Hi there!
Welcome back to the Friday edition of Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Still pecking right along on the OLD laptop, but despite its inability to break the speed of light, it's holding its own...for now. Survey says....I see a new addition, nay the ONLY addition to my birthday/holiday wish list. Anywho...
This week has been a mixed bag reading wise with jumps from Children's Fiction to Storybooks and even Military infused Fiction. Today, we're landing feet first in the wild wonders of Young Adult with a title that's bound to catch your fancy, give it a makeover, and send it straight back to you even more wonder-filled than before. It's just that good! Before I get too far ahead of myself into a future that may never be, allow me to introduce today's ebook of choice...
by
David D. Hammons
(HB) 9781620077160 | (EB) 9781620077146 | (PB) 9781620077153
About the book....
Ater ten years of being told she can’t tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she’s going crazy. Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real. But all is not well in Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful. But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows. Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're all mad here...
...but just enough to keep things interesting.
I gotta say, it was a WONDERFUL read (no pun intended...or perhaps there was... ^-^). I enjoyed every minute of it from the flick of the first page to to the final moments. The hardest thing for me wasn't just putting it down (though that was REALLY hard...and I intend on buying a tree copy as soon as it releases) but deciding how and what to say about it all.
I could have said...a girl travels to another world, incites a war in an effort to restore what's been taken, all while trying to get back to where she was taken. It sums it up in a round about way but much like the Ace of Spades, all the WONDER is sucked right out of it. So, I was back to square one...how oh HOW to share this tale!
I could have also went along the lines of...there's this girl, named Alice. Remember her? Well she gets kicked down a rabbit hole by her formerly good friend W.R. (White Rabbit) and lands in a topsy turvy version of what was called Wonderland. I know, right? How could it POSSIBLY get any more crazy? Well, it does. She meets the new ruler, the old ruler, the memory of the Cheshire Cat, the Hatter before and after the wonder is sucked right out of him, and a whole cast of Wonderland familiars. Then, oh but then she travels to Never Never Land and meets Peter (much more swoon worthy here) and the Lost Boys and Tinkerbelle who isn't really...and the crocodile who isn't really...and then Hook who is REALLY...and with that, I've no longer written a review, but another version of the book when I finished my verbal barrage.
In reality, the best I could do without giving everything away is this. It's a Young Adult Fantasy novel for those of the target age and WELL beyond. The perfect fit for those that aren't usually into this particular sub genre, such as myself. I usually avoid the more intense Fantasy reads simply because there is SO much world building (which is wonderful) that I literally have to take notes to follow what in the blazes is going on with any clarity. Enough though this one from an outside perspective is enough to turn your head round and round and round, it has its basis in FAIRYTALES...the ones that most of us grew up with (or continue to grow with). So all that complex world building comes from a place that's familiar making the twists and new takes on them THAT much easier to roll with, thus allowing the stories intricacies and complexities to shine through.
In conclusion, a WONDERFUL read...wait, I already said that. Umm, a magical voyage through the pages that reminds us that books are powerful portals to worlds and adventures untold...if only we've the imagination to explore them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author...
While visiting Cambridge during my time studying abroad, I tried to sneak into C. S. Lewis’s old apartment. I wanted to stand where the old master stood. I wanted to glean bits of imagination that no-doubt still clung to those walls. A locked door barred my path, and I fled to the safety of the campus pub.
It has been my goal to live a life that is notable as the life of that master of writing. I’ve climbed the slopes of Machu Picchu, swam in Loch Ness, smuggled ice cream into China, and made moonshine in my hometown. I studied writing and business in school, and gave up a position in my family’s Black Walnut company to chase my dream. Life, if you make it so, can be an adventure.
Despite all my adventures, there is no greater journey than that which can be found in a book. It was cartoons that got me into writing, works meant for children that as an adult fascinated me with their joyful outlook. It was the old masters, Lewis, Tolkien, Hemmingway, Vonnegut, who challenged me to live an adventure of a life, and then write even greater adventures in books. Perhaps one day I’ll make it into that old Cambridge apartment. Perhaps one day I’ll be invited.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks to Rhea and Clare at Curiosity Quills for the ebook for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher and their complete catalog, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is set to release 09/28/15 via Curiosity Quills Press, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.
Until next time...happy reading!
Glad to see this is also available a a paper copy.
ReplyDeleteWow this is all very confusing in a good way I. Know ill need to take my time so as not to miss anything thanks Once again to our brilliant reviewer who performed this laborious task
ReplyDelete