Books Completed: 5
Date Completed: January 4, 2009
Pages: 128
Publication Date: August 11, 2003
Reason for Reading: Graphic Novel Challenge
FABLES: ANIMAL FARM is a highly imaginative political thriller that tells the modern day story of fairy tale characters as they struggle for their freedom. After their homelands were attacked and conquered by the mysterious Adversary, the mythological characters from fables and folklores were captured and the non-human beings were forced to live on a farm in upstate New York. Unhappy with their captive life, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the Three Little Pigs lead a rebellious uprising that quickly turns deadly. Now caught in the middle of an animal revolution, Snow White must find a way to make peace on the farm or become the next victim in a bloody massacre.The second volume in the Fables series, I had to read it! I looked at my other books and thought I might want to read something different, but no, this was the book that was calling for my attention. Something tells me if I had all of the books in the series available to me, I would probably read them all in the month of January! Considering that I am not very fond of reading books by the same author in a row, that is very high praise from me indeed! I think a lot of it is nostalgia. I read a lot of fairy tales and nursery rhymes as a kid (still do, really) and I enjoy seeing them all together in one story. This novel also draws on Animal Farm by George Orwell and Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which I thought was a nice touch.
Once again, we see Snow White and her sister Red Rose caught up in all the excitement. They have gone out to the farm, the second settlement for the Fables. Snow White is hoping to mend bridges with her sister, but instead they caught up in an uprising that might lead to lots of loss of life. Some other characters are: Goldilocks, The Three Bears, characters from The Jungle Book, The Three Little Pigs, and many more. Little Boy Blue, Bluebeard, The Big Bad Wolf, and Jack (of Beanstalk fame) are just some of the characters that make a return appearance.
The book is really beautiful, though. It is just as much about the written word, as the pictures. There are some fantastic artists involved in this series. I was just book browsing again (I have gift cards left) and my shopping cart now contains the next four volumes in the series... At this rate, I am never going to use the cards, but I am having fun changing my mind every five minutes!
The Series:
Fables: Storybook Love
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers
Fables: The Mean Seasons
Fables: Homelands
Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days)
Fables: Wolves
Fables: Sons of Empire
Fables: The Good Prince
Fables: War and Pieces
Fables: The Dark Ages
Other Reviews:
Heather (A High and Hidden Place)
Rhinoa (Rhinoa's Ramblings)
Chris (Stuff as Dreams are Made on)
Nymeth (Things Mean a Lot)
Anyone else? Let me know!
They just keep getting better and better! I got volumes 7-10 for Christmas, so very soon I'm going to have my own Fables marathon.
ReplyDeleteI will probably end up spending my gift card on three or four of them... Have to make my final decision first!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you're enjoying this series so much! You're all caught up with me now :p I've only read the first 2 and I'm in love. I have volume 3 sitting on the TBR pile though so it should get read very soon! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great series, huh? I am quite impressed! I think that if I win your competition you should pretend to have read Fables 3 in time so you can send it to me. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are getting into this series and enjoying it. It really is fabulous, a great idea that has been very well executed over the last several years. I hope you can easily track down all the rest.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great series! I am very hopeful that I get a chance to read the rest this year. I will have to see what the year brings me!
ReplyDeleteOh, I want to read this soooo bad! I read the first one last month, and fell in love! But our library system only has the first one and the fourth one...how perfectly stupid is that?!! So I guess I'm going to have break down and buy them.
ReplyDeleteDebi: That is rather stupid! I hate that though. Bookstores do it too. They come out with a great series or trilogy and I don't discover it until book two or three and they don't have book one! That drives me nuts. I think it is worth owning the series, anyway... That's just me though.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how this one was darker than the first, it made it much more serious and less of a light read. The new characters were awesome too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love the dark-side of it. Evil Goldilocks. Too great!
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