The Looking Glass Wars

by Frank Beddor

Paper Book, 2006

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Dial Books, 2006.

Description

When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart finds herself living in Victorian Oxford as Alice Liddell and struggles to keep memories of her kingdom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne.

User reviews

LibraryThing member atimco

I'll confess first thing that I did not finish this book. I had heard of it and thought it sounded fun, an expansion of Wonderland that would seek to preserve Carroll's wonderful cleverness and sense of random dreaminess. Well, it didn't.

The first problem is how the book purports to thumb its nose

at the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It claims that Alice Liddell, Carroll's muse, was actually a fugitive from Wonderland and was sorely disappointed with Carroll's "re-imagining" of her adventures. She calls him "cruel" for lying about her story, with some angry denunciations of the nonsense poetry. She thinks "he'd transformed her memories of a world alive with hope and possibility and danger into make-believe, the foolish stuff of children" (p. 3, my emphasis). Alice in Wonderland is, according to Alice, a "stupid, nonsensical book" (p. 4). Wow, can't you just feel the respect for Carroll here? Nice. You would think Beddor would show a little respect for the genius he's piggybacking.

Okay, I understand that Alice isn't necessarily speaking for Beddor himself here, but I can't get along well with a book that starts off by calling its source stupid, when that source has been an undisputed classic of children's literature for well over a century. Alice in Wonderland is not stupid, or nonsensical in a negative way; in fact, it's far more imaginative and clever than Beddor's lackluster, clichéd re-imagining could ever hope to be.

And Alice in Wonderland has far more interesting characters than The Looking-Glass Wars. I started rolling my eyes when we read how the king loves his wife, the Queen, because of her (politically correct) strength and firm decisions — oh spare me. Lame! The characters have about as much dimension as paper dolls. Alyss is a brat and everyone around her is so stereotypical and boring, stock characters lifted ineptly from better works.

Don't even get me started on the abysmal prose. When we come to the first battle and Beddor starts writing about "adrenaline-induced war cries" and "agony-infused moans," I almost gave an agony-infused moan myself (p. 27). And these two doozies came in the same sentence, no less! You have to wonder if Beddor is TRYING to hurt his readers. Wouldn't "agonized moans" be so much better? "Agony-infused" makes me think of someone injecting agony into the moans with a needle. (Hand me that moan, would you? I've got to infuse it.) And the book is full of similar problems: jerky sentence structure, unintentionally funny word choices, and clichéd descriptions.

With the ugly disrespect for Charles Dodgson, the flat characters, and the horrible prose, I found I just couldn't force myself to keep going. It was quite a pity because I'd been looking forward to this series for awhile, and even waited until I had procured the second book before starting this one. That was a mistake! Both are going up on PaperBackSwap pronto, in hopes that someone else will be able to enjoy them. But I doubt it.

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24 more

LibraryThing member Karweenie

A great premise, though badly executed. Half of the events were clearly rip-offs of scenes Beddor had seen in film or television.

LibraryThing member lunacat

This claims to be the REAL story of Alice in Wonderland.

Alyss (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson spelt her name wrong) has had her world ripped apart. One minute it was her seventh birthday and she was Princess, heir to the throne of Wonderland and enjoying her birthday party. The next, her parents have

been murdered, and she has gone on the run, emerging from a puddle into Victorian London, where everything is different and her imagination refuses to work.

This was a surreal and intriguing take on the traditional Alice in Wonderland story, with a mixture of fantasy and science fiction thrown into the melting pot. There are characters you will recognise if you are familiar with the original, but they come in very different guises.

The plot is fast paced, based on a very traditional storyline of a wicked sister overthrowing the queen to gain power, and the rightful heir running away to grow up before (hopefully) coming back stronger. But its not the plot that made me enjoy this, it is the imaginative powers of the writer (which are, coincidentally, very important in this world) and the way he twists things.

At some moments the surreal becomes bizarre, and I occasionally lost how things 'work' in this world, but mostly I just enjoyed the imagery produced.

You don't have to know Alice in Wonderland to enjoy this as a simple fantasy story, but it will help a lot. The rollercoaster ride will seem a little slower if you understand the references!

Surreal, dazzling fantasy/sf based on a classic.

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LibraryThing member Letter4No1

Alice is really Alyss, and wonderland isn't anything like Carrol wrote. Wonderland has been taken over by Redd, Alyss's aunt and Alyss is stuck in Victorian London where nobody believes in Wonderland. Now Alyss must be brought back to lead the Alyssians who have been fighting in her name and defeat

Redd and her Black Imagination.

Now, I was never a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. I didn't like the book, I didn't like the Disney movie and I get sick of all of the references of going 'down the rabbit hole', but I did enjoy Beddor's interpretation. I liked Alyss's growth. At times the writing was a little to fast paced for me, glossing over major events and relaying on a timeline in the back to give out information about Redd's Reign. For me, the only thing I liked about the original Wonderland was how classic and beautiful it seemed. This Wonderland still has its charms, but this are shinny and new and remind me of futuristic weapons. The story was well thought out. Even when I wasn't enjoying what I was reading I was very interested in how things would resolve themselves. It was an enjoyable enough read, not something I plan on picking up again and not something I would be willing to spend much money on.

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LibraryThing member krau0098

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. I was waiting to read it until I got the second book in the series. I am a long time fan of Alice and Wonderland and wondered how a re-write of it would go. All-in-all this is a very good book.

Alyss Heart is the princess of Wonderland, she is

exiled when her Aunt Redd takes over the throne killing Alyss's mother and father. It takes many years for Alyss to find her way back to Wonderland but eventually she does and it is torn by war and desolation.

There were some things I really liked in this book. What if the real world was the made-up place and Wonderland was Alyss's reality? I love the creativity of the world of Wonderland. I love the characters Beddor has made out of General Doppleganger and the Hatter. This was an entertaining read and a very creative idea.

The book itself is easy to read and is well-written. It is very griping and engaging and full of non-stop action. I have two complaints about it. The first is that the character's (though interesting in a creative way) seem bereft of any emotion. They all seem a bit 2D to me. I don't think that was intended but none of the characters really came alive for me. The second thing would be how Wonderland is portrayed. The original book Alice in Wonderland is mostly about Alice wandering through a fantastic landscape where nothing is what it seems. This book puts aside a lot of that creativity and spends more time discussing wars and rebel factions. I would have liked it if a bit more of the neat aspects and features of Wonderland were detailed and less time had been spent on Alyss as Alice in London and on war strategy and planning.

Despite these complaints this was a great book and I look forward to reading the next one. Anyone heard when the final book of the trilogy will be released?

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LibraryThing member PamelaDLloyd

The premise was interesting, but I found the book a disappointment.

LibraryThing member weeksj10

It was a cool idea, but kind of felt like a project from a creative writing class. I also didn't like how hard Beddor tried to creative with the card launchers and looking glass transport.

LibraryThing member Irisheyz77

This book is a re-telling of the Alice in Wonderland tale. All that Lewis Carroll wrote about was watered down nonsense for Wonderland is anything by whimsical. I really enjoyed this version of the story. Beddor manages to bring new life into familiar characters and make them all just a little more

real. I walked into this book not know what to expect and now I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the Trilogy.

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LibraryThing member VykiC37

Find this review and more at On The Shelf!

I really enjoyed this book and how it took the Alice that we know and changed it into something completely different and familiar at the same time. It was a very fun book to listen to. The narrator did a great job voicing the characters and they even had

some special effects like echoing voices.

I liked Alyss and I liked who she became as she grew up. Even though she has always come from privilege, she still though of others and never acted like a spoiled princess. There were points she got quite upset, but if people told you that you were a liar and the place you said you came from wasn't real, then I'd get mad, too.

I loved seeing this new portrayal of the Wonderland characters we all know, like the white rabbit, the Cheshire cat, and the caterpillar. Everything had a new interesting spin on it. I also liked how the author wrote the book because it sounds like classical writing.

The only real down point I have to say about the book was I didn't have much of an emotional connection when certain things happened. When she was reunited with some of her friends, I was hoping for a more excited reaction. After the way this book ended, I look forward to the next book and to see how things will be affected.

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LibraryThing member EliSimons

An enticing twist on Lewis Carroll’s original Alice in Wonderland story. Princess Alyss Heart is forced to take refuge in our world, along with Milliner man Hatter Madigan, after her birthday is crashed by her evil Aunt Redd. Thirteen years later, after losing the Hatter and convincing herself

that Wonderland was only a dream, Alyss (now known as Alice Liddell) returns to Wonderland to reclaim her rightful position of queen.

I have recently been into reading twisted versions of original well-known stories, and I have become an Alice in Wonderland fanatic.
I thought that this was an interesting way of looking at the story. I found it especially appealing since I had only just recently watched Tim Burton’s version and it was fun to compare the two. My favourite part of this whole story would have to be the connection between Lewis Carroll, Alyss, and ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Seeing how Alyss’ entire world was twisted into the story we now know extremely well, captured my attention from the beginning as did the title. I feel I would have regretted it, if I hadn’t picked up that book, neglecting myself of all the wonders held among its typed pages. It was really upsetting when I found out that I had already finished the book, and I was hungry for more. It’s going to be hard to wait the two years until the movie comes out.

I rate the book with a 5 stars as it is by far the best book I have encountered and dared to read.

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LibraryThing member craso

Princess Alyss Heart is celebrating her seventh birthday with a grand party. Her mother Genevieve Heart, Queen of Wonderland, has invited all the suit families; the Lord and Lady of Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. Suddenly the palace is attacked by Redd, the Queen's sister, yelling "Off with their

heads!" Redd usurps the throne and threatens Alyss. Hatter Madigan, Genevieve's bodyguard, grabs Alyss and they escape through the Pool of Tears. They are separated, Alyss reappearing in Victorian London and Hatter in Paris. While Redd terrorizes her citizens in Wonderland, Alyss lives on the streets of London with other orphaned children. Hatter must find Alyss and bring her home to Wonderland so she can defeat Redd and take her rightful place on the throne.

The main theme of this story is that if you believe in yourself you can over come any obstacle. Alyss looses faith in her powers of imagination, because in London no one believes her stories of Wonderland, so she stops believing that Wonderland exists. Once she returns to her home world, she must relearn how to use her imagination so she can reign as Queen of Wonderland.

This was a very predictable story, yet I really enjoyed reading it. If you are looking for a simple and fun twist on the story of Alice in Wonderland, this book is for you.

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LibraryThing member phoebesmum

A real disappointment. A lot of people on various sites had been recommending it, so I gave it a try, but, oh. It's a good idea, and there are lots of amazing images, but the writing style and the characterisation are as flat and as thin as a pack of card soldiers. It came as no surprise to learn

that the author works in the film industry. As a script, this would be great, and I can see it making a marvellous film. But I shan't be reading the sequels.

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LibraryThing member PghDragonMan

If you’ve already seen the SciFi Channel’s adaptation or the Tim Burton version of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, you will probably be bored. At least I was. Frank Beddor does put a different twist on the story than the original, but it somehow, even ignoring the two versions mentioned

above, never quite grabs me. I did finish the story, I did enjoy it and I do want to continue with the other books, so I guess on some level, I have to admit the story does work.

Some of my dissatisfaction comes from Beddor borrowing too heavily from, of all things, Star Wars. Too much of Redd, the vicious ruler of Wonderland, trying to coax Alyss into giving in to her anger and other similar literary riffs for my taste. Hatter Maddigan is an easy double for Obi Wan. If the author had really been trying for a parody, this would have been great. Here, it is just entertaining.

Try and think of this as Jon Scieszka retelling the Wonderland story for a slightly older crowd; that helps.

If you like your classics simply retold or don’t mind worlds that are based on the classic tales, but without any new touches, avoid this series. If you think Tim Burton or Rolad Dahl is pure genius, you just might like this one.

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LibraryThing member joshua.pelton-stroud

A very cute children's book with a decent start, I was ultimately underwhelmed and disappointed by its lack of "Wonderlandish-ness". Though fantastic in nature, this could easily have been a story about a girl from any fantasy land. Nothing about the things that happen in, or the inhabitants of,

this Wonderland are very reminiscent of the beautiful and whimsical oddities from Carroll's books. As a fanciful children's book about a princess robbed of her Queendom, a solid 3-star rating would be applicable. As an attempt to add a twist on a master piece of children's literature, however, I felt Beddor's shoulders didn't quite fill the mantle he so valiantly tried to take up..

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LibraryThing member dbhutch

If you ever read Alice in Wonderland, then this is a book you MUST read! Bedoor does an incredible job of recreating Alice's tale - as she - Alyss, Princess of Heart remembers it, not the way Lewis Carroll wrote the tale - that she told him.
Much like how Gregory MacGuire has retold tales from

characters POV's such as the Elena in Wicked, Bedoor takes us to Wonderland, and all that is in that world where imagination is key and power. From childhood, thru her teenage years, and into adulthood, Alyss gets the training, and life experience she needs to be Queen in some very unorthodox and unexpected ways. Her life in London, as a homeless child, then an orphan in a hom, to being adopted, and forced to forget her past, and her betrayal by Carroll, all leads to her learing how to control herself, how to deal with problems, how to accept responsibility for more than herself, and how to survive. The lives of Carroll's characters shine in their roles in Bedoor's tale, such as the incredibly skilled Hatter Maden - the Mad Hatter - and his dedictation to bringing Alyss back to Wonderland after losing track of her in the Pool of Tears, to Bibwit Harte - the White Rabbit - Alyss's tutor in how to use her imgaginative powers, Bedoor brings them all to life as the champions of the Heart family to defend it against Redd.
And excellent book - one that once I started it - I could barely put it down - read it in a day.

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LibraryThing member ylin.0621

Okay I must admit that I have yet to watch the entire length of Alice in Wonderland movie and or ever touch the original book so I am as fresh as a newborn. However I will claim that I know the general gist…well the beginning half at least. The Looking Glass Wars features a much more morbid and

action packed tale than what I imagined to be.

Beddor does an excellent job at describing Wonderland, but what I found most impressive was the artwork. Applauds goes to Brian Flora, see his other works here. I depicted some of the characters way off so his artistry helped…a lot.

So in all The Looking Glass Wars was a so-so book. There was nothing really wrong with the book; it just did not captivate me. It was good while it lasted but forgettable once finished. Granted there were some scenes that stuck throughout the whole novel—the puddles, The Cat, the children—but things became a blur later. It’ll vary for some people because this book was so heavy on action and fight scenes toward the middle and end.

The first half was mundane though it did showcase Alyss’s descent of her powers and how the myth came to be. The characters seem one-dimensional most of the time with no room for growth, as I said very action based, with few dialogues that did not involve battle strategies or informing Alyss the current events. Because this is a trilogy, with The Looking Glass Wars as the first, I will be expecting a lot more development to them—demanding would be more proper it seems.

Despite this The Looking Glass Wars fascinated me enough to read the sequel (and it helps that I have it already). While the characters were less than extraordinary my interests has been piqued by a few: Jack of Diamonds, The Cat, Redd, Bibwit (notice how many of those are the bad guys).

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LibraryThing member sinshenlong

This is a book I had stumbled unto after some research and I was longing to read it ever since. First of all it declares that everything we know about Alice in Wonderland is a lie, and the true story was twisted for profit and entertainment, instead of its real purpose which was to expose the

reality of that world. That’s where the beauty of this book lies, in the twists Beddor has made to the classic tale. Where travelling takes place via reflective surfaces, where the White Rabbit is smart albino tutor named Bibwit Harte, where the Mad Hatter is skillful and dangerous bodyguard with a multitude of blades and sharp, hidden weapons, where The Smiling Cat is actually a malicious assassin and the Redd Queen is…well pretty much the same.

The plot is fairly simple. Alyss Heart was celebrating her seventh birthday much like any seven year old would, but her world was shattered when the kingdom of Wonderland was seized by her Aunt Redd. After a violent coup, her parents Queen Genevieve and King Nolan were killed, her best friend Dodge Anders was orphaned and Alyss herself was transported into our world, which was much different from Wonderland and where no one (in their right mind) would believe in the existence of her home. So with the future of Wonderland lying in this exiled princess, the story follows her life as she matures into an adult and the fate of Wonderland under Queen Redd’s rule.

Now the story is very straightforward, though the writing is so concise and simple that you could breeze through it in a short time if you wish. And the setting itself is very mature, with death, destruction, war and violence- which I came to expect when I first heard of the book. However the characters aren’t very engaging here- Redd is a very cliché villain, though it was entertaining watching people react to her temper. And Alyss and maybe Dodge to some extent are the only characters who grow somewhat as the story progresses. It was fairly good seeing her grow from a spoiled brat, to a humble and wise would-be Queen. But I would’ve still liked to see more- especially Hatter Madigan (luckily they’re two more sequels to check out).

All in all it’s a good read, especially for the world being presented here and hopefully the sequels would explore the characters a bit more. 3/5 stars.

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LibraryThing member princess-starr

While I love the concept of this book, there are points where I feel like the author wasn’t sure what audience he was writing for. Thematically, it’s a very dark take on the Alice books, complete with elements of steam and cyber-punk and I love the descriptions of the various weaponry. However,

Redd and Jack of Diamonds don’t really work as viable antagonists. Redd either evil laughs at every turn and while her childish personality works well for a take on the Red Queen, it comes off as quite childish at points. Jack of Diamonds only exists as a comically fat aristocrat to point and laugh at his ineptitude. However, the setting and thematic elements were enough for me to enjoy the book and even pick up the first sequel.

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LibraryThing member stephxsu

You thought you knew the story of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland… well, think again. Frank Beddor brings an exciting new glimpse into the much darker world of Wonderlandia, full of intrigue, mystery, dark magic, treason, and rebellion.

Princess Alyss Heart is 7 years old when her aunt Redd

leads a rebellion to overthrow her parents’ queendom over Wonderlandia. Black Imagination reigns, and followers of White Imagination must struggle to hide and survive or else be destroyed. The royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan, he with the famous top hat weapon, is charged with protecting Alyss in the world that lies beyond the Pool of Tears, but the two lose each other in the chaos.

Alyss, parents murdered, all friends lost, ends up in mid-19th-century London, where she is placed in an orphanage and then adopted by the well-meaning Lidells, who change her name and hush her ravings about the fantastic, magical world of Wonderlandia, until even Alice herself does not believe in her imagination.

On her wedding day, however, the now 20-year-old Alice Lidell’s world is suddenly turned upside down yet again, when phantoms from her past bring her back into Wonderlandia, into the midst of a war to kill her and end the Hearts’ right to the throne forever. Alyss meets up with all her old friends, including Dodge Anders, the guard who had been more than just a best friend, who was so scarred by the events of that fateful uprising day that he has allowed hate and revenge to feed him for years and years. In between relearning how to use her potent imagination, fighting off Redd’s armies, and then ultimately defeating Redd and reclaiming the throne for herself, Alyss must also try to reconnect with herself, her past, and the changed Dodge, in the hopes that their sacrifices of the past and present will make for a brighter, safer tomorrow in Wonderlandia.

Anyone who enjoys high fantasy and excellent retellings of classics will enjoy THE LOOKING GLASS WARS trilogy, of which this is the first. The action is fast-paced, the characters intriguing, the story and plot unique and mesmerizing.

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LibraryThing member highvoltagegrrl

Was hoping a book based on Alice in Wonderland would have been better. The lengthy fighting scenes always bore me and there were quite a few within these books. Many of the character changes happened in the blink of an eye, which felt completely off as others never changed at all throughout the

book.

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LibraryThing member wewerefiction

I first started reading this book a few months ago and found it exceptionally uninteresting. I chose it for the Once Upon a Time challenge to read this book because it meant I'd force myself to finish it. It didn't turn out to be quite as bad as I originally thought. The inside cover implied that

the whole book would be about Lewis Carroll's "imagined" retelling of Princess Alyss' Wonderland, as though the book would describe their relationship and struggles with writing the story of Alice in Wonderland. However, this was not the case (and, once again, I regret reading the back cover material!); what it turned out to be was completely different, and I enjoyed it.

Apparently the history of Wonderland parallels that of Earth, which you can gather from a timeline on the back pages, but there wasn't a lot in the actual text to evidence that. Indeed, the events in Wonderland were obvious cues to it, but while Alyss spent time on Earth, the reader was never introduced to much politics. It pretty much glossed over most of her experiences, but then later kept mentioning them as if they were absolutely vital to her reclaiming the Queendom in Wonderland. Nonetheless, I still encourage books like this written for younger minds to be able to better interpret their own history. These sorts of books always helped me when I was younger, though none of them ever really stole someone else's background.

As a story alone, the plot and everything of that sort, it was a very good book. However, I didn't like Beddor's taking Wonderland and running with it. I kept expecting to hear something about Hatter's past of being completely mad, and I was especially appalled at them eating doormouse feet! But I suppose I am just too big a fan of Alice in Wonderland to ignore all the details that were changed, and I wonder if they would at all be significant to a young adult for whom this book was intended.

Overall enjoyable but I won't be keeping the book. I'll probably make art out of it.

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LibraryThing member flipside3

While I found the concept fascinating, I wasn't impressed by the execution (insert "off with your head" joke here). Being filed in the Juvenal section at the library I was surprised at how bloody and violent it turned out to be. Mr. Beddor took a tale of childish wonder with a bent for the

nonsensical... and turned it into the book equivalent of an action movie.

I'm not saying the book is bad. It is worth a read, especially if you're interested in all things Wonderland. Just don't be surprised if you're left a bit wanting.

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LibraryThing member tapestry100

An imaginative retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Looking Glass Wars is the "real story behind the story." Many of the familiar characters are still here (Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Dum, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, and of course, Alice herself), but

Beddor has also cleverly imagined a host of new characters to flesh out his fantasy world.

It's a fast and fun read, and I think not only will fans of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland find the re-imagined characters interesting, but those never having read the original before will be able to enjoy this just as much.

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LibraryThing member lizzybeans11

While some of the dialogue was a bit awkwardly written, I enjoyed the premise of this story immensely! I love the integration of the real-life occurrences of Alice Liddell into her fantasy-self as well. There are a great many puns and plays-on-words that are quite amusing. I look forward to Seeing

Redd (the sequel) and the continued chaos that is the true Wonderland.

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LibraryThing member fantasmogirl

An interesting take on Alice in Wonderland. Though some of the sci-fi components bothered me, I have to say the book was quite good. I'm glad that it's the first in a series as the characters need to be built up and fleshed out more. Overall, a worthy read.

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