The Looking Glass Wars

King Arch of Boarderland is unwilling to negotiate with Wonderland because he believes that a woman should not hold power. Why do you think Beddor structures Wonderland as a queendom and not a kingdom? How does it affect the presentation of the reimagined Wonderland?

The Looking Glass Wars is set in the middle of a civil war, and many of the characters must make choices with serious consequences for others. Why do you think Beddor chose this setting for his reimagining? How does this contribute to the delivery of the novel’s themes?

Many of the characters undergo significant traumas as a result of war, poverty, and other adversities. What role does trauma play in the development of these characters? How does trauma inform the experiences of the characters and the themes conveyed in their character arcs?

Alyss and Dodge both undergo similarly traumatic experiences in the loss of their parents and being thrust into unfamiliar surroundings, but both characters develop very differently. What differences are there between Dodge’s and Alyss’s outlooks on the world? How do their experiences affect their choices?

Although Alyss begins the story as a child, within the narrative she is an adult before she can develop the maturity necessary to claim her powers. Given that Alice in Wonderland is such an iconic children’s story and features a child protagonist, why do you think Beddor portrays Alyss primarily in adulthood? Is there a power in the maturity of adulthood just as much as there is a power in the innocence of childhood?

When Redd reflects on her familial experiences and the events that led to the first civil war, she indicates resentment and hurt over the fact that her family would not accept her for who she was, despite that “who she was” was engaging in harmful activities. How do you think this impacted Redd’s development into the dark person she is in the novel? Should Redd’s interests in Black Imagination still have been respected, even though they went against the family values and were harmful to both Redd and others?

Bibwit feels personally responsible for Redd’s fall into Black Imagination, and Redd herself cites her familial resentment as what led her to murder her mother and incite the civil war. To what extent do the failings of others impact one’s personal responsibility? Were characters like Bibwit or Redd and Genevieve’s parents in any part to blame for how Redd turned out?

Both Redd and Alyss have felt like outcasts in their families—Redd because of her participation in Black Imagination practices, and Alyss because of the Liddells’ disbelief in her Wonderland experiences. What similarities and differences are there between Redd’s and Alyss’s upbringings? How are they foils to each other in their reactions to their experiences?