Peter & Max: A Fables Novel (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Peter Piper and his brother Max Piper live the ideal life of minstrels with their father. Peter dreams of a future with Bo Peep while Max hopes to inherit the family’s magical heirloom pipe called Frost when he is old enough. When Peter and Max’s father decides that Peter should get Frost and the forces of the Emperor attack the land, Peter and Max find their family shattered and Max vows to get Frost back. Peter makes his way to the town of Hamelin where he becomes a thief while Max masters a pipe called Fire with the help of a witch. Max is out for revenge as a reunited Peter and Bo Peep hope to escape the Homelands for a city of refuges called Fabletown in the world of the mundane.Written by Bill Willingham and illustrated by Steve Leialoha, Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is a spin-off of Willingham’s award winning comic series Fables which began in 2002. The book was released to mostly positive reviews and also contained a short Fables comic as a back-up story.I am a big fan of Fables and decided to read Peter & Max when I saw it was released just to see if Willingham could bring his very story based creations to an actual novel. As a reader of classic fairytales, I had some expectations going into this book…some of which that were meant and some that slightly missed the mark.The story of Peter & Max for the most part is decent. The book jumps around a lot…sometimes following Peter, sometimes following Max, and an underdeveloped “present day” storyline with Peter seeking out Max again in Hamelin. The thrust of the story is a retelling of the Pied Piper story of which Max becomes the titled character, but the novel is also filled with tons of “Fables” references by having Peter being multiple Peters of stories and tales (like making him Peter Piper and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater). Those little nuggets provide the fun to Peter & Max, but I found myself more interested in Max’s corruption storyline and the Pied Piper than Peter’s adventures as a thief.What I will say I enjoyed is Willingham’s structure for the novel. The book feels like one of those old books in form and style. It is written very lightly with no complex words or writing style (but complex ideas) and each chapter features the very old style of summing up what is about to occur before you read it. It is little touches like that which makes Peter & Max feel a bit like a throwback to older books as Willingham intended.In addition to the writing structure, Leialoha’s art also feels “old”. It feels like the illustrations of old fairytale books and helps enhance and develop this idea that Peter & Max is a tale of old days. I wish there were even more pictures and a few colored ones like the old plate pictures you often got in older books.Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is definitely worth reading for fans of the Fables series but also has a bit of a wider appeal for fans of old fairytales in general. The story could be better, but it is still a fun quick read that is worth seeking out. I would be interested to see Willingham attempt another Fables novel at some point or see this story adapted into comic book form someday as a mini-series. Willingham's prose takes itself too seriously at times, but he can do a lot more in prose than he can in comic writing. PETER & MAX is a good addition to the FABLES canon, focusing on unexplored characters (with a few cameos of the more well-known figures from the comics), and giving deeper insight into the worldbuild and history of the Homelands and Fabletown. Definitely recommended for fans of the comic series.
What do You think about Peter & Max: A Fables Novel (2010)?
I wish he would write another novel, I'm not really into the graphic side of things.
—balletluva13
probably just spoiled with the comic but this wasn't that good.
—AnniePreston
Great addition to the Fables series.
—ClaudiaDemianczuk
