Book 48 of 50: The Looking Glass Wars
Book 48 of 50
Title: The Looking Glass Wars
Author: Frank Beddor
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Summary (from Amazon.com): Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, is forced to flee when her vicious aunt Redd murders her parents, the King and Queen of Hearts. She escapes through the Pool of Tears to Victorian London, but she finds she has no way home. Adopted by the Liddells, who christen her Alice Liddell and disapprove of her wild stories about Wonderland, Alyss begs Charles Dodgson to tell her real story. Even though he writes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she knows no one believes her. Years go by, with Alice repressing her memories. Then royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan, determined to start a war for Wonderland's throne, crashes her wedding. Beddor offers some intriguing reimaginings of Dodgson's concepts (such as looking-glass travel) and characters (the cat is an assassin with nine lives), but his transformation of Wonderland's lunacy into a workable world sometimes leads to stilted exposition on history, geography, and government. Even so, his attention has, happily, put Wonderland back on the map again.
Comments: As a fan of the original Wonderland books, I picked this up on a whim. I sometimes got a little frustrated with the book, wishing that it had more depth, descriptions, and characterization. Then, I would remind myself that this book was written for ages 10 and up. I think, had I read it at that age, I would have really liked it. I can also see how it would be useful for teachers of that age group to use as a comparison to the original Alice books. The prospect of the book is intriguing-- that the original Lewis Carroll book is an over the top exaggerated retelling of what has actually happened to Alice. I wish this book had been written for adults, so that the dark themes could be explored more in depth. I would have loved for this book to be three times as long and written for adults. Still, it was an interesting premise and I'd recommend it for 10-14 year olds, or for others who are fans of wonderland.
x-posted to 50bookchallenge
Title: The Looking Glass Wars
Author: Frank Beddor
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Summary (from Amazon.com): Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, is forced to flee when her vicious aunt Redd murders her parents, the King and Queen of Hearts. She escapes through the Pool of Tears to Victorian London, but she finds she has no way home. Adopted by the Liddells, who christen her Alice Liddell and disapprove of her wild stories about Wonderland, Alyss begs Charles Dodgson to tell her real story. Even though he writes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she knows no one believes her. Years go by, with Alice repressing her memories. Then royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan, determined to start a war for Wonderland's throne, crashes her wedding. Beddor offers some intriguing reimaginings of Dodgson's concepts (such as looking-glass travel) and characters (the cat is an assassin with nine lives), but his transformation of Wonderland's lunacy into a workable world sometimes leads to stilted exposition on history, geography, and government. Even so, his attention has, happily, put Wonderland back on the map again.
Comments: As a fan of the original Wonderland books, I picked this up on a whim. I sometimes got a little frustrated with the book, wishing that it had more depth, descriptions, and characterization. Then, I would remind myself that this book was written for ages 10 and up. I think, had I read it at that age, I would have really liked it. I can also see how it would be useful for teachers of that age group to use as a comparison to the original Alice books. The prospect of the book is intriguing-- that the original Lewis Carroll book is an over the top exaggerated retelling of what has actually happened to Alice. I wish this book had been written for adults, so that the dark themes could be explored more in depth. I would have loved for this book to be three times as long and written for adults. Still, it was an interesting premise and I'd recommend it for 10-14 year olds, or for others who are fans of wonderland.
x-posted to 50bookchallenge