asourceoffiction's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Several times over the last few days I have tried to put my thoughts about this series to paper. And each time I get so overwhelmed by all the feelings I have that I put it off. Again. Because The Sandman is an absolutely incredible piece of work. A masterpiece. A blow-your-socks-off feat of literature and art, and fantasy and horror, and dreams.
Morpheus, the King of Dreams, Lord of the Dreaming, Dream of the Endless, has been captured and is imprisoned for close to a century. The repurcussions of his capture and eventual escape are felt across generations of dreamers, and that makes up the crux of this story. But it is also much, MUCH more.
The Endless are some of the most fascinating concepts I have ever come across. There are some incredible characters in these books (ever wonder how Shakespeare came up with his plays?) but the Endless are what kept me coming back. They are so human in their failings and behaviour, and so inhuman at the same time. I absolutely love that among all the power, magic and mystery, they are also just a dysfunctional set of siblings; playing pranks, squabbling with each other and coming together to help one another. There's something very grounding about that.
Each volume tells its own part of the story, and they are all wonderful in different ways. A throwaway comment or character will come brilliantly full circle volumes later, and all the story strands are intricately connected. I particularly loved Dream Country and The Kindly Ones. And The Doll's House. And Brief Lives. And all the other volumes...
This is the beauty of The Sandman; it subverts and transcends genre beautifully. It's Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium (or Delight?), Dream and ultimately Death. Nothing I can say will do justice to how I feel, but I am already wondering how long before I can go right back to the beginning and start it all over again.
Morpheus, the King of Dreams, Lord of the Dreaming, Dream of the Endless, has been captured and is imprisoned for close to a century. The repurcussions of his capture and eventual escape are felt across generations of dreamers, and that makes up the crux of this story. But it is also much, MUCH more.
The Endless are some of the most fascinating concepts I have ever come across. There are some incredible characters in these books (ever wonder how Shakespeare came up with his plays?) but the Endless are what kept me coming back. They are so human in their failings and behaviour, and so inhuman at the same time. I absolutely love that among all the power, magic and mystery, they are also just a dysfunctional set of siblings; playing pranks, squabbling with each other and coming together to help one another. There's something very grounding about that.
Each volume tells its own part of the story, and they are all wonderful in different ways. A throwaway comment or character will come brilliantly full circle volumes later, and all the story strands are intricately connected. I particularly loved Dream Country and The Kindly Ones. And The Doll's House. And Brief Lives. And all the other volumes...
This is the beauty of The Sandman; it subverts and transcends genre beautifully. It's Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium (or Delight?), Dream and ultimately Death. Nothing I can say will do justice to how I feel, but I am already wondering how long before I can go right back to the beginning and start it all over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, Addiction, Blood, Child death, and Cursing
Moderate: Transphobia, War, Deadnaming, and Rape
More...