![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareilaA. Deborah Baker is yet another pseudonym for Seanan McGuire, for story reasons: Over The Woodward Wall is said to be the fictional Baker's manuscript, as described and excerpted in McGuire's novel Middlegame. McGuire seems to have decided to make Over The Woodward Wall real after Middlegame was published.
I haven't read Middlegame so I don't know how the two stories are connected, but I can confirm that Over The Woodward Wall stands well on its own. It is a children's adventure story in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, complete with talking animals and enchanted roads. Thematically it is similar to McGuire's Wayward Children series, but kinder and friendlier. (Although it's still not exactly warm and fuzzy; the dangers are merely less sharp and deadly.)
The world of the Up-and-Under is full of surprises and challenges. We learn that it is divided into four realms ruled by the Queen of Wands, Queen of Swords, King of Coins, and King of Cups. The two children who stumble into it by accident are named Avery and Zeb. They don't know each other and are opposed in temperament, but must learn to trust each other and work together if they want to find their way home.
The ending of the story is abrupt and not entirely satisfying, but Goodreads lists it as the first of a series, so I'm hoping for a fuller resolution of Avery and Zeb's journey in the future.
I haven't read Middlegame so I don't know how the two stories are connected, but I can confirm that Over The Woodward Wall stands well on its own. It is a children's adventure story in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, complete with talking animals and enchanted roads. Thematically it is similar to McGuire's Wayward Children series, but kinder and friendlier. (Although it's still not exactly warm and fuzzy; the dangers are merely less sharp and deadly.)
The world of the Up-and-Under is full of surprises and challenges. We learn that it is divided into four realms ruled by the Queen of Wands, Queen of Swords, King of Coins, and King of Cups. The two children who stumble into it by accident are named Avery and Zeb. They don't know each other and are opposed in temperament, but must learn to trust each other and work together if they want to find their way home.
The ending of the story is abrupt and not entirely satisfying, but Goodreads lists it as the first of a series, so I'm hoping for a fuller resolution of Avery and Zeb's journey in the future.
