What year was the book "Wicked" released?

Flying monkeys and emerald cities might be everywhere these days, with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo lighting up screens as Glinda and Elphaba. While audiences worldwide know the story of the misunderstood green witch through showstopping musical numbers, there's a darker novel that first dared to ask: what if the Wicked Witch of the West was actually the hero of Oz? When did "Wicked" first land in bookstores?

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The answer is: 1995

Gregory Maguire penned "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" in 1995, unleashing a tornado of fresh perspective into L. Frank Baum's beloved world of Oz. The novel transforms a childhood villain into a complex heroine named Elphaba, which is a sly nod to L. Frank Baum's initials: L-F-B. For Maguire, even the smallest details in this reimagining were crafted with wicked intelligence.

While the Broadway adaptation in 2003 would soften some of the book's darker edges (turns out infanticide and political assassination aren't very hummable), Maguire's novel painted a far more complex portrait of Oz. His version was less about ruby slippers and more about religious persecution, animal rights, and the nature of evil itself. Think less "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" and more "no good deed goes unquestioned."

The success of "Wicked" inspired Maguire to expand his twisted take on Oz into "The Wicked Years" series. The magic continued with "Son of a Witch" (2005), following Elphaba's mysterious son Liir, then "A Lion Among Men" (2008), exploring the backstory of the Cowardly Lion, and finally "Out of Oz" (2011), bringing the saga to a close with Elphaba's granddaughter Rain. Each book peeled back another layer of Oz's political intrigue and moral complexity, proving the original novel was no one-hit wonder.

The story's newest incarnation, 2024's "Wicked: Part One" starring Grande and Erivo, draws more from the Broadway show's DNA than the novel's darker veins. And with "Part Two" scheduled for 2025, it seems Elphaba's story is still, dare I say, defying gravity. But for those willing to venture beyond the emerald sparkle of adaptations, Maguire's original novel and its sequels remain a reminder that the best stories often come in shades of grey – and green.