I didn't care much for this book.
For me it was just a filler book with 2 filler stories.

I'm sure the Arabian Fables part of the book is important for the next books, and the development of the story.

The last 2 chapters of the book are a standalone 2 part side story about a couple of puppets from the Adversary's army that become spies in the Mundy world...
The last 2 pages may be an important clue for the future of FableTown, but all the rest of the story is a bit sappy for my taste. ( )

Once more into the fray we go with a whole other section of fairy tales, this time for an entirely different realm. And dealing with how people interact, what they expect, what goes right and what goes wrong. I like the culture barriers. I like seeing Cole be useful, and find his next calling. I liked seeing Charming get taken down a notch, and still make the right choices.

The Ballad of Rodney and June was a little longer than I feel like it needed to be, but I deeply appreciated it and it made me like this trade more.
( )

Very well done. I found it interesting how they chose to portray Arab fables: they own slaves, see the Westerners as infidels, and generally distrusting. The ending was very well done though, so no complaints there. ( )

I love this opening.

What we have here... is a failure to communicate.

And how it just builds from there, expanding the Fables universe to include a whole new world[^yup] of Fables inspired on Middle Eastern tales, including all sorts of culture shock and having to deal with the Fable equivalent of nuclear weaponry: a djinn.

Fun times. Great stories.

And then add to that, the final story is set among the Adversary's wooden soldiers, with something of a clash of cultures of it's own and a Romeo and Juliet (only wooden) story. It's a bit hard to read (physically, the font is weird), but a fascinating look at just what in the world it means to be human in such a wild and crazy world.

More semi-spoilery images:



Oh Prince Charming. Now you've got the girl/city, and you're all done with that... But you're still stuck with it.



That... is a remarkably sneaky way to deal with it. I was wondering what they were going to do. It's wonderful.



Boy Blue is back in the dog house (which could be all too literal), doing time on the farm for all the things he stole. I have a sneaky suspicion that his story isn't over just yet.



Sapline. It's funny 'cause they're made of wood[^funny].



Oh 'made of meat' jokes. Not particularly original, but still amusing. Such derision for something so (to us) normal.

[^yup]: Yup. I went there.

[^funny]: It's also funny when you explain the joke. ( )

Fun times. Mostly because of the (spoiler). ( )