The aftermath of the Adversary's attack on Fabletown, and the impending birth of Snow White and Bigby Wolf's children! Meanwhile, Boy Blue goes on a mission of revenge, and origins of some of Fabletown's residents are revealed when Snow goes on a mission to the desert.


This volume covers issues 28-33 and the stand alone book "1001 Nights of Snowfall".  It also made a liar out of me as I didn't remember that Bigby had spoken in depth about his WWII days (in this volume's "War Stories") when I wrote the review for the recently released Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland standalone book.  Though I'm not entirely sure how the two fit together as they both depict the same basic events, but Bigby did it for entirely different reasons in either accounting and for entirely different people.  So.  Yeah.

As mentioned above "War Stories", "The Mean Seasons" and "1001 Nights of Snowfall" are the story-arcs contained within.  "War Stories" has Bigby meeting with a dying friend from his WWII days (seriously this guy has revealed himself to more Mundys then anyone else I can think of) and their memories (plus a battle with Frankenstein's monster!).

"The Mean Seasons" has Snow giving birth to her and Bigby's litter of pups, a surprise visit from an estranged parent, the election (and fallout) from Fabletown's first democratic vote and the perils of putting ambitious, but untested people in charge.

"1001 Nights of Snowfall", which falls outside of the normal stories and recounts Snow's visit to the desert to warn the Sultan that the Adversary was ravaging the Arabian Worlds just as he had ravaged the European Worlds.  Therein lies the story of Snow and Charmings, post-wedding troubles, the tragedy of Ambrose's family, Rose Red and Snow meeting Frau Totenkinder (and in turn that lady's troublesome past), Bigby's beginnings and a couple other stories I was less interested in.

"War Stories" mainly served as a filler arc to fill out Bigby's life a bit and give the writers/artists time to recover from the Adversary's invasion (plus the readers, cause omg).  It works well enough for what it is, but I was really more interested in getting to Snow White giving birth.  SevenSix lovely kids and Bigby's father's visit made Snow's life a bit more hectic.  With Prince Charming now in office it also gave her the perfect excuse to leave her post as the deputy mayor (a post Beauty took up and does not like).  Meanwhile Bigby, unable to follow Snow, leaves as Fabletown's sheriff, giving the keys to Beast who may or may not prove his mettle well.

There's smaller things that also advance some of the over-arching plotline that are better noticed in hindsight. A lot of this is build up for the next volume (which is hella surprising) however.

"1001 Nights of Snowfall" is an eclectic mix.  Different artists for each story, its a bit disturbing honestly.  Especially the implied past Snow has and the horrifying tragedy that Ambrose desperately tries to never remember.  A couple are fun - the story of Mersey Dotes and Colonel Thunderfoot, proving that sometimes you should be content with where you are.  Diaspora (and The Witch's Tale) is gorgeously illustrated by Tara McPherson and easily the most interesting of the stories contained, also explains a lot regarding Frau Totenkinder and Rose Red.

We're barely even a sixth of the way through the series however!  So much happens that some of this is probably something the Fabletown residents look back and say 'My that was an easier time'.