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see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
I think it took me a decade to listen to all of these stories. Like most anthologies, I liked some of them quite a lot and others not so much. Some seemed to just take the excuse of being about wonderland to dash non-sense on a page and call it 'artistic.' The narrators did a lovely job though. I thought the male narrator (Summerer) was the better of the two.
marie123's review against another edition
2.0
If you're a big Alice In Wonderland fan, this book is a great choice for you! I am not, but I mostly was pulled in by Seanan Mcguire's story. Which was really good. And Kris Dikeman's story was also particularly good in my opinion. So take my rating with a grain of salt, it's a me thing not a reflection on the anthology itself.
taranana's review against another edition
3.0
”Mad Hatters and March Hares” edited by Ellen Datlow [3/5]
This book is an anthology edited by the famous anthology editor Ellen Datlow and as you might have guessed from cover and title it is a Alice in Wonderland themed anthology. I like Carroll's Wonderland so I looked forward to reading this and I think I have learned I might enjoy Carroll's weirdness but I cannot stand it when other people try it.
The Favourites
So I enjoyed four of the short stories in this anthology but these four are very, very good ibn my opinion and I enjoyed them immensly.
”Mercury” by Priya Sharma
Alice's father is a hatter who went mad and they are in a debtor's prison. Is money the answer to their problems?
”Some Kind of Wonderland” by Richard Bowes
There was a show with the short story's name about Alice in Wonderland and this story shows what the actors were up to until the anniversary of the show
”Run, Rabbit” by Angela Slatter
The White Rabbit brought the wrong girl to wonderland and his live crumbled, now he meets a girl in the bar who is not nearly as nice as her name suggests.
”Worrity, Worrity” by Andy Duncan
A story about John Tenniel and what happens when a part of a cancelled chapter of Alice's Adventures comes back to haunt you
The Rest
Some of the stories have a strange relation to Carroll's works and the works which are more similar to Carroll's style are most of the times the stories I really dislike because the tone seems to be a bit...fake. They are not Carroll and I would have preferred if they had written the stories in their own voice/style.
The poems were okay but nothing out of the ordinary regarding Alice in Wonderland inspired poems.
There is one thing I want to say about Valente's story ”The Flame after the Candle”. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more were it not for the two plotlines. I would have been happy with the part set in some kind of reality.
I think this anthology might be more for people who love Carroll's works. I like them well enough to re-read them from time to time but I do not love them and I might have appreciated the effort of some of the authors more if I loved everything Alice related.
This book is an anthology edited by the famous anthology editor Ellen Datlow and as you might have guessed from cover and title it is a Alice in Wonderland themed anthology. I like Carroll's Wonderland so I looked forward to reading this and I think I have learned I might enjoy Carroll's weirdness but I cannot stand it when other people try it.
The Favourites
So I enjoyed four of the short stories in this anthology but these four are very, very good ibn my opinion and I enjoyed them immensly.
”Mercury” by Priya Sharma
Alice's father is a hatter who went mad and they are in a debtor's prison. Is money the answer to their problems?
”Some Kind of Wonderland” by Richard Bowes
There was a show with the short story's name about Alice in Wonderland and this story shows what the actors were up to until the anniversary of the show
”Run, Rabbit” by Angela Slatter
The White Rabbit brought the wrong girl to wonderland and his live crumbled, now he meets a girl in the bar who is not nearly as nice as her name suggests.
”Worrity, Worrity” by Andy Duncan
A story about John Tenniel and what happens when a part of a cancelled chapter of Alice's Adventures comes back to haunt you
The Rest
Some of the stories have a strange relation to Carroll's works and the works which are more similar to Carroll's style are most of the times the stories I really dislike because the tone seems to be a bit...fake. They are not Carroll and I would have preferred if they had written the stories in their own voice/style.
The poems were okay but nothing out of the ordinary regarding Alice in Wonderland inspired poems.
There is one thing I want to say about Valente's story ”The Flame after the Candle”. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more were it not for the two plotlines. I would have been happy with the part set in some kind of reality.
I think this anthology might be more for people who love Carroll's works. I like them well enough to re-read them from time to time but I do not love them and I might have appreciated the effort of some of the authors more if I loved everything Alice related.
tardycreative's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
There were only 7 stories in this book which were worth 4 or more stars - out of 18 in an anthology I felt it was shocking that so many were rated as 1 or 2 stars!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, War, and Child death
mnemehoshiko's review
4.0
This was a nice anthology but the two stories that really stuck out were “Sentence Like a Saturday” by Seanan McGuire who's writing I've enjoyed before and “Moon, Memory, Muchness” by Katherine Vaz which makes me eager to read more of her writing.
stophie12's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
linyarai's review
3.0
This is a collection of 18 short stories based on Alice in Wonderland. It was interesting to read as some were very loosely based, and others were a closer fit. Some were sad and some were scary, but all involved an Alice.
formtruthregret's review
3.0
I picked this one up largely because I love Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. I also love reading riffs on the originals. So, a short story featuring some of my favorite authors that's devoted to exactly that? I could not resist.
Rather than go through every story, I'm just going to talk about the ones I liked. Overall there were several entries that I though were great, some I thought were good, and a whole bunch of "eh" ones. I'm just going to discuss my highlights. Anything I don't mention can be considered an "eh" in my book.
"My Own Invention" by Delia Sherman
I really liked seeing the white knight from his own POV. Sherman does an excellent job of pulling off the knight's weirdness while also making him exceedingly likable. I also liked how Sherman used the tropes of Alice in Wonderland to let someone work through issues of identity (while the White Knight looks on in befuddlement, naturally!)
"Lily-White and the Thief of Lesser Night" by C.S.E. Cooney
An absolutely fantastic entry that convincingly builds on the Wonderland of the books and populates it with interesting characters, places, and ideas. This one doesn't shy away from the violence of Wonderland without crossing into grimdark or horror territory, which I liked too.
"Mercury" by Priya Sharma
This one's a weird one. (Probably I did it a disservice by reading it in bits and pieces, rather than all at once.) I liked the idea of it a lot, though, and thinking back on it I can see where Sharma threaded in the looming presence of Wonderland. I love the idea of Wonderland as a real place and a real escape. It was an interesting take on the idea of Wonderland.
"Some Kind of Wonderland" by Richard Bowes
Out of all of the stories this one feels the most grounded away from Wonderland and is all about people interacting with Carroll's books as a story. It feels like a snapshot of a very specific time and place, seen using Wonderland as a frame. I actually wish the (very light) fantastic element hadn't been present: I think it would have worked just fine, even better, without it. Somewhat unexpectedly, it's one of my favorites.
"In Memory of a Summer's Day" by Matthew Kressel
The idea of Wonderland being turned into a tourist attraction is an eerie one and I was ready for some excellent horror. And, to be fair, Kressel depicts a Wonderland that is beautiful and also quite terrible, capricious on its whims and cruel to its visitors, who pay too much to see a commodified version of a place that by its nature defies logic and order and don't even remember suffering for it. The reveal about Alice didn't really work for me. Great concept, though.
"Worrity, Worrity" by Andy Duncan
This is an odd duck in the collection in that it's the only one that focuses on, much less mentions, John Tenniel, original illustrator of the books. Duncan does a great job of building up the creeping horror of Tenniel's visions of wasps, how they start off relatively innocuous and just loom and loom. The little interludes describing illustrations are the perfect touch.
"The Queen of Hats" by Ysabeau S. Wilce
This one was an interesting attempt to riff on the originals by building a whole new adventure in the style of Carroll's books. Wilce nails the tone, but some of her creations didn't seem to be quite in the style of the Wonderland I'm familiar with. On the other hand, I loved the conceit of comparing Wonderland to the theater backstage. A very fun take on the theme.
"A Comfort, One Way" by Genevieve Valentine
This one was a deeply sad take on Wonderland, exploring the lives of Wonderland's inhabitants. I don't know where this trope that "Alice" isn't so much as a person as a recurring role that forces everyone to act out her adventure time and again came from, but I love it. (It's also a core idea of Are You Alice? written by Ai Ninomiya and illustrated by Ikumi Katagiri, one of my favorite manga series). Valentine's take on the idea focuses on the "Mary Anns", the girls who get stuck in Wonderland, and on how the recurring Alice adventures wreak havoc on Wonderland's inhabitants.
"The Flame After the Candle" by Catherynne M. Valente
Valente is one of those authors who does an amazing job of pulling off the tone and feeling of Wonderland without exactly copying or mimicking elements of the original. I love that her Wonderland reflects and is informed by a different era of the world. (I wonder what a modern Wonderland would look like in her hands?). The non-Wonderland bits were also beautifully written, if less my thing, largely because I've never read Peter Pan and have no special attachment to any iteration of that story. Still, if Alice and Peter meeting each other post-adventures sounds like your thing, you are in luck, because that is what happens here.
Overall, most of the stories fell into the "just okay" category. The ones I really loved were the ones that either really explored the nature of Wonderland, either as a place in and of itself or in relation to the world. But there were also some more unique takes on the idea that I liked very much. I like anthologies in theory because I'm always trying to figure out the art of the short story -- I'm terrible at endings in my own writing -- but I sometimes wonder if it's worth the cost of admission when multi-author anthologies tend to be very hit and/or miss with me. Still, as an introduction to several new authors, this one was a great success. I definitely intend to look into what else C.S.E. Cooney, Priya Sharma, and Ysabeau S. Wilce have written.
Rather than go through every story, I'm just going to talk about the ones I liked. Overall there were several entries that I though were great, some I thought were good, and a whole bunch of "eh" ones. I'm just going to discuss my highlights. Anything I don't mention can be considered an "eh" in my book.
"My Own Invention" by Delia Sherman
I really liked seeing the white knight from his own POV. Sherman does an excellent job of pulling off the knight's weirdness while also making him exceedingly likable. I also liked how Sherman used the tropes of Alice in Wonderland to let someone work through issues of identity (while the White Knight looks on in befuddlement, naturally!)
"Lily-White and the Thief of Lesser Night" by C.S.E. Cooney
An absolutely fantastic entry that convincingly builds on the Wonderland of the books and populates it with interesting characters, places, and ideas. This one doesn't shy away from the violence of Wonderland without crossing into grimdark or horror territory, which I liked too.
"Mercury" by Priya Sharma
This one's a weird one. (Probably I did it a disservice by reading it in bits and pieces, rather than all at once.) I liked the idea of it a lot, though, and thinking back on it I can see where Sharma threaded in the looming presence of Wonderland. I love the idea of Wonderland as a real place and a real escape. It was an interesting take on the idea of Wonderland.
"Some Kind of Wonderland" by Richard Bowes
Out of all of the stories this one feels the most grounded away from Wonderland and is all about people interacting with Carroll's books as a story. It feels like a snapshot of a very specific time and place, seen using Wonderland as a frame. I actually wish the (very light) fantastic element hadn't been present: I think it would have worked just fine, even better, without it. Somewhat unexpectedly, it's one of my favorites.
"In Memory of a Summer's Day" by Matthew Kressel
The idea of Wonderland being turned into a tourist attraction is an eerie one and I was ready for some excellent horror. And, to be fair, Kressel depicts a Wonderland that is beautiful and also quite terrible, capricious on its whims and cruel to its visitors, who pay too much to see a commodified version of a place that by its nature defies logic and order and don't even remember suffering for it. The reveal about Alice didn't really work for me. Great concept, though.
"Worrity, Worrity" by Andy Duncan
This is an odd duck in the collection in that it's the only one that focuses on, much less mentions, John Tenniel, original illustrator of the books. Duncan does a great job of building up the creeping horror of Tenniel's visions of wasps, how they start off relatively innocuous and just loom and loom. The little interludes describing illustrations are the perfect touch.
"The Queen of Hats" by Ysabeau S. Wilce
This one was an interesting attempt to riff on the originals by building a whole new adventure in the style of Carroll's books. Wilce nails the tone, but some of her creations didn't seem to be quite in the style of the Wonderland I'm familiar with. On the other hand, I loved the conceit of comparing Wonderland to the theater backstage. A very fun take on the theme.
"A Comfort, One Way" by Genevieve Valentine
This one was a deeply sad take on Wonderland, exploring the lives of Wonderland's inhabitants. I don't know where this trope that "Alice" isn't so much as a person as a recurring role that forces everyone to act out her adventure time and again came from, but I love it. (It's also a core idea of Are You Alice? written by Ai Ninomiya and illustrated by Ikumi Katagiri, one of my favorite manga series). Valentine's take on the idea focuses on the "Mary Anns", the girls who get stuck in Wonderland, and on how the recurring Alice adventures wreak havoc on Wonderland's inhabitants.
"The Flame After the Candle" by Catherynne M. Valente
Valente is one of those authors who does an amazing job of pulling off the tone and feeling of Wonderland without exactly copying or mimicking elements of the original. I love that her Wonderland reflects and is informed by a different era of the world. (I wonder what a modern Wonderland would look like in her hands?). The non-Wonderland bits were also beautifully written, if less my thing, largely because I've never read Peter Pan and have no special attachment to any iteration of that story. Still, if Alice and Peter meeting each other post-adventures sounds like your thing, you are in luck, because that is what happens here.
Overall, most of the stories fell into the "just okay" category. The ones I really loved were the ones that either really explored the nature of Wonderland, either as a place in and of itself or in relation to the world. But there were also some more unique takes on the idea that I liked very much. I like anthologies in theory because I'm always trying to figure out the art of the short story -- I'm terrible at endings in my own writing -- but I sometimes wonder if it's worth the cost of admission when multi-author anthologies tend to be very hit and/or miss with me. Still, as an introduction to several new authors, this one was a great success. I definitely intend to look into what else C.S.E. Cooney, Priya Sharma, and Ysabeau S. Wilce have written.
grace_ezri's review
3.0
I love Alice in Wonderland so this was a fun short story collection to read. I liked some of the stories but others were okay and some I really disliked. So overall it was pretty average. Honestly I don’t know how to rate short story collections.