Casey Bryce's Reviews > Fairest, Volume 3: The Return of the Maharaja

Fairest has been a pleasant surprise, featuring fantastic stories that often surpass even their source material (the Fables series). The first volume was wry, clever, and heartfelt; the second a dark, complex exploration of a foreign Fables culture. Both featured wonderful art. And all was well.

Until now--this current volume is less about the heroine Nalayani as it is about the return of Prince Charming, who is now the apparent Maharaja, or king, of a distant Fable land. Nalayani seeks Charming's aid in defending her village from what is essentially a roving pack of wolves, but things quickly go wrong from there. It's a simple, rote, and rather predictable tale, with Charming's typical smugness robbing him of any true likability. Worse, everything Nalayani set out to accomplish at the beginning of the tale is rendered naught by the end, and Charming's sudden evolution in the ways of love feel forced and undeserved. And those are just the larger criticisms; plenty of other developments also litter the plot in pointless fashion, from the introduction of characters that are later killed off meaninglessly to the supposed heroes who treat their enemies with matching cruelty. It's an odd mishmash of plot choices.

Nevertheless, a few elements save this volume from complete disaster; Nalayani is a decent addition to the Fables universe, the art work is fine (if not as lush as the previous volume's), and the story's fast pace will still keep readers turning pages until the end.

But this is indeed an "okay" read at best. Readers expecting the same level of quality, imagination, and intrigue of the earlier volumes will inevitably be disappointed.

Verdict: 2.5 Stars