Some Graphic Novel Mini Reviews

Today is the 24 hour readathon and I'm not participating pretty much just because I somehow didn't realise it was happening until yesterday. I really have no idea how I managed to miss it and I'm really feeling the non-participation. It's extra annoying as Rhys actually has the weekend off this weekend, so I totally could have done it, but by now I feel like it's kind of too late to get myself motivated, but oh well. There's always October, right? And reading about everyone's motivation has motivated me to finally getting around to writing a few mini reviews of the graphic novels I've been reading lately! 

I'm so behind with my reviews lately, but I'm having one of those phases where I've started loads and just cannot settle down to finish any of them. So anyway, here goes!

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

Some of you might remember how much I loved and adored Satrapi's Persepolis a couple of years back - it was my first introduction to the graphic memoir genre and I found it hilarious and insightful and awesome. I then saw the film and had pretty much the same experience again, and so despite hearing that Embroideries wasn't as good from several people, I still hoped. 

I have to say though, that although parts of Embroideries were amusing, it was nowhere near as brilliant as Persepolis and had much less impact on me as a reader. Embroideries is about the sex lives of Iranian women, and so the novel is basically family, friends and neighbours sitting in somebody's living room talking about their marriages, divorces, and love affairs in general. There's some interesting stuff in it but generally it just didn't grab me like Persepolis did, which is why I don't have a whole lot to say about it, really. 

And so, onwards to

Fables Volume 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham

I love the Fables series. After I finished Neil Gaiman's Sandman I was worried I wouldn't find anything else fairytaley enough for me, and Fables fits the bill perfectly. As the series progresses I'm finding it difficult to write spoiler -free full length reviews and so I'm tending more towards the mini reviews, more as a quick mention of my reaction to them than an analysis of the books themselves. I don't want to ruin them for anybody, because I really want you all to go and read this series. Even if you don't read graphic novels, I really think you should. 

Sons of Empire is one of the 'setting things up' kind of novels which appear between major events in the Fables series. It's setting up for the next (and major) battle between Fabletown and the Homelands and has some nice little twists and turns and some more of Bigby Wolf's backstory and a lot about Snow and Bigby's adorable kids, so that was fun. Basically, I liked it, as I have liked all of the books in this series so far, but it wasn't one of my favourites. However...

Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince  by Bill Willingham

was. 

The thing that I enjoy the most about the series is how it showcases all the different characters - pretty much each book is about a different character or several different characters and so you get a nice rounded view of what's happening, and every now and again Willingham chucks in a character as a major player who you had hardly noticed skulking in the corners... The Good Prince is pretty much about Prince Ambrose, previously known as Flycatcher, and his story. This is the one that I really can't write about without spoilers and I really don't want to spoil it because it's pretty epic. And that's all I'm going to say. If you have any interest in fairytales, read this series, and read it in order. Thank me later :-)