Seeing Redd

Title: Seeing Redd
Author: Frank Beddor
Publisher: New York : Dial Books (2007)
ISBN: 9780803731554 0803731558 9781428755949 1428755942
Pages: 371
Characters: Alyss Heart, Redd Heart, Hatter Madigan, Dodge Anderson, Bibwit Hare, Homburg Molly, King Arch
Bookmarks: 3 1/2

In Seeing Redd, Beddor has re-imagined Wonderland. There has been a war between Redd Heart and her niece, Alyss Heart with Alyss coming out the victor. Alyss has taken over the throne and is trying to set everything in Wonderland back to how it should be, but is finding it a difficult task. Unfortunately, her neighbor King Arch is plotting to use a secret weapon against Wonderland. To further complicate matters, Redd has returned from where she went to Earth and is trying to gain back control of the throne. Will Alyss be victorious against these two or will Wonderland once again be taken over by Black Imagination?

Once again, I was disappointed by a book that I was pretty excited about. Maybe this time, it was my own fault for starting out with the 2nd book in the series rather than the first. It bothered me that Wonderland creatures and objects (gwormy, spirit-dane, etc) that came up frequently were never really explained. Perhaps they were in the first book and I just missed out. I did like that I was able to easily identify which characters from the traditional Alice in Wonderland most of Beddors characters represented. I did miss the Dormouse though- not sure which character was supposed to represent him. It bothered me some that Beddor did not keep truer to the traditional Alice in Wonderland story, but his re-telling was imaginative and would be enjoyed by most readers who are not incredibly attached to Alice in Wonderland.