Spoiler alert: This is a review of the second book in The Looking Glass Wars series. By its nature, the review will reveal at least part of what happened in the first book. If you want the first book to be a complete surprise, which is my personal preference, stop reading now and leave this page.
You have been warned!
:-)
Not everything is what it seems, Frank Beddor's sequel reminds us. After being immersed in a Wonderland controlled by Redd, we know what to expect: squalor, betrayal, deceit and danger.
However, we also learn that Redd is not the only one to try to bring on such unpleasantness.
As we join our intrepid heroes in Seeing Redd, Wonderland is recovering as best it can from Redd's influence, with the cleansing power of Alyss' strong White Imagination. Everyone is back: Bibwit Harte, Dodge, General Doppelganger — even the walrus butler. Hatter Madigan has left the queen in Homburg Molly's capable hands.
And they are capable — only Molly feels inferior. She can't believe that the queen truly trusts her and she looks at many things as a slight.
The queen herself is trying to fit into her new role, but again, she's learning how to be queen every day (with help from her loyal and wise tutor). She has rediscovered Dodge and wants to know where that will go.
Hatter is learning a new role himself while mourning Weaver, his only love.
Even those who are looking to disrupt the new peace are learning. King Arch, the chauvinistic king we met briefly in the first book, is back — and looking for a chink in the new queen's armor. Even Redd and The Cat, banished to the apparent safety of the Heart Crystal, are learning a new role: how to notch up their viciousness while being just a little blurry. (Choosing the wrong painter can have its drawbacks.)
More than once, blindness (despite Glass Eyes) takes characters down unforseen paths and make alliances they might not ought to — or should they?
Readers learn more themselves: about the Heart dynasty, the Looking Glass Mazes, about Earth and Wonderland. Readers learned more about the politics of Wonderland and Borderland, its neighbor.
This book was hard for me to read. I tend to tense up when the going gets tough, and I was tense the entire time I read the book — which means it was good. Better than that, I literally had no idea where the book was going. Although the story went places I didn't expect, it followed the logic of the world in which it took place. The ending was stunning and marvelous.
It also introduced some very interesting new characters, mostly deliciously imagined Black Imaginationists, beautifully setting up the third book in the series.
I also discovered there are companion pieces to this series, including Princess Alyss of Wonderland and Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, the latter of which is a graphic novel spin-off.
But first, read Seeing Redd and The Looking Glass Wars (but not in that order). You will be glad you did.
Showing posts with label The Looking Glass Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Looking Glass Wars. Show all posts
12/21/07
The Looking Glass Wars — Review by Chris
Alice in Wonderland is real. Well, according to this excellent re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland, she is — and in a book that is good enough to enthrall a youngster.
Our memories often are of the Disney-fied Alice in Wonderland and Technicolor Wizard of Oz, not the original violent, political books. Re-read “fairy tales” as adults and discover that youth/children’s fiction is not at all for the squeamish. Disney can soften the edges, but the literature cannot be tamed.
This is the case for The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, the first of a trilogy about Alyss, princess of Wonderland.
Frank Beddor does not disappoint. After I became familiar with Wonderland, I found the book an easy and enjoyable read. It is technically “youth fiction” — but Beddor trusts his readers to take on more grown-up ideas and action sequences.
This book is not for the feint of heart. It is violent and scary and unpredictable and relentless.
In short: it’s fabulous.
Alyss is the mischevious and imaginative 7-year-old daughter of Queen Genevieve and her consort King Nolan. The Heart dynasty seeks to create peace and alliances to prevent the ursurping of the Heart throne by a very distasteful character.
The Heart dynasty’s one problem is psychotic and violent Redd, Genevieve’s sister who has been cast out for her anti-social and dangerous ways. Small asides from Bibwit Harte, Alyss’ tutor (and the tutor of three Heart generations before her) demonstrate that Redd is neither comedic nor should she be dismissed. When she says, “Off with their heads,” Redd means it — aided by beautiful red roses with hungry thorns.
When Redd returns to Wonderland in a fantastic and frenetic series of events that will make even the strongest reader blanch, Alyss must flee — and her mode of transportation will make you look twice at puddles.
Wonderland and 1800s England are brutal, wicked, violent and cruel. Dickens’ pictures are nearly rosy in comparison to Beddor’s.
Her appearance in our world is magical, sudden, violent and absolutely heartbreaking — almost as much as her removal from it. This is a movie waiting to be made. However, it is written with the rich context of a novel, rather than the brief and picturesque writing of screenplay-ready books like “The Last Templar.”
Many of the characters in this book are familiar: Hatter Mattigan, the family’s personal guard; The Cat, a feline exterminator; the Caterpillars, sages of Wonderland (and deep into their hookahs); Bibwit Harte, the big-eared and big-hearted tutor; the Liddells, who adopt a street urchin and introduce her to the family friend, Mr. Dodgson.
Beddor introduces readers to a few other unforgettable characters: Jack of Diamonds, Generals Doppel and Gänger, Dodge Anders, walrus butlers.
The weapons — oh, the weapons. I like Beddor’s ideas of weapons in Wonderland, and how a pogo stick and hula hoop came into being.
Frankly, I like a lot of his ideas, and I am very much looking forward to reading Seeing Redd, the second book in the series. In time — reading a sequel too close to the last book can spell disaster, so I will be patient and pace myself. It will be worth the wait.
While you’re at it, visit Frank Beddor’s Web site for The Looking Glass Wars. It's an experience unto itself.
(By the way, after seeing the unfolding images of the card soldiers, I dare you to put down the book. If you can, turn in your library card and turn on the television. Honestly.)
Our memories often are of the Disney-fied Alice in Wonderland and Technicolor Wizard of Oz, not the original violent, political books. Re-read “fairy tales” as adults and discover that youth/children’s fiction is not at all for the squeamish. Disney can soften the edges, but the literature cannot be tamed.
This is the case for The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, the first of a trilogy about Alyss, princess of Wonderland.
Frank Beddor does not disappoint. After I became familiar with Wonderland, I found the book an easy and enjoyable read. It is technically “youth fiction” — but Beddor trusts his readers to take on more grown-up ideas and action sequences.
This book is not for the feint of heart. It is violent and scary and unpredictable and relentless.
In short: it’s fabulous.
Alyss is the mischevious and imaginative 7-year-old daughter of Queen Genevieve and her consort King Nolan. The Heart dynasty seeks to create peace and alliances to prevent the ursurping of the Heart throne by a very distasteful character.
The Heart dynasty’s one problem is psychotic and violent Redd, Genevieve’s sister who has been cast out for her anti-social and dangerous ways. Small asides from Bibwit Harte, Alyss’ tutor (and the tutor of three Heart generations before her) demonstrate that Redd is neither comedic nor should she be dismissed. When she says, “Off with their heads,” Redd means it — aided by beautiful red roses with hungry thorns.
When Redd returns to Wonderland in a fantastic and frenetic series of events that will make even the strongest reader blanch, Alyss must flee — and her mode of transportation will make you look twice at puddles.
Wonderland and 1800s England are brutal, wicked, violent and cruel. Dickens’ pictures are nearly rosy in comparison to Beddor’s.
Her appearance in our world is magical, sudden, violent and absolutely heartbreaking — almost as much as her removal from it. This is a movie waiting to be made. However, it is written with the rich context of a novel, rather than the brief and picturesque writing of screenplay-ready books like “The Last Templar.”
Many of the characters in this book are familiar: Hatter Mattigan, the family’s personal guard; The Cat, a feline exterminator; the Caterpillars, sages of Wonderland (and deep into their hookahs); Bibwit Harte, the big-eared and big-hearted tutor; the Liddells, who adopt a street urchin and introduce her to the family friend, Mr. Dodgson.
Beddor introduces readers to a few other unforgettable characters: Jack of Diamonds, Generals Doppel and Gänger, Dodge Anders, walrus butlers.
The weapons — oh, the weapons. I like Beddor’s ideas of weapons in Wonderland, and how a pogo stick and hula hoop came into being.
Frankly, I like a lot of his ideas, and I am very much looking forward to reading Seeing Redd, the second book in the series. In time — reading a sequel too close to the last book can spell disaster, so I will be patient and pace myself. It will be worth the wait.
While you’re at it, visit Frank Beddor’s Web site for The Looking Glass Wars. It's an experience unto itself.
(By the way, after seeing the unfolding images of the card soldiers, I dare you to put down the book. If you can, turn in your library card and turn on the television. Honestly.)
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