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Ironic Contradictions

I'm a long time reader - since way back when I was seven. That makes it over three quarters of my life that I will be a reader for. But it is worth it. When I'm not reading or wasting my time online on here or Goodreads I'll be off playing video games, studying teaching and messing around with friends and pop culture. Or reading some more.
Fables, Vol. 12: The Dark Ages - Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Peter Gross, Andrew Pepoy, Mike Allred, David Hahn The Dark Ages is the perfect combination of things I love in any story: pathos, tragedy and a glimmer of hope. My personal favourite types of stories are not those full of nothing but despair and pseudo-grit but really those with a conflict between darkness and light. That is what this volume of Fables has.

Following the defeat of the Adversary in the previous volume, things look set to improve. The most interesting thing about the beginning of this volume is how Geppetto, once a tyrant and sorcerer, now has to readjust to life in Fabletown, among people who strongly dislike him. Things go from bad to worse however as in the Homelands a new evil emerges from captivity under the Adversary. Fabletown ends up in ruins and everyone ends up heading up to the Farm, which leads to a bit of conflict as Bigby can no longer be the force in the Fabletown community that he was previously.

Again, it remains up to the individual to decide whether they like the look of this as a series. To me it remains remarkably consistent from novel volume to volume with the odd volume being better or worse. Again, I would liken it to a television show which has differing strength on an episode to episode basis but a strong overall narrative arc. Curiously Once Upon a Time seems to have been slightly inspired by this, but obviously take their own approach to fairytales (which I love).