strange and random happenstance

Bookstore: Westfield Comics

Location: West Side Madison, Wisconsin

Why I Love Them: I have been a fan of Westfield Comics long before I was a fan of comics or even books for that matter... Yes, it seems like an odd thing to frequent a comic store and not be there for the comics, but I went through a hard core trading card addiction in my late teens and early twenties and their old location on South Whitney Way sure supplied me with the goods. That little island in the center of the store was four sides of trading card heaven, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Farscape to The Avengers (Emma Peel obviously), if there was a show or movie I loved I HAD to have the trading cards and there was always that elusive chance of finding a signed one or even better a pieceworks one (AKA a bit of fabric from a costume)! This addiction was helped along by the fact that Westfield Comics was right next to Marshalls and my mom went there literally every day, so I'd tag along and see what was happening next door. Eventually my interest started to shift into British Science Fiction magazines that you could only get there and which I desperately needed to feed my Red Dwarf addiction. But when Joss Whedon started writing comics, that was the beginning of my shift to full on Westfield Comics addict. For a short while their new location was right next to Frugal Muse and I was living the dream. Sadly Frugal Muse moved but by this point I was a goner. I now even have a pull list. Reserved. In fact Giant Days issue number thirty-seven is out this coming Wednesday! Can't wait to see what else they've gotten in!

Best Buy: Now because this blog and these posts are all about books, ostensibly, I'm going to talk about my favorite book I've gotten at Westfield Comics. And yes, this could include a trade paperback or hardcover release of comics, but in this case it doesn't. Because my spending habits in regards to graphic novels got kind of out of control I instated a rule for myself, I wasn't allowed to buy a graphic novel unless I had previously read it. This is where my local library and their amazing graphic novel selection comes in. Under the advice of my friend Janice I started to read the Fables comics by Bill Willingham back in 2012. The modern take on Fairy Tales was right up my alley. Over the course of the next three years I devoured all of them, even the offshoots from the atrocious Jack of Fables to the hit or miss Fairest. During my first initial binge catching up on all the back issues I'd missed over the years I noticed that there was one prose volume, Peter and Max: A Fables Novel. I was expecting pretty much more of the same, but I was in for a surprise. I didn't check the book out from the library, I am literally only there for the graphic novels, so off I went to Westfield Comics and there it was on the shelf under "F" and up to the counter I went and when I got home I just fell completely in love with this book. The complex story of the two brothers Peter and Max became my third most favorite book I read that year and by best buy that might never be top from Westfield Comics.   

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bill Willingham, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Comics, Emma Peel, Fables, Fairest, Farscape, Jack of Fables, Joss Whedon, Library, Peter and Max, Red Dwarf, Support Your Brick and Mortar, The Avengers, Westfield Comics

Winter by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 10th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 832 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Kidnapping Kai on his wedding day was basically a declaration of war against Queen Levana. But Kai needed to know the whole truth about Levana, and more importantly, about Cinder; that she is Princess Selene, the true ruler of Luna. The rebels, Cinder, Iko, Cress, Thorne, and Wolf, need to get to Luna to broadcast Cinder's identity, foment a rebellion, and rescue Scarlet. After their plan is formed they return Kai to his now decimated palace where he declares his continued allegiance to the alliance with Luna and his desire to still marry Levana. The wedding is rescheduled for ten days later. In Artemesia, the capital of Luna. Just as they had planned. They are going to use Kai's ship as a Trojan Horse and sneak right into the capital. Levana had thought of this outcome and was prepared, but so had Cinder and her friends, enough distractions and they have escaped Levana's grasp once more. Winter has also escaped Levana's grasp, with the help of her guard Jacin and Scarlet, her death was faked and they were able to escape the capital. The two groups meet at Wolf's mother's house in the outer sectors. Maha Kesley offers them shelter, but they know any illusion of safety won't be long lived.

They are now not just outlaws but have an entire moon's worth of soldiers actively hunting them. As rebellion begins to take hold Cinder and Wolf are captured by Levana. But with Winter using her natural charisma to enlist help for Cinder out in the outer sectors there is still hope. What's more, by putting Cinder on trial Levana made a major mistake. Cinder was able to capture Levana's true face. Using her cybernetics Cinder was able to document not just Levana's biggest secret but the travesty of her own trial. Escaping from certain death once again the rebels marshal their forces and plot their final assault. They need to attack the palace head on with their forces from the other sectors, forces that Levana has tried to kill by releasing the letumosis virus. If Levana thinks that victory will be that easy, she is sadly mistaken. Using stealth and forces within the palace as well as those without Levana just might be defeated. But in the end it will come down to just Levana and Cinder in a room. One will be victorious and the other will be dead. Can Cinder get her happily ever after for herself and her friends or was it all just a glamour?

The Lunar Chronicles for me has been a ride of smooth freshly paved concrete and Illinois highways that peter out into dirt roads. There was the perfection that was Cress and the low point of Scarlet. But through it all it has been an overall enjoyable ride. The end of the journey was just a little bumpier than I would have liked. Winter was overlong and many chapters felt like the wheels where just spinning and there was no forward momentum. I'm not saying I wasn't satisfied by the ending, everyone ended up exactly where they should, it was just rough getting there. There was just too much toing and froing. They're in the palace, they're out of the palace, they're captured, they're free, they're in danger, they're safe. Over and over and over again. Exactly how many times do you have to break into a palace only to have to break out again only to have to break in again in one book? Many many times if Winter is the benchmark and with many different subsets of characters. There's literally only so much stalling I can take, which is exactly what every setback felt like. Stalling. It's like Meyer didn't want the end to happen too quickly so she threw in so many obstacles it was almost laughable. This ending was a long time coming. At times it felt like it wasn't going to come at all.

Also, while I admit that everyone ended up where they should, perhaps there should have been some repercussions? Yes, yes, I know this is a retelling of a Fairy Tale so a Fairy Tale HEA is expected, but wouldn't there have been more weight to the story if not everyone got an HEA? In particular I'm thinking about Wolf and his non-transformation transformation. When Wolf and Cinder are captured Wolf is forcibly turned back into one of the Queen's Guards. But more than that he's not just reprogrammed, he's remade into an even more wolfy mutant wolf solider. Snout elongated, mouth widened, my grandmother what big teeth you have, the whole Big Bad Wolf makeover. All that bio-engineering to make him not the Wolf Scarlet and the rest of them knew and loved. It is stressed over and over again that Wolf has been changed so dramatically that he is no longer who he was but just one look at Scarlet and it's all fine!?! It's like all that extensive surgery actually didn't change his appearance much at all. Say what!?! Pages and pages about how he's different and then it's all fixed with a kiss. This is the most Fairy Tale aspect of the entire book and I think that if some reality had been brought to bear just in this one instance the book would have been elevated. Wolf and Scarlet die for the cause? That makes much more sense.

But overall there were a lot of things that just didn't make sense as this series drew to a close. Not just the repetitive nature of the story or the fact that EVERY SINGLE PERSON gets an HEA, but there's The Hunger Games aspect. What I have loved about The Lunar Chronicles is that it took stories that were well known and loved and gave them an entirely new spin. Cinderella is a cyborg but also a space princess! How much more out of the box and original is that? And then when we meet all the wealthy residents of Artemesia they're just extras from The Hunger Games who happened to also be residents of The Capital, in that series and this. Um, what!?! This really just threw me for a loop. I've always touted this series as inventive and original and then in the entire structure of Luna it became a rip-off of another dystopian series. Instead of districts we have sectors, many devoted to the same purposes as those in The Hunger Games. Oh, and the Capital residents, glamours and gaudy clothing and wild looks aplenty. I seriously thought that Caesar Flickerman was going to do a play-by-play of Levana and Kai's wedding. And what baffled me most of all? This wasn't the Luna that we saw in Fairest! This is an entirely new and entirely derivative Luna! WTH people! I just couldn't get beyond this and I still can't. Why, just why!?!

And in the end, the saddest thing of all was that my predictions for the character Winter came true. When Scarlet came out I bemoaned the fact that with all the new characters being added in each volume that by the time we got to Winter's story she would be entirely sidelined. And she was. And this just makes me pissed. Why? Because this book is overly long and filled with all this unnecessary padding and somewhere, deep down in its heart, is this amazing story that is only Winter's. The way Meyer has updated the story of Snow White is exquisite, from the fake death in the menagerie to Levana handing her the apple dosed with the letumosis virus, each and every aspect of this book that is only Winter's story is perfection. There's an elegance and a sadness to her story that captures the bittersweet nature of looking back on Fairy Tales when you think you've outgrown them. The way she doesn't use her power because it's against her core beliefs but is making her insane, the natural charisma that makes the Lunar people drawn to her. I just wanted a book about Winter. No one else. She deserved her own story. She has spent her life in the shadows, tortured by Levana, the least she deserved was not to have the new Queen, Cinder, do the same thing. But such is life. No one, not even fictional characters I have come to love, get what they deserve.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Backlog Bonanza, Caesar Flickerman, Cinder, Cress, Dystopian, Fairest, Fairy Tales, Glamour, HEA, Levana, Luna, Marissa Meyer, Scarlet, Snow White, The Hunger Games, The Lunar Chronicles, Trojan Horse, Winter, Wolf

Fairiest by Marrisa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: January 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Life as a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be for Levana. Her sister, Channery, has just become Queen of Luna after their parents assassination. A job her sister isn't the least cut out for in Levana's opinion. Levana knows that even at fifteen she'd be a far better queen, yet she is relegated to a joke by her sister and others. Deformed as a young child she hides behind her glamour in a cold friendless world till one day a palace guard she has secretly cared for shows her a kindness. This small act by Evret changes everything. She sees a new life for her, a life where she is a loving mother and a beloved Queen. There's just some impediments to this dream. Impediments whose removal is for the good of Luna.

My first reaction to hearing about Fairest was a lack of interest bordering on complete indifference. The story seemed as if it held the same weight as a tie-in short story or e-book exclusive novella, to be read eventually but not now. Then I found out that it was being released when I thought Winter was going to be coming out and my opinion changed to begrudging it's existence. I didn't want a book about the wicked queen, I wanted the end to this saga I've grown to love. Yes, I might have stamped my foot a little, but who can blame me? I should have trusted Meyer more... though this book did make me want Winter even more, so, double edged sword there Marissa. Double edged sword.

To me Levana has always just been the annoying Big Bad in the Buffy sense. She seemed very one dimensional, "Destroy Earth!" "Marry Price Charming!" "Kill Cinder!" She had a one track mind and just pissed me off with all her meddling. Now, well, she's still pissing me off, but she's now something more, she's fascinating. Levana's story doesn't make her sympathetic, per se, and not even really relatable, I mean the things she does, well, yikes. But by living in her headspace for a few hundred pages you understood her and in the end pitied her. She's like a child who has never really grown up emotionally. The side of her that is cold and calculating and is a good leader to her people has thrived, but her heart stalled out long ago. The betrayal of her sister when they were still in the nursery emotionally broke her so that she equates love with control. Therefore she sees nothing wrong with how she manipulates her husband. How can we, as readers, blame her fully for what she's done? Yes, she is evil, but it comes from such a sad place that pity is the only feeling you are left with. Plus, there's no better way to piss off a megalomaniacal dictator then to pity them!

But the amazing thing that Meyer has done is to show us the similarities between Levana and Cinder. Before and even after we knew that Cinder was Lunar, we would never have guessed that her and Levana could be so similar. Cinder would recoil at the idea, much as she recoils at the Lunar blood in her veins, but the similarities highlight the differences all the more. We see the moments that shaped both their lvies. Both parentless and deformed at a young age, we see how two people can respond to the same set of circumstances. Levana became warped and power hungry, while Cinder, Cinder is kind. Just look at how the two took the death of their sisters from disease. Levana didn't try to help Channery, just waited till she died to assume the thrown. Whereas Cinder did everything in her power to save Peony. This book just wants you to hug Cinder and reassure her that in no way is she like Levana, she couldn't be even if she tried.

We also finally got to see Luna! For so long it's just been this empire in the sky, like a faceless Death Star. In Cress we got some tantalizing glimpses of what the moon colony is like, but no real time to come to grips with this other realm. We, quite literally, are the Earthens with no idea of the alien life above, just the fear. That light shining down on us at night is the enemy. Yet we need to understand it in order to fully get Cinder, she is, after all, their true Queen. In Fairest with Levana we get to see what palace life is like, but it's really through her husband Evret and his first wife, Solstice, that we get more a grasp on everyday life on the moon. Plus the little hints and snippets heard around the castle about unrest, all of this is giving us a clearer view of what Cinder will face in the final battle to come.

And that is where this book is most valuable. Fairest is background couched in a delicious story. We need to know about Cinder's mother and her claim to the throne. We need to know about Levana's reign. We need to know if there really is unrest on Luna. This is all valuable information that we need in order for us to fully get Winter and have a satisfying conclusion to this amazing series. So while, yes, I did initially have disdain for this book's existence, I now realize how much I needed it in my life. More then that, I realize I did need it before Winter. Of course, now that I've finished Fairiest I think it's only fair that Winter comes. Soon rather then later. Winter is coming!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Channery, Cinder, Cress, Evret, Fairest, Levana, Luna, Marissa Meyer, Moon, Pity, The Lunar Chronicles, Winter

Fairiest by Marrisa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: January 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series."

Yes, I know this isn't Winter and the finale, but at least she's giving us something to keep us going till Winter is out later this year.

Mr. Mac and Me by Esther Freud
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: January 27th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It is 1914, and Thomas Maggs, son of the local publican, lives with his parents and sister in a village on the Suffolk coast. He is the youngest child, and the only son surviving. Life is quiet-shaped by the seasons, fishing and farming, the summer visitors, and the girls who come from the Highlands every year to gut and pack the herring.

Then one day a mysterious Scotsman arrives. To Thomas he looks like a detective in his black cape and felted wool hat, puffing on his pipe like Sherlock Holmes. Mac is what the locals call him when they whisper about him. And whisper they do, for he sets off on his walks at unlikely hours and stops to examine the humblest flowers. He is seen on the beach, staring out across the waves as if he's searching for clues. But Mac isn't a detective, he's the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and together with his artist wife, they soon become a source of fascination and wonder to Thomas.

Yet just as Thomas and Mac's friendship begins to blossom, war with Germany is declared. The summer guests flee and are replaced by regiments of soldiers, and as the brutality of war weighs increasingly heavily on this coastal community, they become more suspicious of Mac and his curious ways.

In this story of an unlikely friendship, Esther Freud paints a vivid portrait of the home front during World War I, and of a man who was one of the most brilliant and misunderstood artists of his generation."

Um, what doesn't scream me about this book?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Cinder, Cress, Esther Freud, Fairest, Levana, Marissa Meyer, Mr. Mac and Me, Scarlet, The Lunar Chronicles, Tuesday Tomorrow, Winter

An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dysfunctional British nuclear family seek a new life away from the big city in the sleepy Somerset countryside. At first their new home, The Hollow, seems to embrace them, creating a rare peace and harmony within the family. But when the house turns on them, it seems to know just how to hurt them the most—threatening to destroy them from the inside out."

I didn't even see the Neil Gaiman recommendation till after I had decided I NEED to read this book!

The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason
Published by: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 360 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa "appear lunatic," using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, "there are no coincidences." It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay."

Love Colleen Gleason, and I love this series! I swear, that this week has SO MANY books I want it should be my birthday tomorrow and not my Dad's.

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde
Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Although she’s an orphan in indentured servitude, sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange is pretty good at her job of managing the unpredictable crew at Kazam Mystical Arts Management. She already solved the Dragon Problem, avoided mass destruction by Quarkbeast, and helped save magic in the Ununited Kingdoms. Yet even Jennifer may be defeated when the long-absent Mighty Shandar makes an astonishing appearance and commands her to find the Eye of Zoltar—proclaiming that if she fails, he will eliminate the only two dragons left on earth.

How can a teenage non-magician outdo the greatest sorcerer the world has ever known? But failure is unacceptable, so Jennifer must set off for the mysterious Cadir Idris in the deadly Cambrian Empire—a destination with a fatality index of fifty percent. With the odds against them, will Jennifer and her traveling companions ever return to the Kingdom of Snodd?"

A new Jasper Fforde? Yes please! Though I wish it was the new book to follow up his Shades of Grey...

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2014 edited by Daniel Handler
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of the enormously popular young adult series A Series of Unfortunate Events, takes over as editor for this volume. He will work with the students of 826 Valencia and 826 Michigan writing labs to compile new fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and other category-defying gems, ensuring that “if you need to fall in love with reading again — or just want a reminder that high school students deserve a lot more than their reading lists give them — then this is the book for you” (Bust)."

Even if I didn't HAVE to buy this book for the wonderful cover, the fact that Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket edited this makes it a must buy.

Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
Published by: Dey Street Books
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In his unique and engaging voice, the acclaimed actor of stage and screen shares the emotional story of his complicated relationship with his father and the deeply buried family secrets that shaped his life and career.

A beloved star of stage, television, and film—“one of the most fun people in show business” (Time magazine)—Alan Cumming is a successful artist whose diversity and fearlessness is unparalleled. His success masks a painful childhood growing up under the heavy rule of an emotionally and physically abusive father—a relationship that tormented him long into adulthood.

When television producers in the UK approached him to appear on a popular celebrity genealogy show in 2010, Alan enthusiastically agreed. He hoped the show would solve a family mystery involving his maternal grandfather, a celebrated WWII hero who disappeared in the Far East. But as the truth of his family ancestors revealed itself, Alan learned far more than he bargained for about himself, his past, and his own father.

With ribald humor, wit, and incredible insight, Alan seamlessly moves back and forth in time, integrating stories from his childhood in Scotland and his experiences today as a film, television, and theater star. At times suspenseful, deeply moving, and wickedly funny, Not My Father’s Son will make readers laugh even as it breaks their hearts."

Um, if you don't like Alan Cumming, well, I think we've got a problem then...

Fairest Volume 4: Cinderella of Men and Mice by Bill Willingham
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cinderella returns in an all-new epic! After an assassination attempt on Snow White, Cind is called back into service to unravel an age-old conspiracy that dates back to that fateful midnight ball! Can Cind uncover the plot and prevent a massacre in Fabletown? By critically acclaimed writer Marc Andreyko (MANHUNTER, Torso, The Lost) and legendary artist Shawn McManus (CINDERELLA, SWAMP THING), FAIREST VOL. 4: CINDERELLA - OF MEN AND MICE ties directly into FABLES!

New York Times bestselling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female FABLES. Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the FABLES tradition, FAIREST explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others."

I am not going to be handling things well once this series is over...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alan Cumming, An English Ghost Story, Bill Willingham, Colleen Gleason, Daniel Handler, Fables, Fairest, Jasper Fforde, Kim Newman, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, The Eye of Zoltar, The Spiritglass Charade

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: November 26th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A rogue ruined . . .

He is the Killer Duke, accused of murdering Mara Lowe on the eve of her wedding. With no memory of that fateful night, Temple has reigned over the darkest of London’s corners for twelve years, wealthy and powerful, but beyond redemption. Until one night, Mara resurfaces, offering the one thing he’s dreamed of . . . absolution.

A lady returned . . .

Mara planned never to return to the world from which she’d run, but when her brother falls deep into debt at Temple’s exclusive casino, she has no choice but to offer Temple a trade that ends in her returning to society and proving to the world what only she knows...that he is no killer.

A scandal revealed . . .

It’s a fine trade, until Temple realizes that the lady—and her past—are more than they seem. It will take every bit of his strength to resist the pull of this mysterious, maddening woman who seems willing to risk everything for honor . . . and to keep from putting himself on the line for love."

I know you've all been waiting for this book like me!

Fairest in All the Land by Bill Willingham
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: November 26th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the spirit of FABLES: 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL and FABLES: WEREWOLVES OF THE HEARTLAND comes the first ever original graphic novel from the pages of #1 New York Times bestselling writer Bill Willingham's FAIREST.

FAIREST has explored the secret histories of the most stunning beauties in Fabletown: Cinderella, Snow White, Briar Rose, Rapunzel, and the list goes on and on. In FAIREST IN ALL THE LAND, the best names in comics take their turns fleshing out the pasts of the loveliest Fables in existence. For all those wanting to dive into FAIREST or FABLES, this original graphic novel is a fantastic entry point, as well as a great new chapter for those that have been following Bill Willingham's fairy tale epic for years."

So, 1001 Nights of Snowfall was one of my favorite books of last year, if this can live up to only a little of that hype it's going to be epic! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bill Willingham, Fables, Fairest, No Good Duke Goes Unpunished, Sarah MacLean

Harbinger: A Book of the Order by Philippa Ballantine
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 30th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Deacons of the Order are all that stand between the wicked spirits of the Otherside and the innocent citizens of the Empire. They are sworn to protect humanity, even when they cannot protect themselves…

After the Razing of the Order, Sorcha Faris, one of the most powerful Deacons, is struggling to regain control of the runes she once wielded. The Deacons are needed more desperately than ever. The barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead is weakening, and the Emperor has abandoned his throne, seeking to destroy those he feels have betrayed him.

Though she is haunted by the terrible truth of her past, Sorcha must lead the charge against the gathering hordes of geists seeking to cross into the Empire. But to do so, she will need to manipulate powers beyond her understanding—powers that may prove to be her undoing…"

Ok, so I haven't actually started this series yet... but my love of Pip Ballantine's Ministry Series is SO STRONG that I not only picked up the first in the series, but heartily encourage you to do the same!

Fairest Volume Two: The Hidden Kingdoms by Bill Willingham
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: July 30th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female FABLES. Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the FABLES tradition, FAIREST explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others.

In a stand-alone tale, Beast must hunt a beauty, but what is her relation to his past? And then, in a 6-part epic, Rapunzel lives one of the most regimented lives in Fabletown, forced to maintain her rapidly growing hair lest her storybook origins be revealed. But when word of her long-lost children surface, she races across the sea to find them--and a former lover."

Ok, so as you may know, I now have a full blown addiction to Fables. Sadly, I'm all caught up. But luckily the spin off series Fairest is just as awesome. Volume One kicked some serious ass and the coda with Beauty and the Beast means I'm WAY excited for this collection. Like way way way excited, pre-ordered in in December excited. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Beauty and the Beast, Bill Willingham, Fables, Fairest, Harbinger, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, Philippa Ballantine, Pip Ballantine