Peter & Max: A Fables Novel

Peter & Max: A Fables Novel (2009) Bill Willingham and Steve Leialoha

I love the Fables comics. I think they’re one of the best story lines going, and if you haven’t checked them out, you really need to.

Peter & Max is set in the Fables universe–both Fabletown and the Homelands. We follow Peter Piper–and his love, Bo Peep–from childhood in the Homelands through their escape to Fabletown and life on the Farm. In their past we see not only the coming of the Adversary but how families were destroyed in the chaos that followed.

We also get a look at life after the Adversary and his troops have taken over an area–the fear and the poverty and how those who remained behind were changed by their experiences–assuming they survived.

Although this is a novel, it is also full of art by Steve Leialoha: gorgeous black & white drawings of Peter and Max and Bo that fill the pages. They drawings aren’t necessary to the story, but they are wonderful.

Although this book is set in the Fables universe, you should be able to read Peter & Max without any familiarity with the series. However, I’m not sure that I’d necessarily recommend it, because it gives away some of the surprises of the comics. Not all of them of course, but some of what I thought were the big surprises. What I’d recommend is checking out the stand-alone comic 1001 Nights of Snowfall, and if you like that, go back and read the series before reading Peter & Max.

You don’t have to, but I think doing so would be more enjoyable.
Rating: 9/10

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