Rating: 
Summary: Uneven, but worth it for the last two
Review: "Dream Country" contains 4 unrelated stories about Dream and Death. The first story, "Dream of a Thousand Cats" is an amusing tale, but it does not deserve an entire issue to tell. It could have easily been one of the stories told to Rose by the old women in "Kindly Ones" and taken up only a few pages. The second tale "Calliope" is much better, but is still missing that Gaiman magic. It does however, introduce us to one of Sandman's great loves and mother of his only child. It's a good story, but it's unoriginal. The third tale is the real treat. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes off from a chapter in "Doll's House" where Dream tells William Shakespeare to write 2 plays for him. Shakespeare and his troop of actors perform Midsummer Night's Dream on a grassy hill in the English Countryside for the actual fairies that are represented in the play. It's a wonderful story and the art is just breathtaking. The last one, "Facade", doesn't include Dream. Instead it focuses on an obscure super-heroine of the 60's and how she longs for a normal life which is granted by Death. It's a moving story, the kind of super-hero tale that only Neil could write. Super powers may be great, but being a normal person would be much more appealing sometimes. All in all, Dream Country is not the best collection of Sandman stories, but "Midsummer Night's Dream" is the single best Sandman issue and actually won a slew of awards. It's worth checking out for that tale alone.
Rating:
Summary: Four stories on the border of myth and dream
Review: "Mythologies take longer to die than people believe. They linger on in a kind of dream country that affects all of you."
- Death of the Endless, in "Facade", herein
"Calliope" in some ways is the most interesting entry; Gaiman has also included his script for Calliope, as annotated during his conversations with the artist. Gaiman emphasizes that this isn't the One True Way of scriptwriting - but a student would have to look long and hard to find a better published example. The script supplies both dialogue and detailed descriptions of the accompanying visual images the artist should capture, also documenting their origins. (Failing author Rick Madoc's workspace, for instance, is based on Gaiman's own, without the Groucho Marx statue.)
Calliope and Dream were once lovers, but the fate of their son (one of the key elements of the Sandman mosaic, in FABLES AND REFLECTIONS) caused a rift between them that never healed. Like Dream, Calliope has spent much of the 20th century as a mortal's prisoner - in her case, Erasmus Fry captured her as she made a nostalgic visit to Greece in 1927, and rather than wooing her, forced her to provide inspiration. Now an old man, Erasmus as the story opens has sold her to Rick Madoc, who wants to break his writer's block before the deadline of his second novel falls due. (Forced inspiration involves Madoc raping Calliope, telling himself she's not really human.) Tasting success, Madoc gets greedy, and continues to exploit Calliope as he rises to fame and fortune - and enough time passes for Dream, an ultimate source of inspiration with a gift for epic vengeance, to escape his *own* unfortunate incarceration.
"A Dream of a Thousand Cats" is the message preached by a mother who learned the true depths of the falsehood of feline independence, when her humans drowned the litter sired by her first lover, a stray tom whose bloodline wasn't 'good enough' for a purebred Siamese. In her grief, she sought the heart of the dreaming for justice, revelation, and wisdom. A dead crow there, denying first justice and then wisdom, directed her to the king of dreams - another aspect of Dream, just as Nada and the last Martian saw him differently than the usual artist's portrayal. The truth the nameless mother brought back from the dreamworld - of how humans came to dominate cats, and what it *really* takes to change the world - is very powerful, despite the savage irony of the long odds against her.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (by Neil Gaiman and William Shakespeare) picks up the thread of Dream's working relationship with Will Shakespeare, begun in "Men of Good Fortune" in THE DOLL'S HOUSE. (The bargain is concluded in the last story of THE WAKE.) The artist, Charles Vess, later collaborated with Gaiman on his full-length novel of Faerie, STARDUST.
Lord Strange's Men - the acting company in which Shakespeare worked as both actor and playwright before joining the Lord Chamberlain's Men - have left London to tour the provinces after their patron's death (historical fact; Gaiman cannot typically be caught out in any continuity error). Here at Wendel's Mound in Sussex, Dream has called in one of the chips owed him by Shakespeare in exchange for inspiration. (Dream sees nothing unusual in the choice of stage, as this was a theatre long before the coming of Shakespeare's people to the island. "The Normans?" "The humans.")
A performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' for the *real* Auberon and Titania, whose people have long since left the mortal plane, but who have accepted Dream's invitation to a single night's entertainment, in thanks for the diversion their people have provided for Dream in his eternal existence. This story marks the first overlap between Faerie and the Sandman storyline, introducing not only the royals, but the shadowy figure (noted, with a most-wanted flavor, as being still at large) of the Puck. [As the real Peaseblossom says, "'I am that merry wanderer of the night'? I am that giggling-dangerous-totally-bloody-psychotic-menace-to-life-and-limb, more like it.'" "Shh, Peaseblossom. The Puck might *hear* you!" The by-play in the audience is well written.]
The characters of Lord Strange's Men are dead-on accurate, with Richard Burbage (technically the best actor) taking Oberon's part, Shakespeare as Duke Theseus, and Will Kemp (the strongest comedian, whose insistence on ad-libbing eventually caused his break with the company, as Shakespeare preferred people to stick with his scripts) as Bottom the weaver. The *real* price Shakespeare has paid for his inspiration, though, can be seen in his relationship with his young son Hamnet, experiencing a rare few weeks of his father's company - in the silent part of the boy servant over whom Oberon and Titania quarrel in the play, an irony that deepens as we see the reaction of the real Fair Folk to him. The Puck can't resist the temptation of playing himself on stage...
"Facade" Urania Blackwell was once the superhero Element Girl, long forgotten by the intelligence agency that persuaded her to use the Orb of Ra to trade her humanity for superpowers, then shelved her. The one shape she can't take for long is that of an ordinary human; 'putting on her face' involves forming short-lived clay masks from her own substance, to be able to pass. She has lost the will to live, existing as a shut-in on a "company" pension, and has only 2 kinds of dreams - bad and terrible. (Ordinary nightmares are only bad dreams; the *terrible* dreams are those in which she lives a normal life, then wakes to find that she's still a metamorph.) Death, not Dream, appears in this one, but not to end Urania's life - she heard Urania crying while collecting a neighbour woman who'd fallen from a ladder. After all, as Death points out, she just has a job to do; people make their own fates, and put their own interpretation on her job, whether as gift or punishment.
Rating:
Summary: Four stories on the border of myth and dream
Review: "Mythologies take longer to die than people believe. They linger on in a kind of dream country that affects all of you."
- Death of the Endless, in "Facade", herein "Calliope" in some ways is the most interesting entry; Gaiman has also included his script for Calliope, as annotated during his conversations with the artist. Gaiman emphasizes that this isn't the One True Way of scriptwriting - but a student would have to look long and hard to find a better published example. The script supplies both dialogue and detailed descriptions of the accompanying visual images the artist should capture, also documenting their origins. (Failing author Rick Madoc's workspace, for instance, is based on Gaiman's own, without the Groucho Marx statue.) Calliope and Dream were once lovers, but the fate of their son (one of the key elements of the Sandman mosaic, in _Fables and Reflections_) caused a rift between them that never healed. Like Dream, Calliope has spent much of the 20th century as a mortal's prisoner - in her case, Erasmus Fry captured her as she made a nostalgic visit to Greece in 1927, and rather than wooing her, forced her to provide inspiration. Now an old man, Erasmus as the story opens has sold her to Rick Madoc, who wants to break his writer's block before the deadline of his second novel falls due. (Forced inspiration involves Madoc raping Calliope, telling himself she's not really human.) Tasting success, Madoc gets greedy, and continues to exploit Calliope as he rises to fame and fortune - and enough time passes for Dream, an ultimate source of inspiration with a gift for epic vengeance, to escape his *own* unfortunate incarceration. "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" is the message preached by a mother who learned the true depths of the falsehood of feline independence, when her humans drowned the litter sired by her first lover, a stray tom whose bloodline wasn't 'good enough' for a purebred Siamese. In her grief, she sought the heart of the dreaming for justice, revelation, and wisdom. A dead crow there, denying first justice and then wisdom, directed her to the king of dreams - another aspect of Dream, just as Nada and the last Martian saw him differently than the usual artist's portrayal. The truth the nameless mother brought back from the dreamworld - of how humans came to dominate cats, and what it *really* takes to change the world - is very powerful, despite the savage irony of the long odds against her. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (by Neil Gaiman and William Shakespeare) picks up the thread of Dream's working relationship with Will Shakespeare, begun in "Men of Good Fortune" in _The Doll's House_. (The bargain is concluded in the last story of _The Wake_.) The artist, Charles Vess, later collaborated with Gaiman on his full-length novel of Faerie, _Stardust_. Lord Strange's Men - the acting company in which Shakespeare worked as both actor and playwright before joining the Lord Chamberlain's Men - have left London to tour the provinces after their patron's death (historical fact; Gaiman cannot typically be caught out in any continuity error). Here at Wendel's Mound in Sussex, Dream has called in one of the chips owed him by Shakespeare in exchange for inspiration. (Dream sees nothing unusual in the choice of stage, as this was a theatre long before the coming of Shakespeare's people to the island. "The Normans?" "The humans.") A performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' for the *real* Auberon and Titania, whose people have long since left the mortal plane, but who have accepted Dream's invitation to a single night's entertainment, in thanks for the diversion their people have provided for Dream in his eternal existence. This story marks the first overlap between Faerie and the Sandman storyline, introducing not only the royals, but the shadowy figure (noted, with a most-wanted flavor, as being still at large) of the Puck. [As the real Peaseblossom says, "'I am that merry wanderer of the night'? I am that giggling-dangerous-totally-bloody-psychotic-menace-to-life-and-limb, more like it.'" "Shh, Peaseblossom. The Puck might *hear* you!" The by-play in the audience is well written.] The characters of Lord Strange's Men are dead-on accurate, with Richard Burbage (technically the best actor) taking Oberon's part, Shakespeare as Duke Theseus, and Will Kemp (the strongest comedian, whose insistence on ad-libbing eventually caused his break with the company, as Shakespeare preferred people to stick with his scripts) as Bottom the weaver. The *real* price Shakespeare has paid for his inspiration, though, can be seen in his relationship with his young son Hamnet, experiencing a rare few weeks of his father's company - in the silent part of the boy servant over whom Oberon and Titania quarrel in the play, an irony that deepens as we see the reaction of the real Fair Folk to him. The Puck can't resist the temptation of playing himself on stage... "Facade" Urania Blackwell was once the superhero Element Girl, long forgotten by the intelligence agency that persuaded her to use the Orb of Ra to trade her humanity for superpowers, then shelved her. The one shape she can't take for long is that of an ordinary human; 'putting on her face' involves forming short-lived clay masks from her own substance, to be able to pass. She has lost the will to live, existing as a shut-in on a "company" pension, and has only 2 kinds of dreams - bad and terrible. (Ordinary nightmares are only bad dreams; the *terrible* dreams are those in which she lives a normal life, then wakes to find that she's still a metamorph.) Death, not Dream, appears in this one, but not to end Urania's life - she heard Urania crying while collecting a neighbour woman who'd fallen from a ladder. After all, as Death points out, she just has a job to do; people make their own fates, and put their own interpretation on her job, whether as gift or punishment.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven, but worth it for the last two
Review: "Dream Country" contains 4 unrelated stories about Dream and Death. The first story, "Dream of a Thousand Cats" is an amusing tale, but it does not deserve an entire issue to tell. It could have easily been one of the stories told to Rose by the old women in "Kindly Ones" and taken up only a few pages. The second tale "Calliope" is much better, but is still missing that Gaiman magic. It does however, introduce us to one of Sandman's great loves and mother of his only child. It's a good story, but it's unoriginal. The third tale is the real treat. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes off from a chapter in "Doll's House" where Dream tells William Shakespeare to write 2 plays for him. Shakespeare and his troop of actors perform Midsummer Night's Dream on a grassy hill in the English Countryside for the actual fairies that are represented in the play. It's a wonderful story and the art is just breathtaking. The last one, "Facade", doesn't include Dream. Instead it focuses on an obscure super-heroine of the 60's and how she longs for a normal life which is granted by Death. It's a moving story, the kind of super-hero tale that only Neil could write. Super powers may be great, but being a normal person would be much more appealing sometimes. All in all, Dream Country is not the best collection of Sandman stories, but "Midsummer Night's Dream" is the single best Sandman issue and actually won a slew of awards. It's worth checking out for that tale alone.
Rating:
Summary: Art beyond art
Review: This book goes beyond art. It goes beyond mere imitation of life. It has a life all its own. The stories contained within this graphic novel will make you think. If you're satisfied with life and don't want your happy little world order upset, don't read this. This book is for the dreamer in all of us, the part of us that longs for the fantastic. My favorite Sandman issue, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," is contained within these pages. Shakespeare performing his play for the actual denizens of Fairie - what could be better? Gaiman's Puck is unbelievable, a creature of horror and humor. The creatures of fairie are vibrant, real people, despite their fantastic nature. Gaiman, however, does not leave the humans dully on the sidelines. Oh no, we also have a story of Shakespeare's son and his view of his famous father. This story is not about any one thing. It's about dreams and relationships, the nature of truth and the passing away of an older age. But this story is not all seriousness; it also has some wonderfully funny moments, such as a mortal actor's reaction to an audience straight out Fairie. This is the comic story that was so good it won a World Fantasy Award. This is the story that scared the comittee so much that they changed the rules so a comic could never win again. It is that good. This was also my introduction to the art of Charles Vess, one of the best artists living, in my estimation. He is the consummate fairy tale artist. His delicate, elfin faces and wonderful depictions of facial expressions bring the world of Fairie to life, along with the mortal players in this drama. He handles both the uproarious humor and the sensitive moments of Gaiman's script superbly. And that's only one of the four stories contained in this graphic novel. Read it. It'll open your heart and touch something deep inside your soul. You'll never be the same.
Rating: 
Summary: stories.
Review: A collection of four unrelated stories, dream country was just neil taking a break from the big involving storylines and telling a few simple tales. The first story is amusing, and the idea of looking into where writers get their ideas was cool. It ended up a little too much like an episode of twilight zone, but neil seems to like the horror stuff. Dream of a Thousand Cats was...it was unique. I'm not really sure what the point of this story was, so I'll reserve comment. Like a previous reviewer said "the thing about the cats....whatever." The third story "A midsummer night's dream" was the one that everyone seemed to like so much. I thought it was alright,but once you get past the fantastic premise of shakespeares actors performing in front of the faeries and creatures they are portraying, the story doesn't offer much after that, although it was still beautifully written. The final story "facade" about a suicidal ex superheroine. hmm...once again, not sure what the point of this was, but beautfully written, and the ending seemed kinda absurd. Actually, my favorite part of the whole book was the script that neil added for the first story. Being an aspiring comic writer, I found it interesting to see how neil writes his comics. all in all, i suppose its worth the money. but if you are reading the sandman books sequentially, and think that you need to pick up this third volume, don't worry. the short stories contained in here are pretty irrelevant to the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: "Mythologies Take Longer To Die Than People Believe."
Review: Although this volume of the Sandman series has technically nothing to do with the main Sandman story arc, and can therefore be ignored , I daresay anyone doing that would be missing a whole lot. For my money, this is the best instalment of the entire series. While containing 'merely' four issues, each instalment is so brilliant and original that only the very cantankerous would quibble with the relative thinness of the volume. It is perhaps because this collection is sequentially out of keeping with the Sandman arc that Gaiman can give himself free-reign to explore storylines and motifs. Enslaved muses, dreaming cats, Shakespeare, and depressed Metamorphs take centre stage and completely 'de-centre' the established characters and plots of the Sandman pantheon. The fascinating sidebar that is "Dream Country" demonstrates just how far Gaiman's imagination is able to take him. Altough Gaiman's take on Shakespeare's classic "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is what most pundits rave about (and deservedly so - it won a World Fantasy Award), I elect "A Night as a Thousand Cats" as Gaiman's masterpiece. Beautiful, sublime, moving. Cats frame the tale for us, and we sympathize with their lot in life. Dreams become the repository of their lost hopes; a repository that is consciously designed to actualize an old mythology that will help change their faded status as pets. The first story, "Calliope," has some particularly great art in it. I particularly enjoyed the last page, where a struggling writer attempts to hold onto his memory of Morpheus; Kelley Jones does a marvelous job of graphically representing a fading memory. "Facade" is a tongue-in-cheek attack on our obsession with physical appearances. It certainly puts a new spin on the expression "putting my face on." Each read reveals new layers; a true sign of great writing. There's no getting bored with this collection.
Rating:
Summary: Good, But Short
Review: By this point in Sandman, Neil Gaiman had hit his stride as a writer and was doing some high quality stories, including, notably for this volume, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the first comic to win the World Fantasy Award. As a run-down, "Calliope" delves into Dream's past and present, allowing him to encounter a former lover, the muse Calliope, who like him is being imprisoned by a greedy mortal. This issue more than the others offers some insight into future Sandman stories, as Calliope and Dream's coupling led to the birth of Orpheus. "Facade" may have been the weakest entry, though any chance to see Death shine and offer advise is generally worth the price of admission as Gaiman uses the opportunity to dig up a long-forgotten minor superheroine and her horrifying loneliness. "Night of a Thousand Cats" is a charming little tale, not unlike a lot of Gaiman's single issue stories, like those seen in the "Fables and Reflections" volume of this series. And finally, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a real charmer, where Gaiman works historical figures in with mythological ones. Anyone familiar with either the play or English folklore will probably get a stupendous kick out of this. And even if you aren't, there's enough charm in the tale, and the full ramifications of Shakespeare's deal with Dream become apparent. The only real complaint I had about this one was that it was too short. For the price I paid, and given the length of other volumes, I think I was expected more than four stories.
Rating:
Summary: Time to take a breather...
Review: Dream Country is a great little book. It feels good to take a break after surviving The Doll's House. If you are planning on reading the Sandman through and through, you should definately catch up on this volume before entering Season of Mists. None of the stories are essential--although some of them will heighten your enjoyment of future volumes if you have read them first. All in all, a little book with big meaning, that is both engrossing and greatly enjoyable. Not to be skipped.
Rating:
Summary: Time to take a breather...
Review: Dream Country is a great little book. It feels good to take a break after surviving The Doll's House. If you are planning on reading the Sandman through and through, you should definately catch up on this volume before entering Season of Mists. None of the stories are essential--although some of them will heighten your enjoyment of future volumes if you have read them first. All in all, a little book with big meaning, that is both engrossing and greatly enjoyable. Not to be skipped.
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