.

In L. Frank Baum’s original book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” the Land of Oz is surrounded by the terrible Poisonous Desert. On Mr. Baum’s maps, the eastern quadrant of this vast desert is referred to as the “Deadly Desert,” while the remaining three quadrants bear the names of the “Shifting Sands,” the “Impassable Desert,” and the “Great Sandy Waste.” All of them are poisonous. He tells us that stepping into any part of that desert will dissolve you into nothing. Dangerous indeed!

Where did the Poisonous Desert come from?

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. Obviously, it doesn’t work very well. Throughout the original Oz books, people are able to concoct a variety of ways to cross the desert. They cross in both directions, in and out of the Land of Oz.

In my new book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” I continue this tradition of a regretfully porous barrier around Oz. In her search for the lost Wizard, Glinda stumbles upon the latest, and most dangerous invader: Brannagh’s Army from the east.

The Symbolism of the Poisonous Desert in “The Wizard of Oz”

The desert is a symbol of our efforts to protect ourselves from our problems by isolating ourselves from the world. But we can’t do that. It simply doesn’t work. The world with its challenges will always find a way to intrude into our lives, just like in the Land of Oz. The Poisonous Desert underscores the notion that proper growth and resilience are born from confronting difficulties rather than seeking isolation.

Besides, not all evil influences came from outside of Oz. Consider old Mombi, a treacherous witch who appears in more than one of the original Oz books. She was there from the start. This reminds us that many of our troubles come from our own weaknesses and choices.

L. Frank Baum’s final words

On his deathbed, Mr. Baum uttered his final words, “Now we can cross the Shifting Sands…” He was leaving this world and moving on to the next.

Most people know that the Wizard intended to fly Dorothy out of the Land of Oz in a great balloon. This concept appears both in L. Fank Baum’s original book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and in the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz.”

In Mr. Baum’s original book, we are told the Wizard first arrived in Oz by balloon, which was carried from Nebraska to Oz by a great tornado. In my new book, “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” we get a hint as to where that tornado might have come from. In Oz, nothing happens by chance. Something or someone is usually working behind the scenes, like the Wizard himself, hidden behind his curtain. We could say the same thing about real life. What look like coincidences often turn out to be much, much more.

The Wizard’s Balloon Ride: A Risky Escape Plan

In Mr. Baum’s original book, the Wizard tells Dorothy the balloon that brought him to Oz was filled with helium gas. The problem is that there is no helium in all the land of Oz. Not one bit. Foolishly, he suggests that filling a balloon with hot air might be able to carry them over the poisonous desert and back to America. He admits that hot air is not nearly as effective as helium and is afraid the balloon may crash in the desert. Nevertheless, he is willing to try because he wants to help the little girl and he is tired of being king. People are beginning to catch on that he is a fraud.

Dorothy turns out to be very lucky she is not in that balloon. In “The Lost Wizard of Oz,” his balloon does, in fact, crash into the desert. All of us have faced problems that we feel have no good solution. Sometimes we take a foolish risk. Unfortunately for the Wizard, he is about to learn the hard way something my Daddy use to tell me: “Son, it is a lot easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble.”

Great advice, Dad, though I have to admit I didn’t always listen. Besides, sometimes getting out of trouble is half the fun.

In The Lost Wizard of Oz, Glinda needs the services of a tracker to help her find the missing Wizard. Strigand, the best tracker in the Land of Oz can only be contacted through the wicked Mombi, an evil sorceress who lives in the northern sector of Oz, the territory of the Gillikins.

After driving a hard bargain with Glinda, Mombi calls Strigand, the bounty hunter, who immediately arrives on the scene as though he had been expecting the call.

First impressions

Glinda’s first impression of him is not favorable. He is a rough looking man with a scraggly beard. He could use a shave, she thinks. He carries no visible weapons but strikes her as dangerous, nonetheless. As it turns out, Strigand is far more dangerous than she imagines, but dangerous does not mean evil. Glinda may need this deadly ally to face a dangerous enemy.

As their journey begins, Strigand summons his partner, Nightflyer, an enormous owl. Glinda is struck by the deep and personal partnership between the two. It is almost as if they share each other’s thoughts. She is closer to the truth than she knows.

The two are tightly linked. So tightly, in fact, that the bounty hunter goes by the name of “Strigand Nightflyer.” If he ever had a normal last name, it has long since been forgotten.

The Warrior Protector of Oz

As the warrior protector of Oz, Strigand guards the realm against the many dark forces that threaten it. His combat prowess allows him to confront formidable foes, including trolls and other dangerous creatures.

In The Lost Wizard of Oz, Strigand is a formidable warrior, hunter, and protector. He risks his life again and again to protect Glinda and help her fulfill her quest. As it turns out, Strigand has a long and hidden history of service to Oz.

The Gnomes are terrified of him, though no Gnome has ever seen him, at least no living Gnome. Strigand bears a terrible grudge against them. It seems the only one who hates the Gnomes more than Strigand is Nightflyer. Has this got something to do with the ancient Gnome Wars with Oz?

Over the years, Strigand has become the subject of whispered legends among the Gnomes. They see him as a vengeful half-man, half-owl demigod bent on their destruction. Strigand uses this fear to his advantage.

Strigand’s Mysterious Past and Upbringing

Like everything about Strigand, his upbringing is steeped in mystery. After his mother’s tragic death, he is raised by a mysterious tree creature named Root. This peculiar upbringing connects him deeply to the magical elements of Oz, filling him with a sense of purpose and destiny that finds its fulfillment in service to the Land in general and to Glinda, in particular.

A Little Romance?

One of the problems with the original Oz books is that there is no man worthy of Glinda. She is intelligent, brave, beautiful, and committed to the protection of Oz. In The Lost Wizard of Oz, she remains as she always was in Mr. Baum’s books, but she feels the burden of loneliness. I introduce Strigand Nightflyer as a possible suitor. There is obviously an attraction. However, Strigand and Nightflyer are integrated characters, depending on one another and supporting one another. Glinda’s intrusion into their relationship creates a certain tension.

Will love conquer all, or will Glinda’s and Strigand’s sense of duty rule the day?

Who is Eloch, the Green Rider in The Lost Wizard of Oz?

In 1860, the Pony Express was the fastest way to get mail across the American west to and from California. Tough young men rode hard through dangerous and unforgiving territory to keep the east and west connected. They had the best horses and riders anywhere.

In the Lost Wizard of Oz, Brannagh, the Queen of the Dark Heart, has her own team of horsemen called the Green Riders. Their mission is to carry her messages throughout her vast empire. The best and most trusted of these is Eloch.

Privileges and Perils of the Green Riders

The Green Riders hold a position of great authority throughout the Dark Queen’s realm. No one is allowed to hinder their journey, as their mission is a direct extension of the queen’s will. In addition, they can commandeer horses, food, and whatever else they need at any time they need it.

Despite these privileges, the Green Riders are not immune to danger. The Queen has many enemies, some of whom would not hesitate to kill the riders in order to disrupt her communications.

Worse, the Queen herself can be a threat. Just being in her presence can be dangerous as she is given to venomous fits of anger over the smallest trifles. The riders often face harsh judgment or even death from the queen or her officials if they displease them in some way or fail in their duties.

The Green Riders’ Code

The best way to protect themselves from the capricious judgments of the Queen is to adhere to a strict code that underscores their loyalty, and the high stakes involved in their role as the Queen’s messengers.

The code is summarized in the oath they take when entering the Queen’s service: “I would sooner lose my right arm than fail in my duty to the Queen.” This oath is more than just a cliché. The messages they carry are always strapped to their right arms, bound in leather. The Green Riders know that if they fail in some way, their right arm had better be missing. Even that might not save them from the Queen’s wrath.

Eloch, the Green Rider in the Story

At one point in The Lost Wizard of Oz, Eloch is dispatched to take a message of bad news to the Queen. To make matters worse, he knows he will have to deliver the message well before dawn while she is still asleep. He toys with the idea of delaying his arrival until after she has risen and breakfasted but decides to honor his oath instead. He will accept whatever consequences come from his honorable actions.

Later in the story, Eloch briefly encounters Glinda and her body guard, Strigand. He warns them of the Queen’s impending arrival. Apparently, he owes Strigand a favor from a previous encounter. Eloch pays his honorable debts.

Meaning Behind the Green Rider

Eloch symbolizes the need to do one’s duty even within a corrupt system. He must navigate the political and personal dangers within the queen’s realm. However, that does not mean he is without a conscience. He is no supporter of the Queen, and he occasionally will follow his own path as long as it does not interfere with the strict guidelines of his oath. He is torn in two directions. Eventually, he will have to choose a side.

Glinda’s Great Book of Records first appears in L. Frank Baum’s sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz. The book is presented in such a way as to make Glinda the Good omniscient (sort of). The Great Book of Records is no ordinary book. As soon as something happens anywhere in the world, it appears on its pages, allowing Glinda to stay informed of all events, big and small.

“Everything in the world” is an awful lot. It reminds me of the children’s book, “Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum. In that book, Grover spends page after page walking through large rooms packed with all sorts of amazing things, but he knows he hasn’t seen everything. The book ends with Grover walking through an exit door and out into the world where he actually can see everything in the whole wide world. Silly, but it makes a point: You can never know or see or read or hear everything. Even Glinda can’t do that.

The book seems omniscient, yet that omniscience is selective. It doesn’t reveal everything. In my book, The Lost Wizard of Oz, Glinda is forced to make a deal with the malevolent Mombi, one of the more hateful creatures Mr. Baum ever created. Before making the deal, Glinda warns her that the book can be dangerous. It plays tricks, abbreviates stories, and omits key facts.

But Mombi is determined to have a look. Eventually, Glinda agrees to let the wicked old hag look at the book for one hour, without interference. In return, Mombi gives Glinda a small bottle. What is in the bottle? All Glinda knows for sure is that it will help her find the missing Wizard of Oz.

The Allure of Omniscience

Mombi desires to read the Great Book of Records because she thinks it will give her great power and knowledge. You will recall Satan’s words to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “For God knows that when you eat of (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). But it was a trap.

Mombi’s motives are greed and lust for power. Those motives always lead to self-destruction and harm to others. On the other hand, Glinda uses the book to help her keep track of events in and around Oz to enable her to know where and when to intervene for good.

A Tricky Book

Mombi’s attempt to access the book emphasizes its alluring potential for misuse. While Mombi seeks power from the book, Glinda is wary, knowing it may mislead those who seek to interpret its entries without caution.

As valuable as the Great Book of Records is, Glinda knows it is dangerous. She tries to warn Mombi. The book plays tricks. It is sort of like the internet. You can find anything on the internet. It is a wonderful tool, but it can also be misleading. It colors information to manipulate how we think and act. And no one knows what the Great Book’s bias is, not even Glinda. She is afraid to put it into Mombi’s hands. Glinda recognizes the danger and hesitates to let others read it—especially someone like Mombi, whose ambitions could be deadly.

Book’s Origin and Purpose

Mr. Baum never reveals where the Great Book of Records came from and neither do I, at least not yet. I am still working on it. Maybe I will develop that in my next book, Northern Lights, which will tell the story of the Good Witch of the North.

I am open to suggestions.

Conclusion

The Great Book of Records is both a blessing and a curse. It offers insight into the world’s events but also presents dangers for those who rely too heavily on its incomplete and sometimes misleading information. Glinda, ever wise and cautious, understands its potential—and its perils.

The Lost Wizard of Oz introduces several new characters that L. Frank Baum would have loved. One of my favorites is Empedocles, the half-mad self-styled “God of Earth.” Glinda the Good Witch of the South and her body guard, Strigand Nightflyer are searching for the little humbug Wizard who has gone missing. Their search takes them to a vast network of caverns beneath the Poisonous Desert which surrounds the Land of Oz. There they meet Empedocles who introduces himself as the “God of Earth.”

At first glance, Glinda is less than impressed. He certainly didn’t look like a god. By her estimation, he didn’t even look like much of a man: short, scrawny, filthy. Completely unkempt. A disaster on two legs. Yet there he stood, puffed up and full of himself.

But looks can be deceiving. As it turns out, his power is great, maybe even greater than Glinda’s. Worse, he is obviously not in his right mind. Even worse than that, he has a massive crush on Glinda. As you can imagine, this creates more than a little tension between Strigand and Empedocles: Its a very weird little love triangle.

The Immortal Ambitions of Empedocles

Empedocles was a Greek philosopher who was born about twenty years before Socrates. He lived and taught on the Island of Sicily. As an old man, he went more than a little mad, believing he had become a god because of his great wisdom. He is said to have died when he threw himself into Mount Etna, a live volcano, to prove his deity.

As Glinda gently probes into his past, she learns that some mysterious force saved him from the fires of Mount Etna, only to trap him in the caverns beneath the desert. He has been granted the immortality he sought, only to realize it was more of a curse than a blessing. He has been alone and lonely for over twenty-five hundred years. Glinda sympathizes with the pathetic old man but can offer him no hope. Or can she?

Terror of the Gnomes

In The Lost Wizard of Oz, we learn that the filthy little philosopher is somehow connected to a monstrous rock giant who jealously guards the caverns of Empedocles. The Gnomes are terrified of him, but they have made an uneasy truce with Empedocles. He has allowed them to dig their tunnel to Oz as long as they stay close to the surface but will allow no disturbance in his dark realm.

The lesson of the God of Earth

Empedocles represents the dangers of pride and excessive ambition. He embodies the tension between human frailty and the aspiration for godhood. He is a lesson to us that we should be careful what we wish for. We just might get it.

He would have done well to remember the words of the prophet: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).