Peter & Max

I was a little apprehensive at how Bill Willingham would handle the transition from comics to full prose but he turns in a fun read that draws favorable comparisons to Neil Gaiman. The story is fully accessible to non-comic readers but long term fans will get a little extra out of it. The illustrations that are scatterred throughout the book by Steve Leialoha really help in creating the illusion that it is a traditional fairy tale too.The tale is fairly straight forward alternating between Peter tracking down Max in our world and retelling the history of their rivalry. There are points in the book that are particularly dark, although the storytelling is whimsical enough to stop it from being overbearing and there is a real sense of tension building up to Peter and Max's final confrontation. Max's characterisation is excellent throughout and it's clear that he thinks he is in the right. My only real complaint is that I felt the whole thing could have been fleshed out further and while the author was very good at establishing the threat of Max and the love between Bo and Peter in the initial chapters, the backstory of how those things came to being didn't fully live up to the initial promise.Despite that minor complaint this is a strong debut and I think new readers of the Fables universe will really get a kick out of discovering the fun premise and then hopefully make the jump into the equally excellent graphic novels. I hope we will get to see more stand-alone novels fleshing out the backstories of "minor" cast members in the future.

Peter and Max is a novel set in the world of Fables - a graphic novel / comic book series. It is the tale of two brothers, both pipers, and their rivalry and adventures. One becomes a hero, one a villain...I am not entirely sure why I liked this novel - and yet I did. The prose and dialogue feel clunky at times. The story moves fast, but rarely feels like the rich tapestry of a satisfying novel. The settings are not realised entirely convincingly - when the story moves to Europe, it feels like Europe as seen through the eyes of an American writer who has never been there. Or maybe Europe seen through the eyes of a tourist who has only seen Disneyland and Prague, but no real, living, breathing European city / place.And for all that, it is still an enjoyable read. Fast-paced, strangely compelling, and not quite as cutesy pretty as its illustrations. It's the kind of fairy tale that has gruesomeness and horror at its heart, but dresses it up in bright colours, rather than celebrating the darkness within. This is not Pan's Labyrinth, but The Wizard of Oz: darkness in technicolor with sugar and songs...Pleasant, but falling short of the greatness it could have achieved. The plot is all there - the execution, however, is a little too... clean and pretty.

I read Peter and Max on Holiday and got through it very quickly because I couldn't put it down. Even my partner who does not read comics enjoyed it and started interrogating me about the Fables universe.The book tells the tale of Peter Piper (a yet unexplored character in the comic series) and his brother Max. It's mostly told in flashbacks in the Homelands and further fleshes out existing characters in the comic series, like Bigby Wolf and Frau Tottenkinder. It's also easy to read for Fables newcomers, giving a brief explanation of the series history and lore.The only criticism I have is that it was too short.If you're a fan of Fables, then this is an essential addition to your collection.

To be fair, I was looking forward to a comic! Yeah, a proper graphic novel, but I received a novel with a few good illustrations...Sure, I do like novels,too and I have only just received it...oh well...

All in all its well written, paced nicely and builds up to a worthy conclusion. As someone who has been reading the Fables and the not so palatable spin off Jack of Fables, this is a nice additional story in the fables universe masterfully created and 'borrowed' by Bill Willingham from the stories we grew up with.This story takes place over a long period of time as most of the Fables have a complicated back story in the Homelands and the present day.The fraternal rivalry between Peter and Max and the concept of little Bo peep as a form of ninja assassin, are quite creatively crafted into the narrative.