In The Looking Glass Wars, Alyss Heart is the young heir to the Wonderland throne, forced to run away when her Aunt Redd returns from exile and kills Alyss’s mother. Alyss finds herself in our world, lost, alone, and unable to return. Hoping someone from home will hear of her story, she confides her story to a priest. instead, the priest gets all the details wrong, thinking to take creative liberties and “make the story his own.” Ultimately, Alyss must find a way to return to Wonderland and reclaim her throne.
As someone who loves fairytale retellings, I was thrilled to discover this unique take on the story of Alice in Wonderland. One of the best elements of the book is the way it adjusts the characters we always knew. Mad Hatter becomes Hatter Maddigan, an agile bodyguard. The Cheshire Cat becomes deadly assassin The Cat. The White Rabbit becomes royal tutor Bibwit Harte (a good idea minus the fact that we now have two characters with the last names Heart and Harte). Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum become General Doppleganger…
The area where The Looking Glass Wars is particularly lacking is in the actual magical aspects. Alyss’s basic skill is that she has the strongest “imagination” of anyone in a long time. Ideas are created in Wonderland and then sent into the real world and Alyss is particularly skilled at making things up. What are the limits to a power like this? How do you really overpower someone in battle? We saw her battle the Redd Queen but I still found myself unclear on their actual abilities and limits–why not just imagine your enemy dead? There’s no coming back from that.
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