The Magical Mimics in Oz

"The Magical Mimics in Oz" (1946) is the thirty-seventh of the Oz books series begun by L. Frank Baum, and the first written by Jack Snow. It was illustrated by Frank Kramer.

Ozma and Glinda go to meet with the Fairy Queen Lurline in the Forest of Burzee and leave Dorothy in charge of Oz. During Ozma's absence, the evil Mimics escape their imprisonment on Mount Illuso and use their magic to take the form of others and attempt to conquer Oz.

Jack Snow was the fourth official chronicler of Oz, succeeding long time Oz illustrator John R. Neill, who had succeeded Ruth Plumly Thompson who in turn succeeded Oz's creator L. Frank Baum. The two Oz novels written by Snow are controversial because they freely continue the adventures of various Oz characters created by Baum, yet they pointedly omit any appearances by (or even mentions of) the vast range of colorful characters added to the Oz canon by Thompson or Neill. This would seem to indicate that Snow did not consider Thompson a legitimate heir to Baum's fictional universe, even while Snow was appointing himself Neill's successor.

"The Runaway in Oz" was intended to be the thirty-seventh Oz book, but its publication was delayed until 1995, and is perhaps not considered to be within the Oz canon.

oz books
before=Lucky Bucky in Oz
after=The Shaggy Man of Oz
title=The Magical Mimics in Oz
year=1946