A review by jadejade
Fables, Vol. 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham
3.0
One day I hope to be such a cynical and petty reader that I can, without compunction, write a review to the effect of "He drank warm milk - one star." Until then, the universe will watch me merely knock a star or two off when something just doesn't sit right with me.
Noting that the previous volume did not work for me, to the extent that I put this series down for years, I approached this volume as a reset: not every chapter in a saga will work for every reader but that does not mean the reader can't enjoy the overall story.
Unfortunately, there's a single page that gave me pause in this volume. I'll keep it vague but basically a character who is a parent declined to interfere when some of their offspring endangered another offspring. This character's justification was basically, what parent can choose between their children? Another character scolds the parent and says that any half-decent parent can and does, that they should "support the good over the bad and thus teach the good." Another character continues scolding the parent, saying "How can you be so bereft of common virtue not to know that much?"
Excuse me, but WTF?
I get what the writer is trying to say here: the parent character should have stepped in when some of their children took actions that endangered another. But that is not choosing between your children, is it? That's just keeping everyone safe. And then suggesting that it is a virtue to choose between your children?? And that you, the person who shaped your children, get to decide some of your offspring are 'bad' and some are 'good'??? The moral of this story was poorly described. Just re-word one speech balloon to say that the parent should have interfered rather than sit back and watch--that's all you had to say.
I'm still going to try to finish this series but I can see my hackles are still up.
Noting that the previous volume did not work for me, to the extent that I put this series down for years, I approached this volume as a reset: not every chapter in a saga will work for every reader but that does not mean the reader can't enjoy the overall story.
Unfortunately, there's a single page that gave me pause in this volume. I'll keep it vague but basically a character who is a parent declined to interfere when some of their offspring endangered another offspring. This character's justification was basically, what parent can choose between their children? Another character scolds the parent and says that any half-decent parent can and does, that they should "support the good over the bad and thus teach the good." Another character continues scolding the parent, saying "How can you be so bereft of common virtue not to know that much?"
Excuse me, but WTF?
I get what the writer is trying to say here: the parent character should have stepped in when some of their children took actions that endangered another. But that is not choosing between your children, is it? That's just keeping everyone safe. And then suggesting that it is a virtue to choose between your children?? And that you, the person who shaped your children, get to decide some of your offspring are 'bad' and some are 'good'??? The moral of this story was poorly described. Just re-word one speech balloon to say that the parent should have interfered rather than sit back and watch--that's all you had to say.
I'm still going to try to finish this series but I can see my hackles are still up.