Looking Glass Wars = Read

First, let me start by apologizing.  I had meant to keep you informed of my progress with reading this book, but I got into it and couldn't stop.  Next thing I knew, I was finished.  I guess that's the sign of a good book.

So, I've always loved books that retell a classic story. They take the elements of what makes the story so good and weave it into their own tale.  This one to me was no different.  Beddor takes Carroll's classic tale of a young girl who falls into a rabbit hole and completely reinvents it into a world of adventure pinning good vs. evil.  The original does the same with Alice vs. the Red Queen.  The difference with this book, Alyss is from Wonderland and Red is her aunt.

Princess Alyss in next for the thrown of Wonderland which is currently run by her mother, that is until her Aunt Red comes into the picture.  Furious about being overthrown by her younger sister, Red gets revenge killing both the Queen and King, leaving Alyss orphaned.  Alyss escapes with Hatter to our world.  Separated, Hatter feverishly searches for the princess, while Alyss is must conform to the reality of her new life.

One of my favorite parts, she gets adopted by the Liddells and meets Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author of the original tale of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll himself.  Beddor actually takes real life events and plays them out in his retelling.  Just like real life, they go on a boat ride together.  The difference, it's Alyss who tells him the tale of Wonderland and he takes her stories to create Alice in Wonderland and it's through this book that gives Hatter the clue he needs in finding the lost princess.

My absolute favorite part of this story is the idea of imagination being a form of magical powers.  In Wonderland there are two forms, White Imagination and Black Imagination.  No doubt which categories Alyss and Red fall into.  What makes me like it so much is that one of the main themes in Carroll's version was imagination.  The fact that imagination can be so powerful it makes a little girl believe she was in fact in a fantasy world where a queen wanted to cut off her head.  In Beddor's version, he uses imagination as a form of a weapon, away for Alyss to avenge her parents and get back the crown that belongs her.

I could in fact keep going, but I want to leave some good parts for you to find out yourself.  Check back after June 16th and find out what the rest of the book club thought of Beddor’s version of Alyss in Wonderland as well as what our next book will be.

Till then.