Rinkitink in Oz Book

This is my least favourite Oz book so far and part of the reason for that is because it blatantly wasn't intended to be an Oz book. There's no connection to Oz at all until the last couple of chapters when the Nome King is shoehorned in as an additional threat (a somewhat random 'end level boss' for those of you familiar with a certain type of video game) and then Dorothy, the Wizard and Glinda are brought in as an even more random deus ex machina to top things off. It's just clumsy writing.

The other reason I disliked this book is the titular Rinkitink. He is, hands down, the single most annoying character I've ever encountered in a work of fiction. He makes Jar Jar Binks look like Gandalf by comparison. Just two chapters into the book I could have cheerfully shot him in the face.

So, in the light of all this, why as many as three stars? Well, despite its downsides, this isn't a bad little adventure story up until the point the Oz elements are introduced. Prince Inga is a bit on the bland side as protagonists go but his intentions are honourable and he deserves a gold medal for putting up with Rinkitink for so long without murdering him in his sleep!

Also, the character of Bilbil the depressed, smart-mouthed, talking goat is fantastic. Genuinely hilarious, it's a real shame the character was stuck in such an otherwise lacklustre book.

Overall, two-and-a-half stars, rounded up.