The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

[Bookwyrme]

I just got this one from the library & read it. It's decent. The writing is somewhat uneven but the book overall is interesting & has some fun ideas running round in it. I'll be interested to see if Beddor can really sustain the idea through a trilogy.


I really hope he can--Beddor is uneven now but shows promise, and I'd like to see that developed.

What? Oh, you want to know what the book is about?

The basic premise is that Alice in Wonderland really happened, but not the way Lewis Carroll described it. He thought young Alyss was simply imagining things when she told him her life's story.

Alice is really Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderland, trapped in Victorian England after her evil Aunt Redd took over the kingdom and killed her parents. The Mad Hatter is really Hatter Madigan, bodyguard to the Heart queens, and he is hunting all over for Alyss in order to restore her to her throne and return Wonderland to its greatness.

There are some moderately gory scenes here & there in the book & I can't quite buy the fact that Young Alyss (age 7) and Dodge (10-ish?) have already fallen truly in love. I had rather they were simply very good friends at the beginning & that their love grew later as in, perhaps, the next book. It's a minor issue because the two really do act as friends, it was simply something of an irritant.

One area of unevenness comes in the handling of the Wonderland Cast. Most are brilliantly re-visioned: Hatter Madigan, the Cheshire Cat (AKA the Cat & chief assassin for Redd), and the caterpillars work perfectly in context and in relation to Carroll's "muddled retelling" Alice in Wonderland. The card soldiers don't make the transition as well, and General Doppelganger who can split to become Generals Dople and Ganger so far seem in the book simply to be a Neat Idea. That is, the book needs a general, but this general hasn't quite convinced me yet.

Still, the book is a fun way to while away an afternoon, and, as I said earlier, I'm looking forward to seeing how Beddor develops as a writer.  

[ANARA Airlyn]

i loved it blaugh i agree that it was bumpy in some areas and needs some work but it was an exellent read. and a thoght alyss and the dude she loved was a good idea since they might have been destined for each other. but if it is like some people say it might come out why they loved each other at such a young age later on. biggrin  

[ANARA Airlyn]

ahhhhhh just found out it is a trilogy possibly quadret(four books) isn't that exciting  

[Tarantellatears]

I've seen this and have thought about reading it. I think maybe I will now. ^^  

[Bookwyrme]

ANARA Airlyn

ahhhhhh just found out it is a trilogy possibly quadret(four books) isn't that exciting

I'm equal parts excited and skeptical. A trilogy could work, and it's nice to see an author who has promise get the chance to keep writing and improve.

OTOH, the words "trilogy OR quartet" gives me the uneasy feeling that he may not have definite boundaries for his work--which, after Robert Jordan, is now classed as a Bad Thing in my view.  

[ANARA Airlyn]

depends on how he writes the second one, i guess. con somebody please tell me hoe to do what bookwyme did, since i am feeling really dumb because i don't know how  

[godhi]

For those interested in learning more about Frank Beddore and his fantasy novel, The Looking Glass Wars, check out the official web site:

The Looking Glass Wars home page  

[Bookwyrme]

ANARA Airlyn

depends on how he writes the second one, i guess. con somebody please tell me hoe to do what bookwyme did, since i am feeling really dumb because i don't know how

What is it you are wanting to known?  

[Bookwyrme]

godhi

For those interested in learning more about Frank Beddore and his fantasy novel, The Looking Glass Wars, check out the official web site:

The Looking Glass Wars home page

Thanks!

A book with a soundtrack--interesting!  

[ANARA Airlyn]

nothin anymore my friend told me... damn i forgot how to do it mad well how did u like his site, cause i know i liked it  

[raining_lavender_knight]

i read it and liked it but i didnt love it  

[Bookwyrme]

ANARA Airlyn

nothin anymore my friend told me... damn i forgot how to do it mad well how did u like his site, cause i know i liked it

Haven't had the chance to really explore it, but I liked what I saw. It fits the book very well.  

[ANARA Airlyn]

i know. but it doesn't have info on the second bookkkkkkk crying crying well maybe later  

[murphyad]

I truely enjoyed the two books he has out and i was wondering how he is going to finish it  

[MyLadyMandy]

I hear what you're saying about the writing style, but I love those books. It's strange to me when the narration jumps from the thoughts of one character directly to another, but I found myself thinking about the characters so much throughout the course of my day that it barely seemed to matter.

I also like all of the artistic direction, as well. I'm envious of the paperback version of Looking-Glass Wars; I must thumb through the pictures in the middle almost every other time I see it in the store.

heart Hatter

EDIT: Oh, and I don't know how I forgot to mention this, but I also love Frank Beddor for getting me interested enough in Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to read the original Alice in Wonderland books. They're an absolute joy. 3nodding