Saturday, March 13, 2010

Random Magic by Sasha Soren

Random Magic
by Sasha Soren
Published: 2009

Genre: Action, Fantasy, YA
Paperback: 420 pages
Rating: 5

Description from the amazon:
When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspooon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes.

Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan.

Such as it is.

Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time.

My two-bits:
In-a-word: faboo

Truly an adventure of astronomical proportions!

Funny to the extreme! If you blink your eye while reading this you might miss a tickle or two.

I loved how bits of greek mythology, shakespeare, twain, poe, vampires, pirates, witches, whatwolves, and other new and notable characters and creatures are thrown into this jambalaya storyline.

All in search of Our Alice. Alice who is not in Wonderland as she should be.


This is me, while reading the book. I couldn't help it. The whimsy in me connected with the story so well.

Velvet sighting:
A character is introduced as Red Velvet Blazer - LOL. (prologue, page 8)

Loved this bit:
Along with the wacky bits there are some thoughtful and beautiful passages in the book. Here is just a snippet...

The sea was beautiful, blue, limitless, and blind. She went by many names, but belonged to no one but herself -- and every unwary soul that trespassed the blue depths was hers. It was a promise forged when time was young.

She slept, dreaming, her fingertips curled against her cheek. Her great body, they called Ocean, and her long limbs, the sea. Her hair and fingers streamed out into harbors and rivers, but she lived an exile of her own choosing.
(chapter 27, page 226)


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* check out the Random Magic dress for my Book Fashion weekly

* check out the Random Magic book trailer for a bit of whimsy:

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I should mention that I won this book Thanks to Allison at Well-Read Reviews last year. With this book sent via Sasha, I got a set of reader's notes. I picked out a few to share with you that are non-spoilery.

Sasha's reader notes:

=> Only 2000 copies of the first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were printed, then discarded as waste paper.

=> The invention of the word game of "doublets" is attributed to Lewis Carroll.

=> Professor Literati's eyes are the color of absinthe, a drink which was popular with artists, writers and poets in the 19th century. Absinthe is also referred to by the moniker "The Green Fairy."

=> The book Winnie and Henry read in the library is Der Struwwelpeter, a ghastly/funny children's book of cautionary tales published in 1845. Mark Twain translated the book into English in 1891.

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* part of Alice in Whatsitland (see schedule)

* wanna be a part of Alice's adventure in Whatsitland? join the challenge!

*** Giveaway ***

Win this book.

Open to all.

Offer ends: April 11, 2010

To do:

Read the complete list of Sasha's Sayings here.

Comment below with your email and tell me:

Which Sasha Saying grabbed you?

+1 Which one tickled you?

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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