Professor Random has sneezed Alice right out of Wonderland. He sends young Henry Witherspoon into the book to find her and put her in her place before the world as we know it comes to an end. But Henry accidentally gets sent into the wrong book. Luckily, he meets the unflappable doodle witch, Winnie Flapjack, who takes him under her wing and helps him find his missing Alice.

This book is for those people who actually believe that it's about the journey and not the destination. Me? I just want to get where I'm going.

The book was fun, and I enjoyed seeing where Winnie and Henry were going to end up next and how they were going to get out of their current mess. The overall plot of finding Alice isn't a very big deal in the book though. It's more of an excuse to throw everything together. I enjoy books more if everything flows together better.

Winnie's solutions to problems were ingenious. Change live to dead? She can do that, no sweat. Defeat a crazy queen in chess? Sure. Take on a boat full of pirates? All in a day's work to Winnie.

Henry was a different matter. He was a loyal little thing with a big heart, but he was a little slow. He never learned to just do what Winnie said; he was always questioning her. He always came out the worse for it.

The pacing was a little off for my taste. Some of the vignettes dragged on too long for me.

Oh! I almost forgot! The prologue is horrible. As far as I can tell, it has very little to do with the rest of the book. So just skip it. My sister grabbed this and read it while she was house-sitting for me, and she couldn't wait for me to start it, just so she could ask me what was up with the prologue. We don't know. Anyone out there have any ideas?

I also really dislike that spacey Nicole Kidman cover. I was a little embarrassed to carry it around. And my review copy reeked of patchouli. I hate the smell of patchouli. I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to read it. The book stayed out on the porch airing out for a couple of weeks before I brought it back inside. It still smells, although it finally faded enough that I could read it.

That stuff aside, this was a fun book. It's not perfect, but if you're just looking for a romp through an author's over-the-top imagination, this is the book for you.

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy for review. ( )

Random Magic is just that: Randomagical – and definitely for the whimsiest of minds! At first I hesitated to continue reading as Chapter 1 seemed like a whole lot of randomness that I was entirely unprepared for – but by the time Henry and Winnie meet in Chapter 3, I settle in quite nicely into this bizarre world that somehow makes sense in its nonsense. I always enjoy a good play on words and ideas – and Random Magic definitely has a party with them! There is quite the colorful cast of epic proportions – and I’m fairly certain that everyone can find one or two or all characters to love!

I definitely loved Garden of Nine Muses where we get to meet the Muses who are rather ridiculous, but adorably so if you are a die-hard fan of the Muses (which I am). The random story about naming mix-up between Erato and Errata was awesome - it makes me giggle each time I stop and think about it!

If you love MirrorMask or appreciate the beauty in random, then Random Magic may be the right book to whisk you away to a world that makes the Mad Hatter look average! ( )

Great book! My full review is here: http://fluidityoftime.blogspot.com/2010/12/random-magic-by-sasha-soren-my-review...

And I also wrote about the subtle magic in the book here: http://fluidityoftime.blogspot.com/2010/12/subtle-magic-in-random-magic.html ( )

Plot:
It just has to be read, but I can give it a try. Alice in Wonderland has gone missing, and Henry Whiterspoon is sent to find her. In a strange land he encounters a young doodle witch named Winnie, gods, demigods, floating cities, and all kinds of weird things.

My thoughts:
By now you have noticed that this is one strange book. Think Alice in Wonderland meets The Hitchhikers' guide to the and whatever other book that is filled with humour and nonsense.

I enjoyed this book because it was just so strange, not too strange, but come on, Alice in Wonderland with mad hatters and bunnies. You know how strange books can be. Here the world seems new, it's not Wonderland, except it is. But we meet a bunch of new characters, the Nine Muses, and one is drunk while another is being chased by Eros. The big bad wolf, Thor, Baba Yaga, vampires, and we get to hear that Hades has lost control over a part of the underworld and that is now a casino.

With many books you can figure out what is going to happen, but with this one, just try because you will fail. New strange adventures are always around the next corner. New fun things waiting to happen, dangers to avoid and Alice to find.

The book is amusing and utterly silly. You can't miss the beginning and the quotes from reviews, those are hilarious and written by the author. Every chapter has this little box about what is gonna happen and I do think those were the best part of the book. I would like to go into the author's mind and see how she thinks. How did she write this funny, illogical, and fantastical book?

Recommendation and final thoughts:
It is not for those that want to walk the straight line in literature. It is the book for those who enjoy the silly, the strange, the weird, the fantastical and just a good adventure. And she is such a good writer and the way she plays with words, oh that brain of hers. ( )

In short, a book in desperate need of an editor's pencil.

It's a breathless splattering of things the author wanted to say, thrown down onto far too many pages with little thought for the reader.

The settings and characters are an attempt to re-imagine traditional fairy tale ideas but come across as a desperately hackneyed American perspective -- think Shrek without any of the wit or cleverness. The poorly stereotyped portrayal of the English (in both their "toff" and "rustic peasant" modes) is cringeworthy.

The author plainly loved writing this book -- it bubbles with a relentless enthusiasm and a clear sense of how clever and funny it is from the outset. All of which makes it nigh-on impossible to read. ( )