Newly published in paperback by Hungry Tiger Press is my collection of illustrated short Oz fiction and verse,
The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. It was out of print for a few years.
The six short stories in this book hew closely to a traditional style of story about the Land of Oz as created by L. Frank Baum. But within that framework, they vary widely. A couple of the stories lean closer to action-adventure--"Dorothy and the Mushroom Queen" and "Gugu and the Kalidahs." One story features more humor than adventure--"The Balloon-Girl of Oz"--while "The Final Fate of the Frogman" ends on a somber note. The two remaining stories--"The Salt Sorcerer of Oz" and "The Silver Jug"--combine adventure and humor like the best of the original Oz books.
I revised every story for this new edition. The plots and characters remain the same as the out-of-print hardcover edition. I just cleaned up the text and trimmed excess verbiage.
One story, "Dorothy and the Mushroom Queen," is extremely Haggardesque. I originally wrote it in the mid-1990s. I've wondered since why no one has ever confronted me about its barely disguised imitation of H. Rider Haggard's works. Maybe no one reads Haggard anymore. Or maybe no one who reads Haggard also reads Oz stories, though I find that idea difficult to swallow.
I've long thought the story's parallels to Haggard's fantastic adventure fiction--She, in particular--pretty striking--an ancient "lost" civilization fallen from its glory days, a remote female ruler impressed with her own importance and obsessed with one of the invading party, a tour through the weird "lost" world, unlikely and sensational natural features of the environment, and an unexpected but final demise of an important character through "natural" means. I think Flicker's attachment to Dorothy could also be compared with Horace Holly's attachment to Leo Vincey.
Most of the stories and verse in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories first saw publication elsewhere before being gathered into this volume. The partial exception is the story "The Silver Jug." I wrote the first few pages while I was a mid-teen, then quit at the point where Glinda has assigned the Silver Jug into the keeping of the main character, Amanda. I didn't have any ideas for the rest of the story. Years later, I resurrected those few pages as a "finish-the-story" contest for an Oz convention I co-chaired in 1991. A conventioneer wrote a conclusion to the story and received the prize--a piece of Eric Shanower Oz artwork--but I actually never read that conclusion. I figured that one day I'd finish the story myself and I didn't want to be influenced by anyone else's ideas.
Shortly afterward, the magazine Oziana, a publication of The International Wizard of Oz Club, published the same first few pages of "The Silver Jug" as a second finish-the-story contest. The editor of Oziana chose two winning endings. I didn't read those versions, either, not wanting to be influenced by ideas of others.
About the time I allowed Oziana to run its contest, the idea of a sorcerer who was the master of a lot of tiny golden dragons popped into my mind. I thought those characters might have something to do with my own ending of "The Silver Jug." About a decade later, they did. The sorcerer became Yvar, though the little golden dragons turned out not to belong to him. My final version of "The Silver Jug" was first published in the original edition of The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories.
"The Silver Jug" received another ending. Edward Einhorn, author of Paradox in Oz and The Living House of Oz (among other books and many plays), wrote his own ending to the story after mine was published. I've read his ending. I had to, since I drew illustrations for it. But you won't read the Einhorn ending in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. Einhorn's version of "The Silver Jug" had a very limited publication about twenty years ago as a Kickstarter reward.
But you can still read my version (the "official" version) of "The Silver Jug" and all the other stories in The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories, available now from Hungry Tiger Press and wherever quality books are sold.
Click here to get your copy
THE SALT SORCERER OF OZ AND OTHER STORIES
Written and Illustrated by Eric Shanower
Paperback, 6 ” x 9 ”, 260 Pages
Copyright © 2026 Eric Shanower. All rights reserved.
