In both novels one of the main characters travels from our world to a fantasy one. In The Book of Lost Things David travels to another world through the sunken garden. In Wicked Dorothy travels to Oz by accident when he house gets caught in a tornado. In both cases the characters go on a journey to try to find their way back home to their families. They both seek the help of a higher power to get home (Dorothy has the Wizard, David has the King), and neither of these rulers really helps them, instead making their journey harder. In the other worlds, both characters make a drastic difference to the society. While David is able to get rid of all the evil in this other world and is the cause of death of the King and the Crooked Man, Dorothy accidentally kills the two main characters, Elphaba and Nessaorse (both of whom have great power). The only big difference between the two is that David returns to the other world when he dies (as it is now heaven in a way).
2) Politics
Politics plays a huge rule in both of these novels. In The Book of Lost Things the other world is ruled by a King, but really controlled by the Crooked Man. The leader of the world is evil and only brings bad things to the people who live there. It is much the same in Wicked, where the Wizard comes and takes over. His rule over Oz brings poverty, discrimination, and forces many of the people to try to conspire against him. At the end of the novels, both of these leaders leave the "throne" either by death or going to another world. Another big similarity is that while there are the two main leaders of the societies, there are also others fighting for power (Leroi and the Loups in The Book of Lost Things and Nessarose in Wicked).
3) Man vs. Self
Both David and Elphaba struggle with their inner selves throughout the stories. David has trouble accepting his mother's death and the addition of Rose and Georgie into his family. He fights off jealousy, sorrow, and betrayal, especially when the Crooked Man starts to intervene. By the end David's journey in the other world he has learned that he loves his family and he is now more a man than a boy because of what he had experienced. Elphaba's inner struggle is never ending about whether or not she is good or evil. She tries and wants to be good, but constantly finds herself thinking about or committing evil deeds (usually for the greater good). Unlike David, she struggles with this until her death.
4) Man vs. Man
During their quests, both of the main characters find themselves in conflict with other people in the society. In Elphaba's case, she believers it is her against the world, and has issues with just about everyone. Her biggest antagonists are the Wizard and Madame Morrible, who Elphaba believes are evil (she attempts to conspire/kill both of them). In David's case, he must fight off the fears of others and his own fears. By the end of the novel, he has fought the Loups, the Beast, the Enchantress, the Huntress, and The Crooked Man (who is his main antagonist). The main difference between these two characters is that David is able to defeat all of those I just listed, while Elphaba constantly fails.
5) Mythical Creatures
In The Book of Lost Things, these creatures include: Leroi and the Loups, Centaurs, The beast-children, Harpies, dwarfs, the beast from the village. Each of these mythical creatures adds to the atmosphere of the other world and makes it seem more like a fantasy. David defeats each of the above, except for the dwarfs because they help him on his journey. In Wicked, the "mythical creatures" are mostly just variations of humans. The most important to the book are the Animals, because Elphaba tries to fight for their rights and the death of Doctor Dillamond (a Goat) triggers the rest of Elphaba's story. All of these creatures have been heard of before in other stories.
6) Man vs. Fate
In Wicked, Elphaba is convinced that other people are controlling her fate. Whether it is Madame Morrible, the Wizard, or Yackle, she never believes that she is control of her own destiny. However, she constantly tries to fight Fate, even though it seems that everything in her life goes horribly wrong and she ends up dying at the end. In The Book of Lost Things, it is David's destiny to "fix" the other world, although he has no idea when he first arrives. He is chosen by the Crooked Man and brought into the other world and ends up destroying all of the evil in the land, which is a great feat that many soldiers had already failed at. Although the Crooked Man believes it is David's fate to become King, David fights this and kills the Crooked Man so that he can return home to England and his family.
7) There's No Place Like Home
This popular line from The Wizard of Oz (which is where the idea of Wicked came from), describes the situations of David and Dorothy. Both characters leave their home, and as soon as the arrive in a new world, they immediately try to return home. After their journeys in the other lands, they learn to appreciate their homes and their families. The difference between the two is the Dorothy does not want to go to Oz and only gets there by accident, while David purposely goes into the sunken garden because he wants to try to find his mother.
8) Discovery of Self Through Alienation
In both novels, the main characters alienate themselves from other people and end up learning more about themselves. Elphaba is alone for much of her life, and spends most of her time contemplating her previous actions, whether she is good or evil, and why she feels the way that she does. David is alienated on his journey to the King, and during this time he realizes that he actually does have love for Rose and Georgie, and accepts the fact that his mother is dead. In essence, he discovers who he is and becomes a man.
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