A Lion Among Men is a fantasy novel by American writer Gregory Maguire, the third book in his The Wicked Years series.

[3] Maguire's website describes the novels as "seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion—the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in Wicked."

Before her final hour, an enigmatic figure known as Brrr - the Cowardly Lion - arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West.

Brrr surrenders his story: abandoned as a cub, his earliest memories are gluey hazes, and his life's path is no Yellow Brick Road.

A Lion Among Men chronicles a battle of wits hastened by the Emerald City's approaching armies.”[4]