To accompany this book, there is also a CD soundtrack to add another level to the narrative experience. Beddor worked with Canadian music supervisor Androo Mitchell to select and collaborate with the artists for the soundtrack. His stipulation was that the album had to work independently of the novel and he issued the following directive to the musical artists: “This is what this character or this chapter means to me, but what I really want is for you to make it personal for you.”
The result only adds to the concept of Beddor’s Wonderland, either by enriching the main narrative, or creating several retellings of Beddor’s idea. A lot of the tracks on the CD echo a sound that came into prominence in the mid to late 1990s but the effect – the emotional journey that Alyss experiences is vividly rendered.
The Looking Glass Wars also makes use of various media for narration, some of which is not entirely traditional to Wonderland. Alyss even has her very own MySpace page, being the resourceful and modern girl that she is.
There is also the official Looking Glass Wars website which has all sorts of interesting things such as storyboard artwork, selected tracks from the soundtrack to listen to online, information about the Hatter M. comic (about Alyss’ bodyguard), a trailer about the book, and many more delightful treats related to this mythic universe.
Is the world ready for yet another Wonderland tale, you might ask? Absolutely! Though this is specifically aimed at children from the ages of 10 upwards, it should attract a much wider audience. It has themes that both adults and children will find enticing – the journey to find one’s way back home, find one’s true self, and having the courage to be oneself where others would have you conform.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the trilogy develops, and to learn more about the ‘truth’ of Wonderland. Beddor is currently working on the second novel in the series entitled Seeing Redd, and also a screenplay for a full-length feature film.
Article comments
1 - Vikk Simmons
Great review! I'm interested and I'm hardly ten. The book even sounds as though it would be great for my 91-year old mom and my 8-year old granddaughter.
2 - Snarkattack
Thanks Vikk :)
Oh yes, this is totally recommended for the young and young at heart. Thank goodness we have two more books in the trilogy to look forward to!
I'm nowhere near ten myself, I do confess!
3 - mike
The book is easy enough to find, to bad its nearly impossible to find the soundtrack, and so soon after they were both supposedly released.
4 - Snarkattack
Hmm, that's a shame. Have you been on their official website? That's the only place I can think of that would have information about that. But you're right - it doesn't even seem to be listed on Amazon.
5 - K8lyn
I LOVE this book and I can't wait for Seeing Red, but I'm having troubles finding the website. This website called cPanel.com says that there is no website with this title and I've typed it in correctly, I'm positive. What can I do?
6 - Snarkattack
I'm afraid I can't find it either - I checked out the MySpace page which seems to indicate that the page hasn't moved or anything. Sorry about that! Maybe the site is down for maintenance?