Series:  The Looking Glass Wars

Author:  Frank Beddor

Titles:  The Looking Glass Wars (1), Seeing Redd (2), ArchEnemy (3)

Format:  Hardcovers

Genre:  Fantasy/Adaptation

Read:  2010

Rating:  A

Synopsis (from bn.com):  The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook. The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss' parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts. 

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An amazing twist to an already twisted classic.  Alice in Wonderland has been told and retold and revamped more times than I can count, sometimes with success and sometimes not.  Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars trilogy is the successful kind.  With amazing characters and an entirely new outlook on the Wonderland story, Beddor's series blends fantasy with science fiction, making this the first ever steampunk version of Alice's story.

Alyss, Hatter, and Dodge are amongst my favorite characters, with strong and relatable personalities.  They not only have to deal with fantastical drama but with the everyday kind as well, like dealing with a teenage daughter and making a relationship work.  This makes them seem even more real.  As for their foe, Redd is a vicious and evil villain; her character is so amazingly developed that you can feel her darkness.

An exciting and entirely original adaptation, The Looking Glass Wars trilogy is a must read.  A