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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Bill Willingham, Fables, vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover (Vertigo, 2010)
A minor warning: this book is going to be a tad confusing, probably, if you've only been following one of the books that converges here (Fables, Jack of Fables, and The Literals). Storylines don't mesh seamlessly with the other books in the series, at least not with Fables, so you're going to do a bit of headscratching before everything falls into place. But once it does, this is a tale for the grammar geeks and diction dictators among us, and it is boundless glee for that particular market. Mainstream readers may find it a bit harder going, what with all the literary in-jokes (and, let's face it, the almost nonexistent plot, especially when compared with the rest of the series). In other words, take my rating with a grain of salt if you don't read novels with a red pen in your dominant hand and/or have never written an outraged email to a publisher asking what the hell ever happened to editors who actually knew English. But if you've come this far in the series and that doesn't describe you, you're probably still going to read this so you don't miss out on anything down the line anyway, so why do you even need a review? You already knew when you clicked on the title whether you were going to buy this or not (and if you're considering buying this one without having read the first twelve, hie thee back to the first volume and start there, for the love of god). ****
A minor warning: this book is going to be a tad confusing, probably, if you've only been following one of the books that converges here (Fables, Jack of Fables, and The Literals). Storylines don't mesh seamlessly with the other books in the series, at least not with Fables, so you're going to do a bit of headscratching before everything falls into place. But once it does, this is a tale for the grammar geeks and diction dictators among us, and it is boundless glee for that particular market. Mainstream readers may find it a bit harder going, what with all the literary in-jokes (and, let's face it, the almost nonexistent plot, especially when compared with the rest of the series). In other words, take my rating with a grain of salt if you don't read novels with a red pen in your dominant hand and/or have never written an outraged email to a publisher asking what the hell ever happened to editors who actually knew English. But if you've come this far in the series and that doesn't describe you, you're probably still going to read this so you don't miss out on anything down the line anyway, so why do you even need a review? You already knew when you clicked on the title whether you were going to buy this or not (and if you're considering buying this one without having read the first twelve, hie thee back to the first volume and start there, for the love of god). ****
I usually love Fables, and I absolutely loved "Peter and Max." But like other readers have mentioned, there's a reason why I stopped reading "Jack of Fables" - so to see it absorb the story so much without necessarily knowing much of the backstory was a little frustrating.
I surprised myself with how much I disliked this particular collection - I kept waiting for the action to get back to something interesting. Similarly, I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for Kevin Thorn or any of the Literals. I felt that the volume was far too self-referential and it also seemed to pat itself on the back way more than any of the previous issues. There were moments where I would simply think, "Gosh, they must be really proud of themselves right now."
Primarily, I felt so distanced from the story that I just couldn't really immerse myself into it like I can with all the other Fable volumes. I'm looking very much forward to when the story returns to the Fable characters and leaves Jack and company behind.
I surprised myself with how much I disliked this particular collection - I kept waiting for the action to get back to something interesting. Similarly, I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for Kevin Thorn or any of the Literals. I felt that the volume was far too self-referential and it also seemed to pat itself on the back way more than any of the previous issues. There were moments where I would simply think, "Gosh, they must be really proud of themselves right now."
Primarily, I felt so distanced from the story that I just couldn't really immerse myself into it like I can with all the other Fable volumes. I'm looking very much forward to when the story returns to the Fable characters and leaves Jack and company behind.
It's a fairly interesting how much the main threat is downplayed. It feels like someone who could write everyone out of existence would be a major concern, but for much of the story the plot seems to be pointed elsewhere. Jack, the lead of one of the two books crossed-over here, couldn't care less about it. There is a lot creativity at play and I can only imagine that in a lot of ways it was a relief after the last much more dour Fables arc.
Meh! The Literals are literally an idea so full itself, it reeks of self-congratulatory bat-pats from the writers' room.
Not as much fun as the earlier ones, some stories suffer from poor artwork. The Jack character is so obnoxious that I doubt I will read the Jack story arc.
Other than the awesome metafiction, which was even more way-over-the-top, breach-of-the fourth-wall than usual (and in my book that's saying something), this didn't have much else going for it. I found it a bit underwhelming, especially after the most recent events at the Fables universe raised the bar pretty high.
Also (and this is just me being petty), now I have the feeling that I should read Jack of Fables at some point. Which sucks. I hate that guy! Can I get the Genres and the pretty librarians and all the rest and leave that prick out of it all? Pretty please?
Also (and this is just me being petty), now I have the feeling that I should read Jack of Fables at some point. Which sucks. I hate that guy! Can I get the Genres and the pretty librarians and all the rest and leave that prick out of it all? Pretty please?
More proof crossover events are comics greatest plague. I probably wouldn't have minded it so much if Jack hadn't raped his depressed ex and it was treated as a big joke. Perhaps interesting for completionists but probably best skipped.
After reading the thirteenth volume in the award winning Fables series, I’m still not that bothered that I haven’t got around to reading the spin-off Jack of Fables series yet, as I still don’t like the guy.
In this new collection, Jack is back and as usual he’s got a problem that he needs someone to help him fix, or more like he needs someone to fix it for him. Except this problem could unravel the world and reality in the blink of an eye. New characters like Sam, Gary the Pathetic Fallacy, and the Page Sisters are introduced, as Willingham plays around with writing and stories.
Kevin Thorne is someone with a lot of power: with his quill he can rewrite history and the world to be whatever he wants it to be, except he doesn’t know what to write. A destroyed, insensible from of himself is always close by – writer’s block: his greatest fear. Whatever he writes comes true, whether it changes something into something else, or adds something completely new. Bigby finds this out the hard way, as he finds himself getting turned into a number of different forms. The question is whether the Fables will be able to get to Kevin Thorne and stop him before the world is completely changed.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
In this new collection, Jack is back and as usual he’s got a problem that he needs someone to help him fix, or more like he needs someone to fix it for him. Except this problem could unravel the world and reality in the blink of an eye. New characters like Sam, Gary the Pathetic Fallacy, and the Page Sisters are introduced, as Willingham plays around with writing and stories.
Kevin Thorne is someone with a lot of power: with his quill he can rewrite history and the world to be whatever he wants it to be, except he doesn’t know what to write. A destroyed, insensible from of himself is always close by – writer’s block: his greatest fear. Whatever he writes comes true, whether it changes something into something else, or adds something completely new. Bigby finds this out the hard way, as he finds himself getting turned into a number of different forms. The question is whether the Fables will be able to get to Kevin Thorne and stop him before the world is completely changed.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Terrible, I almost didn't finish it. Jack is the worst; he's back to being a typical womanizer which, among other things, is just boring. Definitely not reading the series about him. A bunch of lame jokes about literature. Bleh.