I love the cover art on this one.
Seeing Redd picks up not long after its predecessor left off: Alyss Heart has taken the throne and is busy rebuilding Wondertropolis. She and Dodge haven't figured out how to reconcile their feelings with their relationship -- he is the head of her palace guard, and thus responsible for her safety, but she is a Warrior Queen, and thus responsible for the safety of her people, him included. Also, it's unheard of for a Queen to marry a non-noble.
Hatter M. is still on leave, whereabouts unknown.
Jack of Diamonds is still as rotund as ever, despite doing hard labor in the Crystal Mines.
The Capital-V Villains, Alyss' aunt Redd and the Cat, are still missing after having jumped into the Heart Crystal at the end of the last book. Missing, however, does not mean gone for good. Redd is not the only threat to Alyss's rule -- the misogynist King Arch of Boarderland would love to expand his realm. Fighting him will be quite different than fighting Redd -- while Redd dealt in brute force, Arch deals in misdirection and manipulation.
Fans of the first will enjoy the second. It's another fantasy/action movie in book format, with loads of battles, bloodshed, explosions and new evil henchmen. Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson makes another appearance, Redd's adventures in our world are entertaining and the return of Hatter M. is thrilling. If you're looking for an action-driven fantasy story, not at all big on the character development, this might be a good pick. I would suggest, however, reading the books in order.
People who did not enjoy the first book* will (surprise!) probably not enjoy this one either, for the same reasons:
♥ Redd's Wicked Witch routine ("She would recapture The Heart Crystal, and no one, not even prissy Alyss Heart, would be able to wrench it away from her. Ever." and "With the discipline and single-minded purpose she would instill in troops so gifted in Black Imagination, she would not, could not, fail to overthrow her nauseatingly well-intentioned niece.") gets old. Fast. She's a cackling, mustache-twirling, one-note villain, and just not very interesting. King Arch and his henchmen? Same deal, different note.
♥ With the action sequences, Beddor is all about the Showing, but when it comes to anything character-development related, he's all about the Telling: "Alyss knew this to be a constant theme with Homburg Molly. Half civilian, half Milliner, the girl was particularly sensitive to matters of race and class." Seriously, this gets mentioned about half-a-dozen times. Mentioned. Not shown. I realize that this is a sequel, that information needs to be passed on to uninitiated readers, but there just has to be another way.
♥ On occasion, poor Dodge gets stuck with dialogue that would make Keanu Reeves groan:
A Glass Eye leaped out from behind a parked smail-transport, blocked their way. "Did you drop something?" Dodge asked the assassin. "'Cause I think I see your"--he unsheathed his sword and swung, decapitating the Glass Eye in one blow--"head over there."
Note that I'm quoting from a review copy, so it's definitely possibly that things changed before the final printing.
This book reads like the novelization of a really fun action/fantasy/eye candy movie -- like I said, the visuals described are great, characterization and dialogue, not so much. But there are plenty, plenty, plenty of teens who love novelizations. So this book'll have no problem finding its niche, despite those of us who can't get past the flaws.
*Personally, I fall into that category. I don't know why I decided to read the sequel to a book I didn't like very much in the first place. I astound myself.
I liked the novelty of the first one so I ended up forgiving what wasn't necessarily amazing writing. By the second one, the novelty had worn off and all that was left was the so-so writing. Some really great ideas but here we have another book where its simply a means to getting the movie made. I have a problem with novelists who write the movie instead of the book (if you know what I mean).
Posted by: Brian F. | 05 December 2007 at 11:24 AM
I was disgusted by the first, but thinking about it I probably commented as such on your last review. Such a loss of a good premise. How on earth do you extricate all the humor out of Wonderland? Beddor's a master at it, that much is clear.
Posted by: Fuse #8 | 05 December 2007 at 01:13 PM
I actually really enjoyed the first one, not necessarily because it was wonderfully written, but because I really found myself getting into the story as it went along. So I picked up the second and will get to it someday.
Posted by: Carl V. | 05 December 2007 at 03:01 PM
I love the cover - is it from the same person who did the cover to Margo Lanagan's Red Spikes? Nevermind . . . I can look it up myself.
Posted by: Kelly Fineman | 05 December 2007 at 03:27 PM
I confess I never got around to reading this series, despite hearing about a thousand positive reviews. It was in the back of my mind, but it just never sounded like a must read, and now I think I'll forget about it.
Posted by: Mairi | 05 December 2007 at 03:49 PM
I do think that those of us who aren't fans are in the minority, if that matters at all.
It really does read like a novelization, though.
Posted by: Leila | 05 December 2007 at 05:17 PM
How funny, I'm in the middle of reading this one right now. I didn't really like the first book either, but I figured if the library was carrying the sequel and I didn't have to buy it, there was no harm in giving it a try.
The author's TOTALLY trying to write it as a screenplay. At times it's painful to read. And that unfortunate Keanu-esque line was retained in the copy that I got, so it survived the final edits. Yet I go on reading it... as I was explaining to my husband, it's a poorly written book, but at least it's short so I don't have to suffer long.
Posted by: V | 05 December 2007 at 07:20 PM
Re: Keanu: Ugh. There's another line later in the book that I SWEAR was on Buffy. I think it was Xander who said it.
The difference being, of course, that Xander actually had a personality and it made sense, within the context of his personality and the situation, for him to say it.
Posted by: Leila | 05 December 2007 at 07:29 PM
I never read the first book, and now that I've learned that the capitol city of Wonderland is "Wondertropolis," I'm glad I skipped it.
"Wondertropolis." Could he have used ANY less imagination with that one?
Posted by: Brooke | 05 December 2007 at 07:39 PM
I am SO glad someone else said that. It's bugged me since the first book, but somehow I felt that mentioning my irritation in the write-up would have been too snarky or something.
Posted by: Leila | 05 December 2007 at 07:51 PM
i met frank beddor at a comic cin thing and he seemed really into the whole LGW world and about making it into something really big. I think he has put the cart before the horse with this, as it has all of a suuden appeared and no one i know has heard of it. It took the author himself to give me a copy. Whether or not this is his best, i believe he has got to wake up to the reality of audience and what we demand. sorry buddy.
Posted by: joshua | 04 February 2008 at 07:36 PM
I LOVED this book. i can't wait to get Seeing Redd. I have been trying to get a copy for i don't know how long. I admit in some parts of it it was a little cheesy. Like when dodge and alyss were having a moment it was just weird but other than that it was really good. I hope Seeing Redd is as good. My best friend read the book too and was upset that dodge and alyss didn't get married in the end but that is just her. Over all the book was ok. I guess.
Posted by: Eliza M. | 08 April 2008 at 06:07 PM
I loved the first one and dying to get the second. I didn't think anything was bad about the book. Although I hope they make dodge focus more on alyss now that he has had a taste of revenge.He was WAY to obsessed. And I think alyss and dodge should get married.Great idea.
Posted by: | 13 May 2008 at 07:31 PM
I loved the 1st but i heard that the 2nd is bad!
Posted by: Kimberlyn | 19 May 2008 at 04:01 PM
It's a better read than a romance novel...and remember it is a kid's book.
Posted by: Rhiannon | 23 October 2008 at 04:07 PM
the idea for this series is genieus. the writing wasn't as strong as i would have liked,but you also have to remember that this book is in the teen read section. i read the first two books back to back, cover to cover, and loved it. iv'e been searching for any info on the third book, without any results, can someone help me find a release date [even a title would be nice]. iv'e also read the hatter madigan graphic novel. i really enjoyed the fact yhat they continued the story with hatter in a part of the story tha could have been covered alot more. there's almost twenty years of adventures that could be brought to life.
Posted by: brandon | 15 January 2009 at 07:55 AM
this is one of the best books i ever read so far !!!!!!!!!!!! write a sequel
Posted by: victor santos | 26 March 2009 at 07:35 PM
This was a real letdown compared to the first one. Too much Hatter, not enough Alyss.
Posted by: Someone | 27 November 2009 at 02:39 AM