The Looking Glass Wars

by Frank Beddor

For those who have read the immortal tales by Lewis Carroll (which should be everyone) here is a great retelling, if not elaboration, of that timeless story. Frank Beddor has done a great job of taking the story of Alyss and her time in Wonderland and immersing the reader into the truth of her life.

Looking Glass Wars, the first of a trilogy, pulls the reader into the life and death of Wonderland. After watching her Aunt Redd storm her mother’s castle on her seventh birthday and killing everyone she loved, Hatter Madigan, the Queen’s personal body guard, steals Alyss away; protecting her from Redd’s wrath until she’s old enough to rule. Just trying to escape Cat, Redd’s number one assassin, they jump into the Pool of Tears, which transports them to the Mundane world. During the trip they lose each other and end up in different places in Europe. True to his word Hatter Madigan spends years searching the world for her. While he searches, Alyss tries to survive on the streets of London with a group of street orphans until she’s caught and adopted by the Little’s.

Her life with the Reverend Little and his family gives Alyss the feeling of being an outsider, which her adopted sisters nicknamed her Odd Alice. After years of being ostracized by her adopted family and being made fun of for the last time by Lewis Carroll, she decides to act like the Mundanes and shuts herself off until her childhood friend, and love, Dodge Anders, pops back into her life and returns her back to Wonderland to take control of her kingdom.

Part three of the story is the fight between Queen Redd and Alyss. This book is hard to put down. It has some of the best fight scenes I’ve ever read. The imagination it took to come up with them astounds me let alone reading them with the actual story to enhance the beauty of it. The ability to use the imagination to fight is great in the story. It adds a lot of suspense that keeps the story going.

I couldn’t put this novel down, no matter how hard I tried. Having read the Lewis Carroll books in the past I was very interested in seeing what Frank Beddor did to the immortal tales of Alice and Wonderland. These novels were some of the first books that got me interested in fantasy. While reading The Looking Glass Wars the way the deck of card soldiers worked blew my mind not the mention the different spies and espionage that went on. I was on an emotional roller coaster while reading this, for the characters and civilians of Wonderland at the hands of Queen Redd, turning Wonderland into a Communist society where everyone is afraid for their lives. To feeling strong emotions for both Queen Redd, being abandoned by her parents, and Alyss, being utterly alone as an orphan after watching her Aunt kill them in front of her and living alone in the Mundane world. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, no matter what age. It’s a great coming of age story that also shows society having to age quickly in order to survive with all of the violence and hardships we go through, which is mirrored in our own society. Immerse yourselves into this story and after finishing wait with bated breath for the sequel, Seeing Redd.

 

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