The Looking Glass Wars is a rollicking literary reinterpretation of the Alice in Wonderland universe sure to cast a spell on its targeted young adult audience as well as older readers. In this version, Alice is a magical princess who tumbles from Wonderland to our world, setting off a string of adventures in both realms.
Young Princess Alyss Heart witnesses a gruesome Wonderland palace coup by her evil Aunt Redd before being hustled to safety in our world by her family’s loyal and deadly bodyguard, Hatter Madigan. Unfortunately, their unstable transportation portal to our world results in Alyss ending up alone in England, while Madigan lands in France. Over the next dozen years, Alyss learns to forget about Wonderland and accept her adopted family while Madigan carries out a fruitless, worldwide search for her.
Meanwhile, Wonderland endures the tyrannical rule of Redd and assumes that Alyss is dead, with all residents losing hope except for a small band of rebels. Alyss recounts her Wonderland days to a local author who twists her stories into mere shadows of the truth and publishes them as bestselling Alice books under the pen name Lewis Carroll. The resulting unwelcome success of the books and her advancing age cause Alyss to repress her Wonderland memories and eventually believe that they were just a fantasy after all. Ultimately, the future of Wonderland hinges on Madigan’s ability to locate and convince Alyss to return to her rightful place as the savior of the kingdom.
This is the projected first chapter of a trilogy, but the arc presented here is a fully contained story that doesn’t leave viewers hanging at the end. While the initial setup is slightly protracted, the ensuing fast-paced action and interesting twists make this a real page-turner sure to keep many young readers and their parents up past their bedtimes. It’s especially interesting to see characters we know from the books and Disney film in completely different, darker permutations. The Mad Hatter is a brutal bodyguard, the Cheshire Cat is a huge and vicious henchman for the evil self-appointed Queen Redd, and even the playing card soldiers are chilling, robotic constructs that pose a serious threat.
Article comments
1 - Katie McNeill
Wow, he is really going all out. I wonder how long it will take before he sells the movie rights, or has he already? I'll have to go check out the website.
Thanks for the review, I'm adding this one to my list.
2 - tink
I'm with Katie...added to my list as well!!
3 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Snarkattack! Do you not remember that I chose your review for "Pick of the Week" at the time?
4 - katey
i think The Looking Glass Wars was one of the best books i ever read! i think it should be turned into a movie with real people because with animation, it won't be as dramatic or exciting. when you have just animated people, you just don't see the emotions as well as you would in a real movie.