Journal Entry 1 by Fire-Dragon from San Francisco, California USA on Sunday, February 06, 2005

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

Synopsis
Alyss, born in Wonderland, is destined to be a warrior queen. After a bloody coup topples the Heart regime, Alyss is exiled to another world entirely, where she is adopted into the Liddell family, renamed Alice and befriended by Lewis Carroll. At age 20 she returns to Wonderland to regain her sceptre, battle Redd and lead Wonderland into its next golden age of imagination.

Other reviews are less kind. See this article on The Independent website (you will need to cut and paste the link): http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/news/story.jsp?story=537925

My friend Ben left this book with me to BookCross. I might read it first, I might not. 

Journal Entry 2 by Fire-Dragon at on Saturday, February 12, 2005

Released 7 yrs ago (2/12/2005 UTC) at

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on a bench in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Art. Loads of people were there for the excellent Turks exhibition so hopefully it found a good home. 

Journal Entry 3 by martinaperry on Monday, February 14, 2005

I was delighted to see the book on the bench at the Royal Academy! I don't know how long it was there for before I saw the yellow logo in the corner of my eye. I'd been hoping that I would see a recently released book for some time.

It looks interesting and I will try and read it very soon.

It has also encouraged me to release some of my own so that others can experience the pleasure of catching a book!