No accounting for taste
Jul 16
2009
Speaking of vastly overrated books with serious marketing mojo, I picked up this at my local library a few days ago:
This, dear readers, is a scrapbook-style book that serves as a companion to Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars series. The plot (such as it is) is a summary of Beddor's first novel as told by a "Historian Emeritus" via admittedly pretty artwork, pictures, maps, and letters. There's also a card game included at the end of the book.
I first ran across Beddor's series in England, several years ago. It was initially released there as an unassuming paperback with great cover art, and I (a lifelong Alice fan) happily picked it up, but found the storyline forgettable and Beddor's re-imagined "Alyss" unsympathetic. I was very surprised, then, when I encountered a far more imposing hardback version of the novel here in the States a year or two later, and even more taken aback when I discovered the publisher had planned sequels, a graphic novel adaptation, even a soundtrack... and now this. Seriously, this series is just not that good. When will the tie-ins end?
This, dear readers, is a scrapbook-style book that serves as a companion to Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars series. The plot (such as it is) is a summary of Beddor's first novel as told by a "Historian Emeritus" via admittedly pretty artwork, pictures, maps, and letters. There's also a card game included at the end of the book.
I first ran across Beddor's series in England, several years ago. It was initially released there as an unassuming paperback with great cover art, and I (a lifelong Alice fan) happily picked it up, but found the storyline forgettable and Beddor's re-imagined "Alyss" unsympathetic. I was very surprised, then, when I encountered a far more imposing hardback version of the novel here in the States a year or two later, and even more taken aback when I discovered the publisher had planned sequels, a graphic novel adaptation, even a soundtrack... and now this. Seriously, this series is just not that good. When will the tie-ins end?
Posted by: Julianka
No new comments are allowed on this post.
Comments
Sheryl
While browsing in a bookstore, I saw the graphic novel, M. Hatter: The Looking Glass Wars: Volume One, and thought, "This looks like an intriguing interpretation of the Alice books; I'll give it a try." Far more than the money I squandered on the thing, I begrudged the time I spent reading the book and wondering when it was going to get good and use some of the cool concepts and potential it had. The art ranged from lovely to "In a hurry, were we?" and the story made me wish that I was doing something more interesting than reading the book... like maybe washing my socks.
So, I anticipate that this series will be translated into the next major motion picture series, and be just about as engaging in that format.
Yulianka
Anything intriguing in Beddor's series comes from his source material--otherwise, I suspect his creative process was limited to: "I'm gonna take Alice in Wonderland and make it, like, Goth. People will totally pay for that!"
And, sadly, I have paid for that. I am such a sucker....