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The Looking Glass Wars
 
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The Looking Glass Wars (Hardcover)

by Frank Beddor (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd; 1st Edition edition (2 Sep 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1405209879
  • ISBN-13: 978-1405209878
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 15.4 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 241,332 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The first of his Alyss of Wonderland trilogy, Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars is a storming, imaginative tour-de-force that deserves to be not overlooked. Using Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as his inspiration, Beddor has created something new and original, something fresh and exciting.

Beddor imagines that Alice’s wonderland did indeed exist. That it was not fairy tale. Princess Alyss Heart was heir to the throne of Wonderland, but was cruelly usurped when her Aunt Redd stormed Wondertropolis and murdered her parents. Fleeing for her life, Alyss was transported to our world, to the world of Charles Dodgson and literary Oxford in the late 19th Century. Taken in by the Liddells, Alyss at first steadfastly refused to denounce her true bearing as fiction. But after years of convincing nobody of her origins and noble birth--Alyss Heart became Alice Liddell. And it was Alice Liddell who inspired Dodgson to write his legendary novel about her--despite Alyss’s accusations that he has cruelly twisted her story to make light of her heritage for entertainment.

Alyss’s Wonderland is an occupied land that must be freed. And Alyss eventually realises that she must once again go back to her true home and try to reclaim it. And it is going to be a bloody reckoning.

Beddor has pulled off a wonderfully complicated twist of creativity and his ambitious novel is on many levels enormously satisfying. The author has previously been a ski champion, stunt double and actor, but it is perhaps his continuing role as a Hollywood film producer that most influences his debut novel. The book is a visual feast that is begging to be made into a film. But for now, its life as a book is a deserved one. (Age 10 and over) --John McLay



Review

Alice in Wonderland gets an update in this first installment of a planned trilogy. Princess Alyss, driven out of her Wonderland kingdom by her evil aunt, Redd, suffers years of exile in Victorian England before her dedicated bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, finds her. Dragged back to the home she feared she had only imagined, it is now up to Alyss to rally her troops, drive out the usurper and claim her throne. Can she survive assassination attempts by the vicious Cat with nine lives, a spy amongst her faithful followers, a trek across the Chessboard Desert to Redd's fortress at Mount Isolation and a duel of White vs. Black Imagination? Penned by the producer of There's Something About Mary, it's clear that this version will make the transition to the big screen, as the book reads more like a screenplay than a novel. The action moves swiftly from one complex scene to the next; there is minimal character development and opportunities for rich detail are tossed away all too often in favor of simply moving the story forward. One can only hope it translates well to the screen. (Fantasy. 12-15) (Kirkus Reviews)

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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews
5 star:
 (16)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Why so grumpy?, 22 Sep 2004
By E. Laster - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
It seems necessary to counter some of the ridiculously negative reviews already posted. First, to criticize a book based on its marketing push (the fact that it's being touted as the true story behind Wonderland) is ridiculous (I am aware that very few people found the review in question helpful, but still). Why don't we review books on the basis of their cover art alone, or by the blurbs on their dust jackets? At least then we'll be criticizing some part of the actual, physical book, no? Similarly, I don't understand the relevance of mentioning that the author is a producer of so-called gross-out comedies. Are we holding the manner in which authors make a living against them? What are the acceptable livelihoods for a budding author? Somebody please get back to me.

Now, for the book itself: what are "genuinely imaginative" characters? Why is Bibwit Harte, a learned albino with extra-sensitive hearing who is Queen Alyss Heart's tutor, not a genuinely imaginative character? Why isn't Hatter Madigan, leader of an elite security force whose array of weaponry is unlike anything we've heretofore seen, a well-imagined character? Why are the creatures dreamed up in this novel, such as the gwynook or spirit-dane, not imaginative? Why are the weapons, such as cannonball spiders or bombs that build, not imaginative? The few nine- and ten-year-olds I know who've read the book, have done so in no more than two days -- a sure sign that they found the book imaginative and fast-paced.

Is Mr. Beddor's book gratuitously violent? I fail to see it. A coup takes place fairly early in the story, and the violence that occurs is necessary to emphasize the villain's merciless, unsympathetic character, as well as the behavior she expects from her underlings. Whatever violent episodes that exist in the book serve this kind of double purpose.

To better enjoy this novel, Lewis Carroll fans should probably keep in mind that it uses the Alice books as its inspiration, NOT as its template. It is nothing like Carroll's work, nor does it try to be.

Since it is so easy to "review" a book with broad, meaningless statements, let me do as my colleagues: The Looking Glass Wars is the best book I've read in the past two years.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Alice meets the Matrix, 14 Oct 2004
By Matt Sherlock (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
I'm a U.S. citizen who picked this book up on a trip to Ireland and it was a good read for the flight home. While it seemed written with an eye towards adapting it for the silver screen, I liked the re-imagined characters and the fight scenes were clearly written. I look forward to the next book in the series.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous, 30 Jul 2004
By A Customer
a wonderful spin on the alice in wonderland tale, reminiscent of gregory maguire's wicked. cat assassins, card soldiers, evil queens, and a network of looking glasses show that you can still turn an old story into something original.

Cant wait for the next one!

Brilliant!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars plain awful
I dare say, it has been said before but these books (I read part one and flipped trough part two) are really just plain awful. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Catriona

4.0 out of 5 stars THE CUT
OK not a bad book but he doesnt have good discription now this book has some amazing ideas such as THE CUT a set of robot cards pictured on the front cover but if he had not put a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. D. M. Siva-jothy

2.0 out of 5 stars Not For Me
To pun a little, I should like to lay my cards on the table; whilst I am obviously an avid fan of Carroll's original stories, I am quite happy to see his ideas re-imagined in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Red King Dreaming

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Fantastic
A wonderful book, a good twist away from the original Alice. Alyss of Wonderland must flee to our world when her evil Aunt Redd attacks, but after years of living among us, she... Read more
Published 8 months ago by R. Earl

3.0 out of 5 stars There's no wonder Alice is scared in this land
Beddor's Through the Looking Glass Wars in no way builds upon or develops anything from Carroll's original, what he does do is use the story as a vehicle. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jessica

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful alternative take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alyss Heart is a Princess in Wonderland who will one day become Queen. On the day of her seventh birthday however, Queen Genevieve's exiled older sister Redd attacks with her card... Read more
Published 22 months ago by rhinoa

5.0 out of 5 stars the looking glass wars is fab!
the looking glass wars is a really good book. it is about a girl called Princess Alyss Heart. she is celebrating her 7th birthday . Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Timothy M. Baldwin

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Purists
I bought a copy of the Looking Glass Wars while working in the States. It was an impulse buy and am having just finished the book I really enjoyed it. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2007 by J. L. J. Wilson

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too
I have a confession to make. I have never particularly cared for Lewis Carroll's (aka the Reverend Charles Dodgson's) ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2006 by TeensReadToo

5.0 out of 5 stars In one word? Amazing!
I loved this book. I remember as a very small child my mother reading me Lewis Caroll's book, but I didn't like it very much. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2006 by E. R. A. Hodge

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