...if it's like these books. I first discovered Neil Gaiman and the world of the Endless about eight years ago, and I've been lost in it since. Apparently the brilliant minds at DC Vertigo are as captivated by the story possibilities as I am, for they've turned out another outstanding book.

Molly, the girlfriend of the young sorcerer and "opener" Tim Hunter, has come to the forefront as a major character. Cursed by a jealous Queen Titania, Molly has declared war on Faerie. This is not a story about Timothy Hunter; it's a story about Faerie and its all-too-human inhabitants. Tim does show up, but he's not the most important thing going on here. Along the way we meet: Huon the Small, the faceless "leveller"; Yarrow, the fairy with more strength than she suspects; and the mysterious Selwyn, Titania's closest companion. Some old friends show up too: Zatanna, the backwards-speaking magician whom Tim hopes will be his mentor; and Tala, the cat-eyed queen of evil from the first "Book of Magic".

As always, beautifully written and drawn. Once you've visited Faerie, you won't ever want to leave.

this latest paperback features the second half of the Rites of Passage storyline and, believe me, it doesn't get any better than this! So many things happen here and all them exciting: the near-destruction of Faerie by Molly, the secret of Faerie, the visit from Hell, and so on. Talk about edge of your seat excitement!. This book has it all! It is truly worth it.

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?)

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.

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.

As the title says...but still an excellent book. The entire series and especially the best books in it really immerse you in the story lines and this does it exceptionally well. I really liked the development of the relationship with Molly and the fairie queen character was a classic. My advice: read it; if you haven't read any of the Books of Magic before its a great introduction, and if you have read some of the other books...its a great addition.

I am an avid reader of almost anything and everything by Gaiman. I am also a reader of the Books of Magic (both the miniseries by Gaiman and the follow up series). This book is not Gaiman's greatest (That would be Fables and Reflections, or perhaps Season of Mists) nor the best of the Books of Magic (although perhaps it is the best of the miniseries), but given the length and Quality of the Books of Magic and Gaiman's skill in Sandman and Neverwhere thats not saying much. It is a great story with few flaws (some of the art is wonky and there are a few too many cliches) and recommended to fans of the BoM or Gaiman.

This was just fantastic, it had great art, though with a story like this you won't be caught up gazing at the pictures. The artwork is just amazing (though I thought they made the chainmail in Caps shirt too overstated,) the story keeps you turning the pages. It begins on Sept 12th, Cap is obviously upset, and a little lost, but he battles through and beats up some terrorists, and he does it without being jingoistic and laughable (because I've read Cap comics where he's just a joke.) Overall though, this is a great comic which everyone will get a kick out of.

Nicely conceived idea, with the mini-series arc starting in the rubble of Ground Zero. The art will have non-comic-book people scratching their head in amazement, saying "I had no idea." When a plot point centers on the fact that the terrorist strike may have been an attempt to start WW III "in the Middle East", you'll gasp. Especially when this originally appeared a year ago or more...When Cap underscores his concern by stating, "In WW I, 90% of the casualties were military. In WW II, it was 50%. In WW III...?"...having to go back just to appreciate the artwork some more. A classy, classic read, and well worth your investigation.

This is a collection of the first 6 issues of Marvel's new Captain America series and it is a beauty. John cassady's art is breathtaking, I want to see his work alot more. His version of Captain America is perfect down to each individually drawn scale on caps armored shirt. John Ney Riebers writing is also spot on the money. I won't spoil it for you but the first page of issue 1 sent chills down my spine! You know after the first page this is not a normal Captain America comic book. This book covers all sorts of big issues brought up by the 9-11 attacks and Cap tackles them head on never ducking the issue. When a rescue worker asks cap where he was during the attack caps only answer is "I wasn't there" echoing the helplessness we all felt. The writing style is sparse at times but it definitely makes an impact on you and it is a case where less is more. Cassady's artwork itself almost tells the story at times, the sign of a truly great artist. Captain America is not usually one of my favorite heroes but this book made me love him. Captain America is a leading character in the Marvel universe and John Ney Rieber and John Cassady have done him proud.

I started reading this series after I read Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic miniseries, which is really really good. Unfortunately I've only been able to get ahold of 2, 3, and 4, this one. The plot isn't as good as Gaiman's, it's just not quite as convincing as a real world that exists beside our own, something that Gaiman and the Sandman in particular are phenomenal at. But I still enjoyed this book. The art was nice and I especially like the addition of Tim's girlfriend Molly, who's quite a bit of fresh air. Since I came in on the middle of this story though, I couldn't quite grasp what was going on at times.

a very pleasant book,something you can sit down and enjoy

This book is the republication in a paperback portfolio of the issues #21-25 of the books of magic on-going monthy comic book and presents the latest encounter of timothy hunter with death of the endless and the transformation of tim into a cat among other things. The correct sequence of tpbs of the books of magic is this: * books of magic- the miniserie colection published before the montly comic book. * the books of magic bindings- issues #1-4 of the montly comic book. * the books of magic sumonings- issues #5-12. * the books of magic reckonings- issues #13-20. * the books of magic transformations- issues #21-25. If you buy one of the books of magic you'll just ending like me buying all of them, because it's kind of hard not to be complete overwhelmed by the juvenale and simpatetic writing and constrution of the caracters which presents most pleasant british personalities

.......but that is just about it, I couldn't even follow what was going on, and what they were doing, even with the pictures. The best part of this comic book (and they didn't mention that it was a comic book when I bought it, so I was very surprized) was the last few end pages, when I finally figured out what it all meant. The last pages were the BEST of the whole comic-book.

Then this book is for you. This is a good follow up to the first trade paperback in the series, but can also stand on its own. The artwork is very good overall and detailed, consistent with Sandman and Books of Magic.

I have been captivated by the world of Faerie ever since I encountered it in the "Sandman" books by Neil Gaiman. This book in the spinoff series "The Books of Faerie" gives a glimpse of (my personal favorite character) Auberon as a child, before he became King. It's fascinating to see the that Auberon used to be.

There are other familiar characters here as well, such as Dymphna, Obrey and even the Amadan. As with all the books in these series, the art is beautiful and the stories are well-written and engaging. There is even a Timothy Hunter story at the end, "Dark As Day, My Lady, Bright As Night."

I highly recommend the "Sandman" books and all of their related series to my friends and fellow booklovers, and "Auberon's Tale" upholds the high standards already set. A lovely and entertaining read.

What the title says. It cant hope to match what Gaiman did in the original mini....but it's good stuff. Interesting relations...although the future/past relation is somewhat lacking overall. It seems incomplete when read alone. Makes you wish you had other chapters. But overall good stuff.

yow,man,this was like,ya know,the COOOOOL stuff,ya know,cooool,ya know

This isn't my favorite of the "Books of Magic"--Summonings takes that honor. It's an interesting tale of Timothy Hunter, perhaps the greatest magician of all time, the illegitimate son of Tam Lin and Queen Titania of the Faeries.

Tim lives as an ordinary boy in our world, with a sloppy but loving father, and a few rather unworldly acquaintances. His father, Tam Lin, occasionally pops up in human form as does the Amadan, a rather repulsive little sprite who waits on Queen Titania. The Queen herself is furious because the Faerie lands are dying, for reasons that no one knows.

Tim has problems of his own when he ventures into the lair of a mysterious - and sinister - creature. This will lead to the discovery of what is killing the Faerie lands, and exact a terrible price in return.

While I found the story tight-paced and enjoyable, I wished they'd give us a little more backstory as to how Tim knows who his true father is. It would've made Titania's comments in the garden a little easier to understand ("we made love and a child in this garden"). I also felt that the explanation for the dying Faerie lands was a little too pat.

The artwork was pretty bad - often it shifted from one frame to another, becoming well-defined in one frame and blurry in another. Dimensions altered. And Titania was terribly drawn - she's supposed to be beautiful, darnit! It looks like they simply took a picture of a none-too-pretty woman and colored her green (not to mention the fact that her teeth often appear the same color as her skin). She looks much better in future books.

However, the atmosphere is unparalleled. The clash with the Manticore was downright chilling, as was the effects on Tim. I was quite surprised by Death's arrival, you'll be surprised at the face and personality of "death." And the last few pages were both sweet and sad.

A nice comic book, hardly flawless but nor is it bad.

this is not where i first said hi to tim, but it's the meeting where you actually exchange a few words about yourself and get a feel for where your relationship is going to go :) needless to say, i like tim, and this is one good reason why. if anything, for his soliloquy at the beginning about love and fear and what holds the universe together. jnr writes uniquely weird stuff, and this is before it all overwhelmed tim and he got... well... a bit ahead of himself maybe. no molly yet, but otherwise, there's always death, isn't it :)

very tantalizing if you start with it (as one should if you don't want the original mini too). also, do not be deceived!! jane yolen just wrote the introduction (it was a very nice introduction, but really, jnr should get first billing, i daresay).

i suppose it may be too short-- only four issues-- but it completes its arc and you won't be disappointed if you like magic.. and boys... and maybe england :)

it was great stuff.i love diving into the magical world of timothy hunter. very enjoyable.

Obviously not up to the standard Gaiman started out with in the Books of Magic mini-series, but then again it was not expected to be. Only Gaiman can write like Gaiman. The plot is a little hap-hazard and it has a few confusing moments. The significance of Tim's dueling tatoos, what exactly happened to Cupid, what happened to that director guy... there are a lot of plot threads that are totally abandoned or unexplained. But the magic of the story is still in there somewhere. It may not be seen in the monsters and mermaids and fairys. The magic in the book is the beautiful way Tim and Leah and Molly's goofy adolescence is perfectly portrayed (even if Leah is several thousand years old). Good. Not Gaiman good. But good.

When I started reading the series, I thought that the Books of Magic were really great. The illustrations, the storyline, the depth in a graphic novel that is rare in comic books nowadays. When I worked my way to _The Girl in the Box_ , the quality that the previous issues had was slightly tattered, and the story was not so fascinating, but all in all, it's still a great book.

I first started reading the Books of Magic series about a year ago. I love this comic and thought the Girl in the Box was just as good as any other. This book disserves 5 stars.

I don't know what happened to John Ney Rieber... after his promising start on The Books of Magic, his stories slowly started to lose that magic. These stories fall at the end of Rieber's run at the title, and they're mighty thin gruel compared to what came before.

It may be the fact that any elements of light or real humor have been vacuumed from the book. Molly, a fantastic creation, isn't very much in evidence here and Tim Hunter's incessant whining simply becomes too much. Artist Gross took over the book after this series and made some improvements, but it was too late and the book ended. Rieber did a Books of Faerie with Molly that showed the man had lost his way: It shared much with this volume in the incomprehensible storytelling and not-very-interesting characterizations.

So, for completists only, and only for those completists willing to have their fond memories of the series in its heyday sullied by this volume.

I was disappointed in this book because I expected Reiber's end, as the writer, to come in a way that concluded all the work up to this point. But nothing ever seems to really end, or ever really be concluded, in this series. Big plotlines come and go and are MOSTLY finished, but seem to end abruptly, and not for good reasons. I'd say "Death After Death" needed one more draft to reach its potential.

However, there are a LOT of very good things in these issues. Tim Hunter finally comes to a decision about his powers. Many hanging plot elements are settled, if not always satisfactorily. There are many great individual scenes, and it makes for fascinating reading. If you're a fan of this series, then I have to recommend this book, but...

The main problem is this: you can't keep explaining old plot twists just by introducing new plot twists. Think of a story as a road. At some point, it's supposed to take the reader to a real destination. I suspect Reiber may actually disagree with that philosophy of writing--to him, it's all about the journey, and who cares what it all adds up to? Well, his work on the Books of Magic makes a pretty good argument...there's a LOT to like here...but in the end, I'm a bit disappointed in a story that's all trees and no forest.