Scan barcode
A review by taranana
Mad Hatters and March Hares by Ellen Datlow
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.