Review by: Linda Workman-Crider
Sci-Fi meets Fantasy meets Monte Python meets A Comedy of Errors and now all shall bow before the (fake) Goddess or face impending doom, destruction, despair, and, of course, death by dragoons and dragons.
In this comedically exaggerated tale, an unhappily married couple, Alexis, a financial advisor and past D&D geek, along with Alexander, an unemployed literary writer and poet, are mistaken for the Twins of prophecy and transported via Alexander’s new gadget to an unknown universe where they are greeted by priests, placed in group with three others, and sent off on a quest before the couple can figure out that they aren’t, in fact, just dreaming. The group, now known as the Five, must play their divine parts and journey to Illyrium to speak to the King (whose name I deeply love but refuse to share) and towards their own deaths in order to free the people from the oppressive rule of the greedy barons.
The author, mostly through the character of Alexander, takes jabs at the plot-line of this novel which purposefully uses totally unbelievable exaggerations of formulaic plot devices. As unsuspecting as poor Alice, we find ourselves drawn down into the rabbit hole where believing the unbelievable is possible. More than likely, some element of your favorite novel can be found peeking out somewhere behind this story’s weave or shoved abruptly without warning right under your nose, whichever way works best for this particular story.
Alexis is a honey blonde business woman with a body and mindset to go with the attire. It doesn’t seem too farfetched, to me, that running the Dungeons and Dragons scenarios and reading sci-fi was a portion of Alexis’s life in the past. The creative thinking skills and the imagination required in her career may have even stemmed from these experiences. In her adult life, she can be viewed as demanding, cold, aloof, decisive, maybe even a bit narcissistic, but, like most humans, she never stays completely within any molded ideas of her character and we sometimes see a warmer, more imaginative side within current happenings. Even her strength shows many faces, such as the ability to persevere though adversity and the ability to take charge of a situation when necessary. Her resume worthy weakness is being driven toward success, which makes her a rounded character and a valuable asset as one of the Five.
Alexander’s unruly brown hair is a match to his life in which nothing seems to ever go the direction he plans. He comes across as an almost-broken man, which can possibly be blamed on his career choice of becoming a literary writer as much as being stuck in an unhappy marriage. We are given an unreliable view of Alex that is of a lazy, irresponsible, and unemployed man but in the opening chapter we are also given a glimpse of a man working toward his own dream and a man willing to lower himself even further in his wife’s eyes in his efforts to achieve it. There is still some spark left in him yet and we see it even through his vivid complaints or silent sulking. Sadly, I think Alexander’s value to the Five doesn’t stem from his character’s character, but moreso, that life’s directional wind planted him there, and a Goddess enforces his continued membership.
R.J. Hore thankfully keeps the dysfunctional couple away from each other as much as possible and while we are aware of their need for couple’s counseling, we are never stuck uncomfortably between them during long drawn out rants of relationship woes, spouting blame and defensive responses. The discomfort level for the reader is more like having two friends, in a group of friends, having had a spat that no one is obsessing over. While the occasional jab and comment is made, for the most part the couple simply avoids the other by remaining slightly outside the group or by attaching themselves to the others in the group. In this way, we are able to get to know their characters as individuals, through interactions with others in relationship that are fresh and new. Knowing their history, however, I was left feeling sorry for Alexander. He was clearly in my mind an underdog who deserved someone to cheer him on through the trials presented in the book.
World-building is an area where I am going to repeat myself because none of it seems believable at first, the arrival, the new world, the people, the religion, the reasoning behind the quest—none of it really makes sense. Somehow R.J. Hore uses comedic exaggerations as textualized incantations that turn us all into Alice, fallen down the rabbit hole with no way back. However, I think I can say that the most believable aspect was the government and that many forms of interrelationships were created and explored. So, I suppose that even if one was immune to magic and stood outside the rabbit hole, the world would seem strange but it would hold the required dimensions and substance to be considered a planet with an environment and ecosystem. So yeah, this world is well built.
Reading an author for the first time is like becoming dance partners. The author is the leader and the reader has to follow. With that said, it took me about four chapters of reading before I became comfortable with R.J. Hore’s style and rhythm. It took me that long to understand that Hore was purposefully taking unbelievable leaps and was having fun with this and up until that point I had been too stiff and rigid. I relaxed and our dance and the reading flowed smoothly in step. It was in chapter four that I fell into the rabbit hole, laughing all the way down. My mind is still adjusting to being forced out of Wanderland by the ending of the book. I am seated now back within reality, but still being twirled around on the inside, eagerly awaiting the next book and our next dance.
Alex in Wanderland is available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.
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