FARADAWN

Continuing in alternate chapters of illustrated prose and comics-style graphics, the second episode of this post-apocalypse tale takes several talking animal friends and Bill, the enigmatic miniature human, back to the Untamed Forest and the City of Ruins, and then on to a remote island. There, after freeing an imprisoned population of birds and helping to repel an invasion of malign crabs, friendly saltwater crocodiles rescue them from a gigantic robot. Retracing the previous outing’s route pads rather than advances the plot, but readers will nonetheless be drawn by the tale’s mix of narrow squeaks and set-piece celebrations, as well as the unusual mixed format. The ominous closing suggestion that some creatures are beginning to repeat the technological mistakes that caused the (near) extinction of the human race sets the stage for sequels. (Fantasy. 9-11)