Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland, in an anthology that bends the traditional notions of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, featuring ghosts, medieval quests, demons and cyborgs. Contributors include the bestselling M.R. Carey, Genevieve Cogman, Catriona Ward, Rio Youers and L.L. McKinney.

Full disclosure: I’ve never read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. So, ok, I’m maybe not the target audience for Wonderland, a new anthology from Titan Books featuring short stories inspired by Lewis Carroll’s works. But I wanted to give this one a whirl anyway. There’s some authors in this collection I love (namely M.R. Carey), and more than a few I was/am very curious about (Rio Youers especially).

I’m certainly aware of how impactful Alice’s stories were for lots of folks, especially fantasy authors. My relationship with all things Wonderland kinda begins & ends with the 1985 movie, which sits for me in that weird spot between “warmly nostalgic” and “childhood nightmare fuel.” It’s been ages since I saw it, but it definitely left a long-lasting impression.

So again, having never read Lewis Carroll’s books, I’m sure there are plenty of references and Easter eggs in this collection that I just missed outright. That said, I enjoyed many of these stories & think they stand up on their own, regardless of your familiarity with the source material.

M.R. Carey’s contribution, “There Were No Birds to Fly” was suitably dark & creepy, and had an almost zombie apocalypse vibe to it. I’ve never read any of his short fiction, but he’s such a great storyteller, and I liked what he did here.

“The Hunting of the Jabberwock” by Jonathan Green was an absolute blast, and ended up being one of my favorites in the collection. It’s whimsical without being too cute, and really funny on top of it. It’s basically epic/heroic fantasy, and comes with a killer twist! This was awesome!

Rio Youer’s entry, “Vanished Summer Glory” was really unique & bittersweet. It touches on some heavy themes including terminal illness, loss, and mental health. I’m really curious to read some more of his work going forward!

I think it was a tie for my most favorite story in the collection. The first one in the book, chronologically, is “Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em” by Angela Slatter. This one grabbed me straight away & I just ate it up. It’s essentially a Wonderland Western, with Alice slugging whiskey & carrying a six-shooter as she tries to track down Rabbit! This was a goddamn delight!

I think “The Night Parade” by Laura Mauro is easily the most atmospheric & beautifully written tale here. It takes place in Japan, and while the connections to Wonderland weren’t that readily apparent to me, they became clearer as the story went on. This one is dark & weird & dangerous…Mauro’s prose is absolutely gorgeous & I just loved this one!

Like any short story collection, there are some I loved way more than others. But there’s some serious gems here & I think Wonderland would be a must-read for huge Alice fans! And even if you’re like me & all you can remember is being terrorized by the cheesy 1985 Jabberwocky, this is still an enjoyable collection!!

Thanks to Titan Books for the copy, and for inviting me to be a part of the Instagram tour for the book!