The Books of Faerie

Rating:
Summary: magical series
Review: after reading shakespeare's midsummer night's dream,and visiting his beutiful realm of fairyland,i wanted more of these wonderful creatures.this is the place to look for them,where depth is added to believable shakespeare characters. i like the fact that vertigo is linked with an enchanting fantasy realm of shakespeare,that titania is tim's mother.

Rating:
Summary: Enchanted
Review: I picked this up out of curiosity, without reading the "Books of Magic" first (I am doing so now) as I don't normally read comic books. I found the initial first pages confusing, but the pages following that caught me up.

The story begins amid the ending panels of "Summonings", then proceeds back in time several centuries to a tiny girl named Rose, who stumbles into the Queen of the Faerie. Rosebud quickly becomes a favorite of the Queen - and as she grows into adulthood, is also a "favorite" of the King (if you take my meaning). When Queen Dymphna mysteriously vanishes, the King marries Rosebud - who takes on the name of Titania. (Starting to sound familiar?) The new queen also sort of morphs into a fairy.

More familiar characters resurface as the king dies, and his nephew Auberon takes over the throne and marries the queen. But during a venture to Earth, Titania meets and falls in love with a man named Tam Lin. Her love affair with him is cut short when she becomes pregnant and gives birth to an apparently-human baby, who vanishes along with a nursemaid. Thus starts the life of Timothy Hunter...

Even if you're not familiar with the Books of Magic, this is diverting and entertaining, especially if you know about the legend of Tam Lin. The artwork is so so--often it looks like the artist put a sketch instead of a finished panel (like when Dymphna cries out "My torque!") and Titania's facial shape sometimes looks plain silly.

Overall, a very enjoyable comic. I also recommend the sequel, "Auberon's Tale" (tell me, am I alone in finding him VERY sexy?)

Rating:
Summary: Enchanted
Review: I picked this up out of curiosity, without reading the "Books of Magic" first (I am doing so now) as I don't normally read comic books. I found the initial first pages confusing, but the pages following that caught me up.

The story begins amid the ending panels of "Summonings", then proceeds back in time several centuries to a tiny girl named Rose, who stumbles into the Queen of the Faerie. Rosebud quickly becomes a favorite of the Queen - and as she grows into adulthood, is also a "favorite" of the King (if you take my meaning). When Queen Dymphna mysteriously vanishes, the King marries Rosebud - who takes on the name of Titania. (Starting to sound familiar?) The new queen also sort of morphs into a fairy.

More familiar characters resurface as the king dies, and his nephew Auberon takes over the throne and marries the queen. But during a venture to Earth, Titania meets and falls in love with a man named Tam Lin. Her love affair with him is cut short when she becomes pregnant and gives birth to an apparently-human baby, who vanishes along with a nursemaid. Thus starts the life of Timothy Hunter...

Even if you're not familiar with the Books of Magic, this is diverting and entertaining, especially if you know about the legend of Tam Lin. The artwork is so so--often it looks like the artist put a sketch instead of a finished panel (like when Dymphna cries out "My torque!") and Titania's facial shape sometimes looks plain silly.

Overall, a very enjoyable comic. I also recommend the sequel, "Auberon's Tale" (tell me, am I alone in finding him VERY sexy?)

Rating:
Summary: So many things make sense now.
Review: I've been reading through the Books of Magic series of graphic-novel compilations, and getting them in an odd order occasionally (based on what I can find when). Reading this volume made much of one particular volume of the Books of Magic make incredible amounts of sense - it's the backstory, the story that happens between the volumes. It also, however, stands on its own quite well. If you like Neil Gaiman, Emma Bull, or modern fantasy and fairy tales at all, I highly recommend this. A lovely fey tale, full of magic, betrayal, and secrets.

Rating:
Summary: Getting to know Titania
Review: I've read these books slightly out of order, so getting to know the woman whom Molly O'Reilly referred to as "the green bitch" was a rare treat. This lovely, touching collection shows the origins of the girl who would become Titania, as well as introducing Tamlin the falconer at his first appearance in Faerie. Titania and Auberon meet for the first time, and we gain an understanding of their complex and difficult relationship. This book also sheds some light on the birth of Timothy Hunter. Really, I can't recommend this series highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Getting to know Titania
Review: I've read these books slightly out of order, so getting to know the woman whom Molly O'Reilly referred to as "the green bitch" was a rare treat. This lovely, touching collection shows the origins of the girl who would become Titania, as well as introducing Tamlin the falconer at his first appearance in Faerie. Titania and Auberon meet for the first time, and we gain an understanding of their complex and difficult relationship. This book also sheds some light on the birth of Timothy Hunter. Really, I can't recommend this series highly enough.