Assignment #1

The first half of my book, The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, takes place in the world of Wonderland 12 years after a civil war; it is the year 1859 and happens to be the seventh birthday of the young princess Alyss Heart. While also her birthday, a large celebration known as Inventors' Parade is going on, where all the inventors in the land present their inventions in front of the entire queendom, Genevieve Heart.

During the festivities, Alyss' father, King Nolan is out on a quest to make treaty with the King Arch, the king of the neighboring nation of Borderland because the queens sister, Redd Heart, is trying to take the throne and rule all of Wonderland with the use of her Black Imagination which opposes the queendoms current use of White Imagination. Back at Heart palace in wonderland, Alyss gets restless and decides to play with her childhood friend Dodge Anders who after a little scuffle with Jack of Diamonds, lead Alyss outside of the palace where they found a cat with ta bow tie that read "Happy Birthday, Alyss".

While that was happening the negotiations with King Arch was not going so good and it ended with King Arch telling King Nolan that he would think about the negotiation some more. While on the way back King Nolan and his company are ambushed by Redd and they are killed. Back at Heart palace the cat that Alyss had picked up jumps out Alyss' hands and heads for the security room where the Cat transforms into a humanoid cat and slaughters everyone in the security room and lowers the defenses in to Heart Palace, allowing Redd and her army to enter Heart Palace allowing her to overthrow the Palace. During the battle Queen Genevieve entrust Alyss to her most trusted body guard, Hatter Madigan, who takes Alyss to the Pool of Tears where there is a legend that states all who jump into the pool never return, being chased by The Cat, Hatter has little choice but jump into the Pool of tears with Alyss where they appear in London.

I believe that Frank Beddor’s purpose of writing this book was to give the reader a different way of viewing the old story of Alice in Wonderland. He wanted to give his own spin of the story and tell the story a way that it has never been written before, similar to the way the story, “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” which is the story told by the wolf and is said by him, “What really happened.” This story provides the same thing which is said to be the “true story” of Alice in Wonderland, or maybe I should say “Alyss in Wonderland.”

Giving his own unique spin to the story is spectacular because it shows the authors creativity with a subject that has already written upon. It draws parallels with the original story of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but only with the bare minimum such as the name some of the characters and the realm of Wonderland. It really is a story on its own that is an amazing read. My reaction to Frank Beddor’s purpose was and still is, he did a great job on taking the children’s tale of Alice in Wonderland and spinning it into a newly created work of his own that stands alone form the works of Lewis Carroll.