I’ve been reading a book recently called The Looking Glass Wars, which is basically a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. I all just finished watching Tin Man, a 2007 mini-series about the Outer Zone, which you quickly realize is the land of Oz from the classic story. I’ve also enjoyed, though apparently most didn’t, the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I’ve decided to give this genre of fiction a name. Let’s call it Alternate Reality Fiction (ARF) fiction.
Now there can be alternate reality fiction, for instance a lot of Fantasy Flight has Taunhauser, a board game about that is themed about the World War continuing. That isn’t what I’m talking about. That is taking real life events and saying how would they’ve have been different if this happened. What I’m talking about is taking a classic work, say Sherlock Holmes or Oliver Twist, and tells a different story set in their universe. Maybe Moriarty isn’t really a bad guy and him and Holmes team up? Maybe Oliver grows up to be some spy that sneaks into the Ottomans in the late 19th century to gather information for Great Britain? There are a ton of possibilities for this genre that haven’t been explored yet. I’ve heard of a book called Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. That is what I’m talking about, taking classic literature (though it could be argued if Pride and Prejudice is classic literature) and turning it on it’s ear!
So, lets get back to a quick review of the book. We find out that the story everyone knows about Alice isn’t really the truth, instead her name is Alyss and she isn’t a child of this world, but is actually from Wonderland where she her evil Aunt Redd has taken over the queendom. I’m not done with it yet, but I’m really liking it. I’ve read both Through the Looking Glass and also the original Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and I’ve got to say, he must’ve been high when he wrote them. The Looking Glass Wars is good thus far and I recommend you take a read, even if you aren’t a fan of the original works.
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