ArchEnemy

ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars Frank Beddor

In this final installment of the Looking Glass Wars trilogy, all of Imagination is being held captive by King Arch. Loyalties are made and broken in webs of intrigue, betrayal and lies. If Queen Alyss is to save her queendom, it's once more onto the battle field, and back to Oxford and the Liddells.

If you liked the series so far, you'll like this. If you didn't then, move on along and find something else to tickle your fancy. I liked that there was still a lot of cool battle scenes with imagined weapons, but the back room deals and intrigue were much more pronounced in this one.

Also, we get such much more of the caterpillars, which was great. A most satisfying conclusion to a series I really enjoyed.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Waiting on Alice

I do love the Looking Glass Wars series.

I also like how the series goes beyond the actual trilogy without getting into heavy marketing tie-ins.

First off, there's the soundtrack which is an awesome concept, and an awesome album (but won't be everyone's cup of tea. Listen to the samples before you buy.) Then there are the games. Some are your basic on-line tie-in games that aren't completely unusual for books. But! There's also a role-playing game and a card game. And, there are the spin-off books.

Princess Alyss of Wonderland Frank Beddor

This is Alyss's scrapbook and journal that she kept while trapped in England. Lots of drawings, pictures, and even letters (that come out of the book) and a deck of playing cards. It doesn't really add to the series, but is a fun addition for mega-fans.

Yes, this is way below 100 pages, but I'm mentioning it because I thought I was going to use it for a paper I wrote in grad school but decided not to.

Hatter M: Volume 1 Frank Beddor with Liz Cavalier, art by Ben Templesmith

As far as I can tell, this was originally published as a series of comic books and then gathered and printed in an omnibus edition.

This graphic novel tells the story of Hatter M, while he's searching for Alyss in our world. Due to his awesome weaponry and martial arts skills, it's a great adventure that works really, really well in a graphic novel (full color!), almost better than it would in plain text. The only thing is that I think the graphic novel is aimed at adult readers of the series, even though the series (in the US) is published for middle grade readers.

I don't like talking about art, because I feel like I can't do it intelligently, but Templesmith makes awesome use of color.

AND! In October we finally get the last book in the trilogy, ArchEnemy, and a new volume of the Hatter M graphic novel, Mad With Wonder.

I'm super excited!

Alice in Wonderland

So, there's a new photo. It's very recent. 5 minutes ago recent. Also, I split up the blogrolls. There's the bookish ones and other cool ones. A lot of the other cool ones are ones my friends do. I have cool friends (dunno why they hang out with me ;) ) and their blogs are very cool. Check them out.

But, I promised you some books, right? These are both Alice-y. Check out this Alice jewelry that I'm lusting after (she has other great stuff too. Check it out.)

Here's a little story. I was hanging out at ALA, looking for ARCs, when some lady by me picked up a book to show her manly companion. I might have maybe shrieked. A little bit. When I saw the book. She said "you obviously need this" and gave it to me (there was a big pile, she still got a copy).

The book was Frank Beddor's Seeing Redd, the second in a trilogy and the follow up to last year's most awesome The Looking Glass Wars.

So, Alyss has regained her queendom, but peace is uneasy. The suit families don't trust the new queen and she doesn't trust them. There are factions all over trying to take advantage of the queendom's fragility in this time of rebuilding. And someone is plotting with the kingdom next door to invade Wonderland. Where is Hatter Madigan when you need him? And will Alyss ever get a moment alone with Dodge?

An excellent followup to the first that leaves even higher hopes for the third. The ending, like the second installment in all good trilogies, is a bit
Empire Strikes Back. What intrigued me most was the depiction of King Arch's kingdom-- a bastion of sexism and machismo. He despises Wonderland because he doesn't believe women can rule. Boarderland uses drug delivery systems to keep women under control, lets women be used as currency, and has slogans of manliness carved into the cliffs such as Boarderland men do not cry when watching sentimental crystal-vision programs with their wives. Boarderlandmen do not watch sentimental crystal-vision programs with their wives. But what promised to be an interesting examination of the sexism, gender roles, and machismo, puttered out after being rather strongly introduced. I'm hoping that it will come back in the third book.

Overall though, I actually liked this book better than the first (and I lurved the first one) because here Frank can really break through the constraints of retelling a story. He has his version of Alyss's world firmly in hand and can now let his imagination loose. I can't, can't, can't wait for book 3. Also! Beddor put out a soundtrack for these books!A Soundtrack! I can't wait to listen.

Full disclosure: As made obvious by the above story, this was a publisher provided ARC...

Alice In Sunderland by Bryan Talbot.

Do you know who would absolutely love this book? My dad. (Did you hear that Dad? Go to the bookstore and pick this up. Tonight-ish.) I think Fuse originally turned me onto this one.

Still, it was totally not what I was expecting what-so-ever. This is a rather madcap love letter to Sunderland, England. Giving us a tour of the town, teaching us its history, and outlining all of Lewis Carroll's and Alice's connections with the area. But he jumps all over and you're never entirely sure if he's telling the truth... you're also treated to a guide to the great pubs of Sunderland and an interesting history of comics. (He makes a compelling case for the Bayeux Tapestry as an precursor to the comic.)

Here's the text off a sample page: (he's discussing the village of Washington on County Durham)

Washington is derived from the Anglo-Saxon hwaes, meaning chieftain and ton meaning village. Here the Saxon thane has his wooden hall, later replaced by a medieval stone manor. Hail to the chief! In 1180, the Norman landowners take the name of their village, becoming the first Washingtons, the direct ancestors of George Washington, the first constitutional president of the U.S.A. Rebuilt in 1623 upon the foundations of its medieval predecessor, Washington Old Hall still displays the family coat of arms... three mullets over two bars: The Stars and Stripes "There's glory for you", says Humpty Dumpty. Old Glory, to be exact. It's also in the heraldic display of Hylton Castle... and is George Washington's personal crest. Not only is Washington related to the Lambtons and the Lumleys, but also to Alice Liddell and Queen Elizabeth II.

But what makes this utterly fascinating account most unforgettable is the artwork. This is, after all, a graphic novel. (Even thought I think Talbot would call it a comic book.) Talbot flawlessly mixes styles and mediums-- comic-style hand drawing with paintings with old newspapers and photographs, and with what looks like photoshopped pictures to look painted. A visual feast to go with the history and story of Alice and Sunderland.

This is a book to spend hours pouring over. Read it twice--you still won't catch everything.

And Dad? Seriously? Go get it.

Fairy Tales

Y'all know how much I love a good fairy tale retelling, so here's a slew of them that I can't believe I haven't blogged about yet. Plus, I'm just getting in the blogging groove for this weekend. That, and I've fallen behind on my New Year's Resolution to review 5 books a week or enough to keep up with current reading, whichever is less. After this post, I'll only be 9 books behind! Woo-hoo!

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Wonderland has just survived a bloody civil war and an uneasy peace reigns, but on Alyss Heart's seventh birthday, her Aunt Redd storms the palace with a rebel army. Alyss's parents are killed before her eyes and the young princess flees through a lake to Victorian London where her stories of Wonderland brand her as odd. Eventually, Alice (her new family forces her to change the spelling of her name) thinks she finds a friend who believes her stories. But when Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the details are all wrong. Alice knows she has been betrayed. Will she give up on Wonderland altogether? And what about the ragtag band of rebels, who call themselves Alyssians, who are fighting Redd's horror-filled regime?

Bador's action-packed adventure takes readers from Wonderland to England and back again, and shows us a different side of well-loved characters and places. An interesting (and bloody) twist on a classic story, this is the first in a trilogy-- I'm looking forward to the next ones.

This was also interesting because in Germany (where it was originally published) it was an adult book. My library has it in juvenile! It's also a great "boy book." Who would have thought to turn Alice into a bloody book about war and revenge?

Also, I won a Looking Glass Wars t-shirt that says "Wonderland Exists" on the back. It's awesome and really soft. I sleep in it all the time.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Did you like Ella Enchanted? Good. You'll like this one. Like Ella, this is a very loose retelling of a classic fairy tale; in this case it's Snow White.

Aza is not pretty. All of her life, people at her inn have made fun of her because her cheeks are too chubby, she is too wide, her hair is dull black, and her lips are too red. Although she is not pretty, Aza has a beautiful voice and in a country of singers, it sets her apart. Not only does she have one of the best voices in the country, but she can illusing--make her voice sound like it's coming from other objects and people. But when the new queen wants Aza to sing for her and deceive the entire kingdom, can Aza refuse? What will happen whens he gets caught?

Not only is this a creative and wonderful re-imagining of Snow White, but it is also an inspiring tale of self-confidence and inner beauty. I especially liked how Levine works in the dwarves.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

This is a fantastic treatment of Cinderella that has drawn a lot of comparisons to the work of Gail Carson Levine. Bella's mother dies during her birth and the infant is sent away to be raised by peasants. Her best friend is a prince, a lowly 4th son. The class differences lead to an awful snub, and then Prince Julian is sent away as a hostage for peace. Bella is called back by her father and, for the first time, learns her peasant family is not her family. And here we get some evil steps.

The great thing about this story is that Bella has some real agency and there isn't any magic. I'll tell you know that the fairy godmother does not make an appearance in this book-- Bella does what has to be done for herself. It's lovely, really.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

I first got this book on book order in late elementary school. (Man, I miss book orders. Do they still have those? Am I going to totally embarrass my kid by ordering all the $2 books for myself?) I never read the book. I eventually weeded it or gave it away or something.

Two summers ago, my friend Elizabeth and I were talking in the post Half-Blood Prince funk. I was filling it by rereading the The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She was rereading Beauty.

I still didn't get to it until September. Because I'm a freak (plus, dude, I read it in September and am blogging about it NOW?!)

Anyway, it's great and you should read it and I wish I had read it the first time around because I would be rereading it all the time now.

Beauty is not as pretty as her older sisters-- the name is ironic. She is gangly and awkward, but smart and quick-witted. Her father becomes financially ruined and the family must relocate to a small cottage in the northern countryside. There, in the forest abutting their lands is the Beast's castle. Beauty trades herself for her father because really, she doesn't have that much else to do. You know the story. McKinley writes beautifully and adds several layers of complexity and makes it much more real.

Beauty Sleep: A Retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" by Cameron Dokey

I had to read this for work. While not as good as Beauty, this is still a great one. Dokey has written several retellings, and they're all my to-read list.

We know the set up-- Aurora's parents invite fairies to her christening. The bad fairy isn't invited but shows up anyway and curses Aurora out of spite. Her parents coddle her and keep her away from sharp things but she pricks her finger anyway...

But in this story she doesn't prick her finger. She doesn't fall asleep and weird things start happening. Aurora knows she has to cut herself to save her kingdom, but how? Enter the magical forest...

I'm most looking forward to Dokey's The Storyteller's Daughter which retells Scherezade's story from Arabian Nights.

The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber

I didn't like this one as much. I didn't like any of the characters. In the end, I think Gruber just tried to work too much in, which just didn't work, because they felt crammed in, like when I put a tiny sliver of a Kraft single into the lasagna just so I can claim it has one more cheese in it... Also, the ending felt really rushed.

What it does have going to for it is the fact that it's a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and how often do you see that? And, it's more of a "boy book" than most fairy tales re-tellings are. If he had stuck just to Rumpelstiltskin and didn't try to work in every other fairy tale in the Western cannon, I think the book would have been a lot tighter and then the ending wouldn't have to rush so much. Gruber adds a lot of very interesting detail to Rumpelstiltskin's story-- to the point where I didn't realize it was actually a fairy tale retelling and that's where it was going until really deep into the book.

Also, the fact that I didn't like the characters is not the fault of faulty writing-- I wasn't supposed to. On the other hand, if you have a cast of unlikeable people, there has to be something else going on to make me want to finish your book. Lolita has great prose that kept me going, this one... I don't know. The cover's pretty cool though.

I was also going to talk about Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape, but the new Fables, Sons of Empire, should be on my doorstep on Wednesday, so I think I'll review the two together then...