There is a dark king who rules our dreams from a place of shadows and fantastic things. He is Morpheus, the lord of story. Older than humankind itself, he inhabits -- along with Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium, his Endless sisters and brothers -- the realm of human consciousness. His powers are myth and nightmare -- inspirations, pleasures, and punishments manifested beneath the blanketing mist of sleep.
Surrender to him now.
A stunning collection of visions, wonders, horrors, hallucinations, and revelations from Clive Barker, Barbara Hambly, Tad Williams, Gene Wolfe, Nancy A. Collins, and sixteen other incomparable dreamers -- inspired by the groundbreaking, bestselling graphic novel phenomenon by Neil Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman's Best I love the Sandman graphic novel series,so when any of them come out in paperback they're a must-read.These can't be missed,they'll pull you in and not let you go...
Neil Gaiman's Sandman, a comics' masterpiece The Neil Gaiman's begining work, Sandman, coalize creation and the imaginary. I met the writter in São Paulo, 2000, and I see that he has a sensibility needed for a great author. Don't miss it.
Super Reader A collection of stories related to the Sandman saga, placed in and around these stories, but unrelated. The odd story here has an extremely tenuous connection to the aforementioned, and generally speaking, those with less do not work as well. Sandman fans should still enjoy this, however.
Sandman Book of Dreams : 01 Masquerade and High Water - Colin Greenland Sandman Book of Dreams : 02 Chain Home, Low - John M. Ford Sandman Book of Dreams : 03 Stronger than Desire - Lisa Goldstein Sandman Book of Dreams : 04 Each Damp Thing - Barbara Hambly Sandman Book of Dreams : 05 The Birth Day - B. W. Clough Sandman Book of Dreams : 06 Splatter - Will Shetterly Sandman Book of Dreams : 07 Seven Nights in Slumberland - George Alec Effinger Sandman Book of Dreams : 08 Escape Artist - Caitlín R. Kiernan Sandman Book of Dreams : 09 An Extra Smidgen of Eternity - Robert Rodi Sandman Book of Dreams : 10 The Writer's Child - Tad Williams Sandman Book of Dreams : 11 The Gate of Gold - Mark Kreighbaum Sandman Book of Dreams : 12 A Bone Dry Place - Karen Haber Sandman Book of Dreams : 13 The Witch's Heart - Delia Sherman Sandman Book of Dreams : 14 The Mender of Broken Dreams - Nancy A. Collins Sandman Book of Dreams : 15 Ain't You 'Most Done? - Gene Wolfe Sandman Book of Dreams : 16 Valóság and Élet - Steven Brust Sandman Book of Dreams : 17 Stopp't-Clock Yard - Susanna Clarke
Solar hippie Desire.
3 out of 5
Right at the start of the Sandman story, with all the Sleepers there is the whole World War air war thing going on.
3.5 out of 5
Endless bet welcher, after a pretty young lord bets Desire she can't make anyone she wants shag, and wins.
3.5 out of 5
Cain unearths a mirror that Dream had hidden away for a bloody good reason. Bad things man, bad things.
4 out of 5
Herding happiness.
3 out of 5
A horror writer probably would have preferred to be guest of honour somewhere other than the Cereal Convention.
4 out of 5
Little Nemo prefers to not be awake.
2.5 out of 5
Bloke not a fan of dream denizens.
2.5 out of 5
Death interrupts the last story being told to a bloke in hospital.
4 out of 5
Little girl, no.
2.5 out of 5
Doll bravery.
4 out of 5
Prophecy pills.
3.5 out of 5
Witch makes a werewolf girl and becomes a bit torn.
3.5 out of 5
Autistic mental power.
4 out of 5
A folksinger gets one last go around after a heart attack, and before Death.
3 out of 5
Three boys get involved in a tricky folk tale, with dreaming.
3.5 out of 5
Morpheus sick of Paramore.
3 out of 5
Faithful to the Dreaming It is funny how one can initially misjudge a book. When I first picked this volume up it was because I saw Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker's names on the cover. Then, on first perusal, I saw that Gaiman had not even written the introduction. Moreover, Barker's only contribution was the frontispiece- a drawing of Death. Nor did I immediately recognize the names of any of the contributors to the collection. I felt cheated. I jumped to the conclusion that this was a hack written collection of short stories intended to exploit the popularity of the Sandman series. I threw the book down in disgust.
Then, a little over a year later, I came back to it. Upon actually reading it, I discovered that Gaiman handpicked these stories. Indeed, he actually wrote the brief introductions for each writer and story. As for the stories themselves, there are some hauntingly, lovingly, skillfully, written tales here. What is more important, most of them genuinely capture the atmosphere of the Dreaming from the graphic novels. I could not have been more wrong about this fine collection- it was exactly what I was looking for.
These stories are so faithful to the original that the reader might want to read the entire 10 volume Sandman Library before attempting it. There is much here that assumes a familiarity with the entire series.
Taking the good with the bad Sandman, Neil Gaiman's wonderful creation, is the concept that this group of stories is based on. Like any story collection, this one has its hits and misses. Hits: "Chain Home, Low" What happened to those affected by Dream's disappearance? "Each Damp Thing" Barbara Hambly has a good grasp of Gaiman's cast of characters. Set in The Dreaming this one would have made a good comic. "Seven Nights in Slumberland" Little Nemo? Now Windsor McCay's work makes more sense. I think. Both Wanda stories. A character that certainly warranted more examination than the comic allowed. "Endless Sestina" For the sheer nerve of it. "The Gate of Gold" The flip side of "The Writer's Child," but much more fulfilling. There really are "good" dreams. "A Bone Dry Place" Dream and Delirium together again. "The Mender of Broken Dreams" The concept is not new, but it is so well written you won't care. "Valosag and Elet" There are so few folktales being written anymore. At least good ones.
"Stopp't-Clock Yard" Captures the true essence of Gaiman's creation. This is another one that Gaiman could have written.
Misses: Desire stories. This character is tedious as all stories end up being variations on the same theme. Especially "The Witch's Heart" it goes on and on.... "The Birth Day" A clever idea but not fully developed. "Splatter" A little obvious. "The Writer's Child" Ditto. "Ain't You `Most Done?" 32 pages long and I couldn't remember what it was about by the time I finished the book. And it's one of the last stories. Advertising Clive Barker's participation. It's a frontispiece and it's Death not Dream. Taking an existing character, whose popularity lies in a graphic medium and using him and his supporting cast as the basis of an anthology is a risky proposition. While this book is not entirely successful, it's definitely worth a read for the Sandman fan.
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