ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars

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Discover the fate of Wonderland- and imagination itself- in this riveting conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy. The Heart Crystalâs power has been depleted, and Imagination along with it. The people of Wonderland have all lost their creative drive, and most alarmingly, even Queen Alyss is without her powers. There is some comfort in the fact that the vicious Redd Heart seems to be similarly disabled. Amazingly, she is attempting to team up with her enemy, Alyss, in order to reclaim Wonderland from King Arch. Alyss might have no choice but to accept Reddâs overtures, especially when she begins to receive alarming advice from the caterpillar oracles. Page-turning and complex, this culmination of the Wonderland saga is intensely satisfying.

Features:

ISBN13: 9780803731561
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product details:

Item number (ASIN): 0803731566
Author: Frank Beddor
ISBN: 0803731566
Manufacturer: Dial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Package Dimensions: 140 x 600 x 910 (hundredths-inches)
Publication Date: October 15, 2009
Publisher: Dial
Reading Level: Young Adult
Binding: Hardcover

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Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Better than anything Burton has to offer...
This isn't the Wonderland you remember. The dastardly King Arch has banished the power of Imagination from Wonderland, leaving both Queen Alyss and her sinister aunt Redd powerless in the face of Arch's overwhelming military forces. With the queendom in peril from all sides and the caterpillar oracles manipulating events to serve their own mysterious agenda, Alyss will journey across Wonderland and Earth on a quest for answers. //Archenemy// is a direct sequel to //Seeing Redd//--so much so that I'd recommend a reread before plowing forward with this one--and it does an admirable job of wrapping up the multitude of story threads left dangling by the previous book. It doesn't maintain the same sense of wonder that permeated the first book, but the exchange for noteworthy characters and exciting moments galore is more than fair. The parallel journeys of Homburg Molly and Hatter Madigan in particular are rich in emotional turmoil and enthralling storytelling. Frank Beddor's reimagining of Alice's world is nothing less than a tour-de-force, and in total, it's a delightfully dark new look at a literary classic. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas

Rating:

- A Most Satisfying Ending
As I finish The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy I am left with a sense of completion, as well as a bit of bewilderment. Let me explain: I love Alice in Wonderland and pretty much anything to do with it. I was really excited that Beddor undertook the task of re-imagining Wonderland in a way that felt completely real and just right to me. In a bit of serendipity, I purchased the first book when I was in Oxford, England years ago following in Carroll's footsteps...visiting Christ Church College, the Alice windows there in the dining hall, even the Alice shop! I've even been following the Hatter M graphic novels and am upset that I haven't yet purchased the diary called Princess Alyss of Wonderland (especially now that I see it appears that its becoming more difficult to get). My qualm is this: despite loving these books, and I mean LOVING them, I wonder who the intended audience is. Many kids know Alice through the Disneyfied version, not the Carroll one. Would that be enough to incite them to read these? Should they know the text of the original story before delving into these? (To that, I say it's not necessary, but being the bibliophile I am, I would recommend it...) Is Beddor's audience intended to be an either/or of girls/boys or both? I am no huge fan of war stories...but I didn't mind them in this series. Beddor's imagination is fantastic: the weapons and the names of the characters fall in a Carroll-like state to me, the back story on Redd is great (much how I loved Wicked for the back story on the Wicked Witch of the West), the inclusion of more than one caterpillar and explaining them a bit more, and even taking us in directions we may not have expected the characters to take. All in all, this is a great conclusion to this trilogy. It's believable, and will keep you on the edge of your seat as you try and determine just who Everqueen is, what will happen to the Heart Crystal, Arch, Redd, Alyss, Dodge, and just what in the heck are those caterpillars up to, because let me tell you, I didn't trust them at all! They were a little too sneaky for my tastes, but they are also a big part of the story that I enjoyed following. I really don't want to discuss the story itself other than that, because this is an adventure best left to discover on your own. Just know that this is a series that I find to be worth your time to read, especially if you love Alice! Notes on the Cover: I am quite sure I am supposed to know what type of character is on the cover, but I'm drawing a blank. It's probably an Alyss supporter as there are hearts on his armor, I know it's not Dodge, Hatter M, Bibwit or General Doppelganger...oh well. It's still striking and definitely brings thoughts of fighting and war to your head.

Rating:

- Once again, no character depth and far too many clichés
*spoilers* In my reviews of the first two books of this series, I stated that I had hopes this book would redeem the series. Well, it didn't. I have the same complaints I had of the previous two books. There were far too many clichés and there was a great lack of character development. Also, I still feel like I know little to nothing about Wonderland. I know it's different than Earth, but that's about it. The ending felt like it was rushed. I had hoped to see a violent end to Arch and Redd, but didn't. I realize this is a book for kids, but come on now, nearly all of the characters are adults...and this is a war. I want to say that I hope more books will be written since I still like the original concept of this series very much. However, given the writing style of the author, I don't think I'll like the others much either. This should have been a movie or a cartoon series. On a positive note, this series is an easy read and perfect for any young casual reader. I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed it very much when I was a kid (LONG ago). So why am I picking on a book for kids? Because it could and should have been great for adults too! Also, I'm not sure why, but the cover of the book was plain black (not the dust jacket). The covers to the other two were very nice and had the same image the dust jacket had. Not sure why the publisher went cheap on the third book. Perhaps I ordered the wrong version of the book???

Rating:

- A fun conclusion - could have been tighter
I'd waited excitedly for the conclusion to this trilogy in the "real" Wonderland. The concept of a "real" wonderland beyond the cartoony nonsense/caricature world was certainly intriguing to me and I had a lot of fun with the world Beddor had already created. I really enjoyed the first novel in the series. The second one fell a little flat for me but was still enjoyable and left us hanging onto a cliff waiting for the exciting conclusion to the events that were set up. Some of my complaints with the earlier two books are still present. The writing really isn't anything "to write home about." Much of the dialog is trite and the onomatopoeia that accompanies many of the action/battle sequences can be a little distracting. The characters are alright, but many of them feel a little flat most of the time. Accepting the fact that this is a book written for young(er) boys, I was able to forgive the "literary merit" of the Looking Glass Wars series (being sure to point out that this isn't a book for Wonderland purists or for classical literary enthusiasts/purists). I also acknowledge that Beddor is a moviemaker and these novels definitely feel poised to be presented cinematically. My biggest complaint with this novel specifically was the use of "foreshadowing." There are two particular instances that absolutely distressed me. The first instance happens on the first page....the novel "begins" with a scene in which Queen Alyss is fighting with an assassin to save some friends and then tries to make her escape from danger. There is a "date" associated with the event and if you look at the date, you'll notice that it's in the future as compared with the rest of the novel. It's possible that Beddor is playing with this a bit to make this be an "alternate future" seen by the Oracles or something...but he doesn't explain any of that. Instead, he just presents this VERY CRITICAL scene and lets it sit there. Unfortunately, this scene is a HUGE plot point that I feel would have been better presented as a big surprise in the normal course of events. The implications of this scene are enormous. However, I have 200+ pages to contemplate their enormity before the scene 'actually' happens (almost verbatim, I think). As a result, when the scene actually happens, it has lost almost all of its impact and I'm not surprised nor does it feel like any sort of climax. Furthermore, it makes "secret" motives from King Arch a lot less secret. I know a lot of authors like to include a sort of Prologue to stores...and it's alright to have a Prologue act as a foreshadowing...but come on, don't make it an exact presentation of a highly critical and exciting scene that happens at or near the climax of the book. Talk about destroying your story arc! The second instance of failed foreshadowing was a little less disturbing/dramatic, but was still a little troubling. Early on, we have a scene where one of the Caterpillars appears to Molly and gives her a vision. While I can try to infer the exact importance of that vision and what the Caterpillar was trying to do, I cannot come to any definitive or acceptable conclusion. I can see where "maybe" this 'prophecy' puts some events into motion (maybe...) but even then, the actions that Hatter/Molly take seem peripheral to this prophecy rather than directly impacted by it. At the very end of the novel, Molly does have a critical role to play, but it still seems a bit of a stretch even for the hugely enigmatic message from the Oracle. If this prophecy was truly important, the author should have made its importance more apparent. All of that aside, I did enjoy the way this third novel wrapped up the series. I enjoyed the growth in Alyss' character as she acknowledged the responsibilities of being queen and champion of White Imagination and as she then rose to the occasion to try and exemplify that role while at the same time being a compassionate and loving friend. Dodge's character took on similar growth, albeit to a less dramatic extent. Hatter and Molly seemed to expand as well, though their character's evolutions were largely minimized which made me a little sad. Most of the other characters were slightly fleshed out stereotypes which, while interesting (especially the dynamic between Arch and Rose) were not terribly compelling. The strangest characters, which figured prominently in the book, were the Caterpillars. Because of their prominent involvement in the plot, I can't say much...but I think I would have liked to have seen (even though I really didn't like their dialog style) more scenes focussed on the Caterpillars. The story arc was enjoyable and the tumult of activity within Wonderland was exciting to follow. I was very curious about the "Anti-Imaginationists" and would have enjoyed more details about them, even though they were largely puppets in Arch's plan. Rose's army was still very creepy and I love some of the details there. The ebb and flow of Imagination's power from the Heart Crystal felt underplayed and/or under-explained, but it did provide nice tension to the fluctuating balance. The climactic flow and the final wrap up felt rather weak and somewhat contrived (the weakness largely due to the failed foreshadowing I mentioned above as well as lack of development in some key points such as the Imaginationist prison camps or the tension between Rose's assassins and those they were forced to work with). The creation of "Everqueen" (which was considered as an alternate title to the book) left me somewhat confused and slightly dissatisfied. Everqueen had been alluded to briefly a couple of times and when Everqueen was finally presented, there was not sufficient elaboration on the importance/significance. Again, since this came from the Caterpillars, it's fitting with their character, but I would have loved to have perhaps seen Bibwit expound on the virtues of Everqueen or something. Looking back on this (lengthier than I anticipated) review, I have a lot of complaints. Perhaps I'm being too critical...because I really did enjoy this story. I think I was just hoping for more out of the book. It's an entertaining book and a fun and intriguing story in a cool world with cool characters...but it is also definitely a "fluff" book whereas I saw potential for deeper, more thought provoking themes. Overall, recommended for adventure seekers who are looking for some light reading. You probably shouldn't jump right into Book 3...you may be able to start in Book 2, but I personally liked Book 1 the best, so I'd suggest just reading the series as it's presented. **** 3 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Good Last Installment - bad editing!
This book was a really great end to the Looking Glass Wars. The only problem I had with it, is that there are three incredibly noticeable typos, which is a lot for such a short book. Other than that, it was a great book and I loved it!