Jack Of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape

When Jack last appeared in the Fables series, he had escaped from Fabletown, to get out from under all the rules of Fabletown that cramp his style. He has headed to Hollywood in his latest get rich quick scheme. After violating several of the Fabletown laws, he has a run in with the sheriff, and is now hitchhiking out of Hollywood looking for his next adventure. He meets a lot of Fables out in the world.

This is the first book in the spinoff series of Jack from the Fables books, and it takes place after Jack's exile in Fables volume 6: Homelands. A preview of this series is shown in Fables volume 8 Wolves. If you are looking to avoid spoilers for the Fables series, after reading Homelands you will be safe from spoilers reading through Jack Of Fables volume 6 The Big Book Of War. And to completely understand what happens in Fables: The Great Fables Crossover volume 13, you will want to read The Jack Of Fables series through volume 6.

Jack is not my favorite character from the Fables series. He seems to be stuck in one place, and never grows or changes. Perhaps with a series focused entirely on him that will happen. This was an alright beginning, but I hope to see more from this character as he now has his own spinoff. It would be nice to see some cleverness or depth as he just seems to be a selfish party boy. I also have high expectations because he is suppose to be a classic trickster character, and I do not think this character lives up to that at all.

I did like that this series introduces us to more Fables like Alice in Wonderland, and we get to find out what happens to characters like Goldilocks from the original series. There was the introduction of some new villains, but I do not really find them very interesting yet, I will have to see how they develop in future books.

Honestly, I am only continuing with this series because I am a big fan of Fables, and want to explore all the plots. I would only recommend reading this if you are are a fan or really like the character of Jack. Otherwise, I would skip it.