I pretty much agree with everything that has been said. I actually nearly abandoned the effort before reaching Part II. Such squalid uninteresting characters. I am glad I continued though, as once Elpha and the other characters are introduced as students at Shiz the story really picked up.

Actually most of the story does not involve Dorothy at all. It is just a complex fantasy tale using names (creatures and places) from the original book and the movie. The Wicked Witch of the West (Elpha) is not really wicked at all, just a complex character capable of both sorts of actions. The only truly wicked character is the Wizard. The worst sort of evil. Orwell's 1984 sort of evil, no personal feelings involved just totally ruthless in obtaining and protecting power. If there were any characters that could be called good it was the Animals, and of these only Dr. Dillamond was at all fleshed out. I also would have liked to have more included about Tik-toks, the remark about their organizing for better labor rights was just tossed in at the end. I would also have liked more depth given to the character of the Dwarf of the Clock of the Time Dragon. Especially since much of what happened was said to be orchestrated by him to protect the Grimmerie.

Dorothy was dropped into the story for the sole purpose of killing Elpha, the only clear merging of this book and the original book and movie. In both the movie and original book it was all about Dorothy, her magical transport to Oz and her quest to get home. That was a side story here, how she takes up with the lion, tin-man, and scarecrow is never revealed, and even their meeting with the Wizard is told second hand and after the fact.