Did we read the same book? Because as far as I could tell, it was abundantly clear that Alyss told the Looking Glass Wars version of Wonderland to Lewis Carroll who used her story as inspiration to write our world's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The whole point was that Carroll's version got the details mixed up because he adapted them fro a seemingly-delusional girl's story. Do you honestly believe that Beddor thinks he is writing the "true" account of Wonderland? Yeah, no. He took inspiration from the real-world books and used them to create an Alternate Interpretation of Wonderland. He did to Wonderland what Gregory Mc Guire did to Oz in Wicked. Mc Guire's not a smug asshole who didn't read the source material - he was inspired by the source material to tell a different story, au fanfiction style.
It's a bad book. Don't act so insulted towards someone with a different opinion than you.
Leave a Comment:
So bad it's horrible
The sheer awfulness of this book defies all description. Frank Beddor definitely wins first prize for smuggest author of the century, hands-down. Do you want to know how bad it was? It was worse than the Tim Burton film, that's how bad it was. Has this so-called author even read the original books? Judging from the extreme bastardisation of them, probably not. I'm guessing he's probably skimmed through the first one a bit, watched the Disney film, got drunk and attempted to write an actual novel. And failed miserably.
Beddor's pathetic attempts at metafiction are soon forgotten. I was not for one minute convinced that there was any grain of truth in what he was saying, especially when he gets his facts wrong IN THE PROLOGUE. The Tweedles only appear in Through the Looking-Glass, not Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Do the bloody research! And while he has done some research, he hasn't done nearly enough. Anyone up-to-date on Carrollian history can see through it easily enough.
Now, Beddor claims that his book contains graphic violence that may be unsettling for some readers. Apart from one solitary scene, it doesn't. Beddor has made it clear he doesn't even like Carroll's books. So why bother deliberately insulting them and their fans? Beddor's smugness is disgusting, the way he barges in claiming his is the "true story of Wonderland" and Lewis Carroll's is inferior and false. And the way Dodgson is portrayed in the story... The less said of that the better. Beddor has no knowledge of the books, their characters or themes. Many do not even appear, and when they do they barely even resemble the ones they were based on. Hatter Maddigan is for some reason a good guy. The Cheshire Cat is for some reason a bad guy. The White Knight (one of the most important characters) is depressingly wasted and characters like the Duchess do not even appear.
This book shall only be enjoyabe to those who have no knowledge of Wonderland whatsoever, as it shall otherwise cause extreme wallbangers the whole way through. Read a good Alice-inspired work instead, such as Pandora Hearts, Alice in Sunderland, Night of the Jabberwock or Automated Alice. Or the original books themselves. Funny, isn't it, how a book that puts so much emphasis on the powers of imagination has so little imagination itself.