"Arabian Nights (and Days)" is as good as any of the books in the Fables series, but the entire sequence read like a prelude to future volumes. Nothing happens in this latest installment to significantly impact the war against the Adversary, nor are there any major changes in the established cast, though we see a lot of new characters introduced who will no doubt play major roles in the future.

There are basically two stories in this volume. The first story arc concerns the arrival of a delegation of Arabian Fables in New York, led by their envoy, Sinbad. Unfortunately Sinbad arrives complete with his retinue of blackamor guards and harem slaves. Such did not sit well with the Fabletown authority, especially when they learned that Sinbad is carrying a djinn with them (yes, the Genie in the bottle/lamp type). This is immediately interpreted as an act of war from the camp of the Arabian Fables since a djinn is the magic equivalent of a nuclear arsenal.

We've read references to non-European Fable lands in previous volumes and knew that the Adversary had already begun his invasion of the worlds of the Arabian Fables. Now we learn that the Arabian Fables are quite aware of the threat, but still have not decided whether or not to ally themselves with the Fables who have fled to the mundane world. For more of the initial attempt of Fabletown’s attempt to communicate with the Arabian Fables, best to read “Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall”.

There are a lot of culture clashes and the requisite amount of treachery and bloodshed, along with a few subplots highlighting the personal lives of Beast, Beauty, Prince Charming, Flycatcher, and Red Riding Hood. Newly elected Mayor, Prince Charming and Deputy Mayor Beauty have to deal with their own residents who are fed up with the way that Charming has been running Fabletown; as well as the sexual tension brewing between the two of them (as witnessed by Bufkin, the flying monkey & Business Office Librarian). While Beast has gotten used to his role as Fabletown Sheriff, Charming is still regretting his decision to unseat King Cole as the mayor. He receives an earful from Boy Blue in this regard.

"The Ballad of Rodney and June” as the final section of the book is a real change of pace. The wooden soldiers of the Empire were introduced in March of the Wooden Soldiers”, and we learn that they are exceptionally powerful and merciless foot soldiers, given that they were carved from the living wood of the Sacred Grove.

However, two subjects: a decorated soldier named Rodney and a wooden "medic" who helps repair injured wooden troops named June begin to show human emotions, which are regarded by the wooden soldiers as being among the worst things that have to do with being human. The wooden soldiers discuss at length their disgust with humanity: citing that humans must eat (shoving dead animal and plant matter into one hole), must excrete waste material (out of another hole), must sleep one third of each day, and are easily injured.

No matter, June reciprocates Rodney’s love and they petition their father, Gepetto, to be made human so that they can really and truly marry. Their wish is granted with the grave condition that they move just outside Fabletown and live among the Mundys (with Rodney ironically taking a job as a butcher--meat is abhorrent to the wooden sons and daughters of the Empire). Talk about being spied upon in your very own camp! Most moving was June’s emotional predicament of wanting to protect her future child from the knowledge of what they truly are or to let their future brood live blissfully ignorant in the mundane world.

Book Details:

Title Vol. 7: Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days)
Author Bill Willingham
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

Charming. Immortal.
"You are entirely defined by what you covet" page 63 ( )

Summary: This book has two main arcs - the first, "Arabian Nights (and Days)", concerns a new refugee influx into Fabletown. The Adversary has started incursions into the Homelands of the Arabian Fables, and when Sinbad, complete with an entourage including a harem of slave girls, shows up at the Woodland, there's an inevitable culture clash... which isn't helped by the fact that the Eastern Fables have brought a djinn with them - a clear act of aggression. The second story, "The Ballad of Rodney and June", concerns two wooden soldiers in the Adversary's army who fall in love, but discover that being made of wood is less than... erm... conducive to certain aspects of being in love.

Review: I was underwhelmed by this one, although I can't exactly put my finger on what was wrong with it. I enjoyed the introduction of new characters, the new developments with old characters (I loved that King Cole got something to do), and thought that the plot with the djinn was interesting and resolved creatively. The artwork was also excellent as usual, breaking out of the traditional panel format more frequently than I remember in past volumes. Still, there just wasn't anything that grabbed me in this volume, nothing that made me sit up and go "wow!" Maybe it's because Bigby's still missing, and the bits with my other favorite characters, while fun, were too short to really get me involved. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Although it's probably my least favorite of the series so far, it's still a good read, and it does set up some plot points that are obviously going to be important later. ( )

Arabian Nights (and Days) is enjoyable, but not my favorite of the Fables volumes. I'm definitely sticking with this series: the characters and stories are engaging and the art is really good. ( )

This collection brings us two stories. The one involved more directly with the main story line is about the Arabian Fables coming to visit Fabletown, and about the ensuing culture clashes and scheming. The story is pretty mediocre (in Fable metrics :)). The problem here is that Prince Charming, Beauty and The Beast just aren't interesting enough characters. The highlights of the story come when Frau Totenkinder, Boy Blue, or the former Mayor step into the light.

The other half of the book is comprised of a story of two wooden people in the Homelands. It is basically a love story, but evolves very interestingly. Fern and Palmiotti's art is interesting, and after a moment's hesitation I decided that it suited the story very well. ( )