The Last Unicorn

The 6th book of the challenge and the 3rd of the B's.

Peter S Beagle is a fantasy author who has been active in the field for over 40 years. He's worked in Hollywood and written fantasy and science fiction, even some non fiction, he he will always been best known for his 3rd book, a whimsical fairy tale fantasy called The Last Unicorn.

It's basically a quest book. The last unicorn in the world (never named) sets out from her lilac grove in an enchanted forest to see if it's true, if she really is the last unicorn and whether or not she can find more of her kind. Joining her on her journey of discovery are the incompetent wizard Schmendrick, the incurable romantic Molly Grue and the heroic and lovesick Prince Lir. Along the way the unicorn encounters the perils of the world beyond her forest. A travelling show of curiousities, a village of hopeless people, a band of roaming bandits and finally the miserable King Haggard who has the secret to her quest.

The characters, aside from the unicorn were very deliberately made generic fantasy quest characters, but then their dialogue and actions gave them depth. The language used by Beagle is extraordinary and very uniquely descriptive, but it works. The entire story has this lovely feel to it that makes you keep reading to discover more about the world and it's inhabitants. You care about what happens to the unicorn and her friends. It takes the known fairytale concepts and ever so subtly and cleverly turns them on their heads.

I can see why it's become a modern classic. It can be read and enjoyed for varying reasons across a number of ages, from children under the age of 10 (although they'd need some help and it may even need to be read to them) to adults who just enjoy a well told tale. Other works in a similar vein are William Goldman's The Princess Bride.

The Good Prince

The former Frog Prince, now the Woodlands janitor Flycatcher had been a fringe character in the books up until now, it was about time readers found out the mysteries that were hidden behind that mop of hair and the baseball cap with the frog like eyes.

Ever since turning back into a frog and then being made human again at Christmas Fly has been listless and not doing his job. The Woodlands is a total mess. Ride attenpts to motivate him by slapping him across the face, but even that rather drastic action has no effect on his self pitying state. He even goes to the Farm to see if that will help him. Back in Fabletown the Empire's increasingly militancy and the presence of Hansel nearby is bothering the brains trust of Charming, Beauty, Beast and Frau Totenkinder.

Blue convinces Fly to go back to Fabletown and his arrival coincides with the awakening of the suit of armour that hangs in the Woodlands atrium; The Foresworn Knight. The recent pronouncements had freaked out Bufkin to the extent that he violently disassembled the suit.

The suit reveals itself to Fly as the ghost of Sir Lancelot. I'd been wondering what happened to the Arthur legend, the only one we'd seen previously was Sir Pellinore. Now we knew. Lancelot believes that Fly as Prince Ambrose is the one to wear his armour and go to the Homelands. They travel via the Witching Well, which also gives them access to the ghosts of the Fables that have died and had their bodies put down the Well. Fly instructs the mirror (from the Snow White legend) to stay open so that the people on this side can see him.

The view from the mirror becomes the most watched show in Fabletown and many wonder if Fly is too trusting when he accepts the ghosts of Bluebeard and Shere Khan as part of his 'army'. Despite all the obstacles Fly seems to handle them with impunity and he grows as a man. He establishes a kingdom he calls Haven.

This naturally brings him to the Adversary's attention, who believes he is part of an invasion force. The hordes keep coming and Prince Ambrose keeps finding ways to defeat them. Eventually a huge army of Wooden Soldiers comes. Again Fly finds a way and this time not only does he take one of the Adversary's most potent weapon it also ruins the Sacred Grove, where the wood for the soldiers is sourced from. Ride comes with Blue courtesy of the Witching Cloak and is reunited with who she really loves; Prince Ambrose of Haven.

Along with the main story there was a standalone called The Birthday Secret with artwork by Aaron Alexovich. It was a cub centric story about how Bigby and Snow introduced the rest of the their brood to their brother; Ghost. It was very sweet. I hope Ghost works out with his siblings.

War is on the way.

Elantris

Brandon Sanderson was already regarded as one of fantasy’s rising stars even before Harriet Jordan selected him to complete her late husband’s epic Wheel of Time series and Elantris was the book that started it all for him. I did actually pick the book up when it first came out in 2005, but put it back on the shelf when something shinier attracted my attention. At 600 plus standard paperback sized pages it’s a fairly sizeable debut, in it’s favour is that it is not part one of a trilogy or series, it’s completely self contained.

The city of Elantris was once the pride and joy of the country of Arelon. Elantris was where the lucky people chosen by a mysterious power known as the Dor went. The Dor could choose anyone from the Prince of Arelon to the poorest farmer and elevate them to virtual godhood, the only stipulation was that they had to be living in or near Arelon’s borders at the time of the random choosing. Elantrians were, without exception, beautiful shining people who could create wonders out of thin air. Arelon’s capital city; Kae, profited greatly by being located next to Elantris and having access to it’s godlike population. Ten years ago it all changed, the Sheod (as the choosing was now referred to) turned from a blessing into a curse. Anyone chosen had all their hair fall out and large, unsightly black blotches appeared over their bodies and faces. The afflicted were cast out and sent to Elantris. Once Elantris was a paradise, now it is a living hell, peopled by barely human savages, who are not even allowed to really die. One thing that remained consistent with how things were is the random method of choosing, anyone within Arelon’s borders can become an Elantrian.

Into this world step 3 people, Raoden, the universally loved Prince of Arelon, his recently chosen bride Sarene, formerly Princess of the island nation of Teod and Hrathen, a gyorn from Fjordell, a warlike theocracy determined to enforce their religion on the rest of the world’s populace. The story is told in chapter form from the points of view of the three protagonists. Raoden and Sarene are determined to keep Arelon and Teod free and find the mystery behind Elantris’ fall from grace. Hrathen is equally determined to overthrow Arelon’s leadership and allow his fearsome godlike ruler; the Wyrn, to take control. Gradually the protagonists converge and in the climactic chapters their paths merge as they strive for the same goal in their own ways.

The world that the story takes place on is not particularly complex, think more of David Eddings worldbuilding, rather than say George RR Martin. This isn’t a real issue as most of the action takes place in the Arelish cities of Elantris and Kae, although of the three protagonists only one (Raoden) is actually a native of Arelon. The system of magic that Brandon Sanderson developed was interesting, a lot of it was related to the Dor (his version of the Force or the One Power) and how runes called Aon, could be drawn in the air and use the Dor for a specified purpose by the wielder. Sanderson’s characterisation left a little to be desired. Not one of the three major characters were particularly well developed, with Sarene almost too good to be true: beautiful, intelligent, idealistic, altruistic, witty, the list went on and on. Raoden had a little more depth to him, although he too at times seemed remarkably naïve at odds with his wisdom at other times. Hrathen was the most interesting of the three, but the least likeable. A particularly appealing idea to me were the Seons; animated glowing balls of light that were this world’s equivalent of the iPhone, I felt they were rather under utilised and under explained. I’m not a fan of needlessly padding out narratives or unnecessary volumes, but in the case of Elantris an extra 100 or 200 pages may have allowed the author to explore things like the Seon and craft a better ending, as it stood it seemed a little rushed and contrived.

I put the few flaws down to the fact that this was Brandon Sanderson’s first book, it was an ambitious undertaking with some clever and original ideas and overall he carried it off well, in some quarters I’ve seen his prose criticised as being uninspired, if that means it wasn’t overly alliterative and exhaustingly descriptive then more power to the man’s pen, it was solid and smooth. Although the story is self contained, he has given himself a couple of jumping off points if he wishes to write a sequel in the future. It’s a strong debut and has encouraged me to seek out more of his work and I can see why he was chosen by Harriet Jordan to finish Robert Jordan’s much loved Wheel of Time.

Fables: Sons of Empire

There was no way that the Adversary or the Empire would allow Bigby's retaliation and his message to go unanswered and the main story arc of Sons of Empire covers that in 4 chapters.

The action takes place on a number of fronts, so I'll try to cover each one separately.

The Empire call a meeting of their best and brightest in order to plan their attack on the Mundy world. They plan to do it in 4 stages. The first stage will be to visit magically created diseases. The second to use their dragons to scorch the world. The third is for the Snow Queen to give the world a never ending winter. They believe the fourth; famine, will follow on from the first 3. Pinnochio (he was left behind when Blue escaped) is the dissenting voice. It won't take the Fables long to work out what's going on and they'll alert the authorities on Earth and help them find a way to the Homelands, the world's military with it's technological advancement can top anything the Empire can throw at it, they will win and they will take over. While seeing the sense of what the puppet says the Empire still believe that they can do something, so they send Hansel to the Mundy world as an envoy and a spy, to carry out political assassination if he has to. Hansel is all grown up, his experiences as a child have given him a pathological hatred of witches and he was actually expelled from Fabletown for a heinous crime caused by his scarred psyche. He actually dresses rather like a member of the Gestapo and has that same menacing air about him.

While all this is going on in the Homelands different things are happening in Fabletown. Riding Hood ventures out of the Fabletown district and gets herself a stylish haircut and some fashionable clothes. She looks like a real knockout. However when she shows Flycatcher, he becomes extremely embarassed, retreats to the depths of the Woodlands building and promptly turns into a frog!

On the Farm Bigby is asserting his rights as the big wolf in Wolf Valley, it's off limits to anyone other than his family and people he invites, that includes other wolves. He's also actively training his cubs.

Hansel makes his presence and his purpose known to Charming, Beauty and Beast. Once he's left Charming orders large scale surveillance of the ambassador. Bigby is going to have to get involved. At the Farm Rose and Blue take the first tentative steps into a relationship.

Each of the chapters had a little vignette about other Fables we had not yet met. There was one about Rapunzel and the 8 hourly haircuts her curse forces her to have. An amusing little tale about Leland, Prescott and Thaddeus, or as they're better known The Three Blind Mice. The devious Porky Pine and how he gets kisses and even a possible 'thorn' in the Fables side, the writer Kevin Thorn, who knows not is all as it seems on the surface in Fabletown.

The vignettes were done by different artists, they all have distinct styles, but no one can do these characters like Mark Buckingham.

The second main story; Jiminy Christmas was the first genuine Fables Christmas story. The Fables celebrate Christmas, in fact Santa Claus IS a Fable. Rose and Blue use a magic carpet to deliver presents to the cubs and stay the night not long before Christmas. The kids are taken by Rose's Santa Claus stories and Ambrose, the shyest of the cubs gets the short straw and has to risk no presents to see and talk to the great man. As he explains how he can be in many places at once we see his gift to Flycatcher, the shade of his long dead wife kisses him and returns him to human form again.

I wasn't too keen on Father & Son, the two part that ended the collection. The story was fine, but the artwork left a lot to be desired. Michael Allred did not capture the spirit of the characters at all, as it was a Bigby, Snow & cubs story this was disappointing. The actual story itself was largely written from Ambrose's point of view and I think Bill Willingham likes him the most. We found out why there was tension between Bigby and his father and how the Beast was going to get the surveillance he required to keep tabs on Hansel.

This was a feature packed collection and as an extra readers were treated to another series of little vignettes that answered their most burning questions, such as: What is Frau Totenkinder knitting?

Bring on collection #10. I say!

Fable: Wolves

While the Fables had been dealing with events in the Homelands and receiving delegations from the Arabian Fables where had Bigby been and what was going on with him and Snow and their brood?

Wolves is a 2 part story which largely concerns Mowgli's efforts to locate Bigby and convince him to come back to Fabletown. His payment for this mission will be the liberty of his friend and mentor Bagheera from captivity on the Farm. The problem is that if Bigby doesn't want to be found he's a damn hard man/wolf to track down. Having been raised by wolves Mowgli is better equipped than any other Fable for the job, though. He does eventually find Bigby living in the Alaskan wilderness. Bigby agrees to come back with Mowgli, leaving Sarah, the woman he's taken up with. We don't find out a lot about the attractive native girl (she looked like an indigene to me), but I sensed that there was more to her than met the eye and maybe more than even Bigby realised. I doubt it's the last we've seen of her.

Back on the Farm the cubs are growing like weeds, they even have names now: Darien, Conner, Ambrose, Blossom, Winter and Therese. The artwork and the writing give the 6 of them very distinct personalities that suit their appearances and you can see definite traits from each of their parents within them. With their help of Auntie Rose they're trying to learn how to control their dual natures and their abilities so that in the future they can leave the Farm and live among the wider Fable community out in the Mundy world. The North Wind decides that it's time he went back to his own domain and once again Snow has to explain to her children why the men in their lives keep walking out, little does she know that a certain scruffy wolf is headed back her way.

The main story acr covers the extravaganza that is the comic's 50th issue. Using one of the magic beanstalks that grow on the Farm Bigby climbs up through the clouds and meets his former agent; Cinderella. With the help of a friendly giant (Cindy has developed an alliance with them) Bigby is taken to a gateway between the Cloudworld and the Homelands. Just like back in the war Bigby drops in behind enemy lines.

He's attacked and retaliates savagely in his wolf form, he's ably assisted by his son. Obviously their seventh child located his father and was assisted with controlling his nature and powers.

The purpose of Bigby's mission is to confront the Adversary and explain that any attack on Fabletown will be met with immediate and devastating retribution and to exact some measure of revenge for what happened when the Adversary's wooden soldiers marched on Fabletown. Mission accomplished Bigby arrives back in Fabletown to a low key heroes welcome and collects his payment.

Rose takes Snow out to the area of the Farm that was previously inhabited by the sleeping giants (they're now the Three Little Pigs) and she sees Bigby there. It's a joyous reunion and shows that whatever their previous relationship they are now deeply in love with each other. As payment for what he did in the Homelands Bigby has been gifted the land on the Farm and if Snow wants to they can move the cubs there and raise a family. The reunion between Snow and Ghost (the zephyr child) is touching and beautifully handled.

Sometimes comic book weddings seem overblown and over the top, not this time. The marriage between Bigby Wolf and Snow White was perfect and didn't overdo anything, including the appearance of many of the Fables that the readers had met on the way. It's going to be a real adventure watching how these two deal with married life and the challenges that raising seven very unusual and talented offspring will bring.

The last story in the collection, entitled appropriately Big and Small was about how Cinderella set up the alliance between the Fables and the Giants. I like this feisty secret agent gal that Willingham has turned the former princess into. Beside Mark Buckingham and Lan Medina atist Shawn McManus has followed the style of the Fables the best. In fact, despite his overdone smiles, if I had to choose another artist besides Mark Buckingham for the series, it would be McManus.

Fables: Arabian Nights (And Days)

I'd been wondering what had happened to all the great Fables from the Arabian Nights tales, people like Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Blue got information from the Adversary in Homelands that they were on the hit list, but they were yet to appear in the pages of Fables. The Arabian Nights (And Days) collection rectifies that.

During his time in Baghdad, Mowgli made contact with the Arabian Fables, and had tried to set up some sort of meeting between the Western Fables and their Arabian counterparts. The first signal that the 'wolf boy' has been successful is the appearance of a stretch limo out the front of the Woodlands building. As if Charming didn't have enough to deal with as Mayor, now he's got to handle a large delegation from an entirely foreign culture with different customs and a language he can't speak.

Of the two options Blue was given to make restitution for his crimes (stealing the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal Blade) he chooses two years hard labour at the Farm. Although this will get him out in the fresh air it also means he has to leave Riding Hood behind. He asks his friend Flycatcher (the Frog Prince) to keep an eye on her and there is a growing friendship between the shy girl from the Homelands and the former prince, now janitor.

To Charming's chagrin, the only available Fable that can effectively communicate with the Arabian Fables led by Sinbad, is former Mayor Old King Cole. There are also hints that Charming is planning on adding another notch to his bedpost: Beauty. Fortunately the woman comes to her senses and rebuffs his advances, but Charming never gives up easily. They were also unaware that Bufkin witnessed the entire incident.

Once Cole starts talking to the Arabs things move along, the fly in the ointment is Sinbad's obnoxious vizier; Yusuf. The situation worsens when Frau Totenkinder tells Beast that the Arabs have a WMD (Weapon of Magical Destruction), in the form of a djinn, with them. Being composed of 97% magic djinns are the most powerful magical creature there is. They're also unpredictable and hard to control, in the hands of someone like Yusuf it could spell disaster for Fabletown. The only creature they have access to who could hope to challenge a djinn is the North Wind, who is still on the Farm bonding with his grand children. He's willing to do it, but the consequences of that sort of magical battle could very well destroy the world, so he's not really an option. The scenes at the Farm often involve Snow's cubs. Being werewolves who can also fly the six siblings can create any amount of havoc . The only person who has any real control over them at this point is not Snow, but their Auntie Rose. Her interaction with the cubs is delightfully written and drawn.

Back at Fabletown Yusuf has released the djinn and it takes some pretty swift and sneaky spell casting by Frau Totenkinder to prevent the destruction of Fabletown. Yusuf has unwittingly condemned himself to a slow and painful death at the hands of his own djinn. Frau Totenkinder oversees the death and as with the torture of Baba Yaga, she revels in it too much. She seems to be on the right side for now, but her enjoyment of suffering is concerning, as is the amount of power she has and the knowledge she's gathering. Maybe she'll work out okay, but I find it hard to fully trust someone whose name translates literally as Mrs Dead Children.

At the Farm Blue finds out that his exploits in the Homelands have made him into a hero and Rose's definition of hard labour for heroes is somewhat different to what he initially expected.

Sinbad returns to his base in Baghdad and Cole goes with him in a capacity as Fabletown's ambassador to the Arabian or Easter Fables. The collection ends with Ride developing feelings beyond friendship for a clueless Flycatcher.

There's a standalone at the end of this collection called The Ballad of Rodney and June. It's largely the story of two of the wooden soldiers who develop feelings for one another and the Adversary's method of satisfying both parties. Although the story is standalone it could definitely have implications for the larger story. The artwork for that was provided by Jim Fern. The wooden soldiers were effectively portrayed, but it simply didn't have the life of Mark Buckingham's work.

Fables: Homelands

Homelands is a collection of 7 issues, 5 are the title story. 1 is a one shot featuring Jack and the remaining story is an interlude which helps to set up the next collection.

In Jack Be Nimble readers find out how Jack stole the contents of one of Bluebeard's treasure rooms and what he did with it. The story is actually the creators way of transitioning Jack out of Fabletown and into his own spin off book. The artwork was by David Hahn, it was adequate, but I find that only Lan Medina and Mark Buckingham can do Jack properly.

The interlude features one of Bigby's 'tourists'; Mowgli, from the Jungle Book. He's all grown up now and works for Charming as the new Mayor of Fabletown. He agrees to take on a job for Charming as long as the prince will help his friend Bagheera regarding the panther's part in the uprising on the Farm and involvement in the attempted murder of Snow White.

The title story is set in the Fables Homelands and concentrates mostly on Boy Blue. With the aid of the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal Sword he's set himself up as a Zorroesque avenger. He's out to do two things: kill the Adversary and rescue Riding Hood (the real one this time). The initial view we get of the Homelands confirms the Fables stories about it being a dark place with the people firmly under the thumb of the Adversary. Blue attacks and kills the Adversary's goblin soldiers cum tax collectors.

The masked and cloaked avenger cuts a swathe through the Homelands getting ever closer to the capital and the Adversary. The capital is an interesting contrast. It looks like a fairy tale city and is quite beautiful, the people work hard, but they don't seem cowed, the only real sign of an outward totalarian style dictatorship is the abundance of soldiers on the streets.

Blue gets the drop on the giant armoured figure that he believes is the Adversary, but is unable to make his getaway, being encased in a block of ice by the Adversary's bodyguard; the Snow Queen.

When Blue comes to, he is in an oversized birdcage, he is also face to face with the Adversary. This is a real Oh My God moment. I never saw it coming. The Witching Cloak is armed and because the Adversary wants it and can't use it without Blue he tells Blue what he wants to know and also agrees to bring the real Riding Hood to him. Once Ride is there with the help of Pinocchio (he was hidden in the cloak) Blue makes his escape.

He's put through the wringer back in Fabletown and then it's revealed that he was working for Charming all along. He can provide details about the Adversary's identity and importantly that the Fables from other cultures have not yet been taken over by the Adversary.

Fantastic collection. The unveiling of the Adversary, we got to see a different side of Blue. The only minor criticism is that most of the Fables we've come to know and love weren't shown.