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The Sandman: Book of Dreams

The Sandman: Book of Dreams

List Price: $7.50
Your Price: $6.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a rare treat
Review: An average-to-good collection of short Sandman stories. My two favorites: "Escape Artist" by Caitlin Kiernan, while not technically perfect, is touching and memorable; "Ain't You 'Most Done" by Gene Wolfe represents the Dreaming as it's really like -- no German Expressionist tilting dark walls and Hollywood special effects, but real life gone just a little bit... different. Very well done.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: average-to-good collection - Kiernan and Wolfe notables
Review: An average-to-good collection of short Sandman stories. My two favorites: "Escape Artist" by Caitlin Kiernan, while not technically perfect, is touching and memorable; "Ain't You 'Most Done" by Gene Wolfe represents the Dreaming as it's really like -- no German Expressionist tilting dark walls and Hollywood special effects, but real life gone just a little bit... different. Very well done.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A real letdown
Review: Considering the quality and creativity that were displayed in the sandman comics I expected this book to be a real stand out. Unfortunately almost all of the stories were retread formulatic snoozers. Maybe I expected too much from the book but I couldn't, in good faith, recommend the hardcover to anyone. If you must have it wait a few months until it is discounted to under $5.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a rare treat
Review: i found this book at an ancient book store somewhere in India.It was lying there in the shelves with dusts and webs.The moment i saw it i have to have it.And since i'm a huge Tori Amos follower,anything with her name is a must!.But i found something else too,and i also loves the Sandman Comics,this book is a lot of things to discover.Written by well known and acclaimed writers in various fields,its a bonus to have this book if you are an avid reader of the Sandman comics.Some of the stories are realy disturbing and dark,some are also enchanting,true to the Sandman style.Its a collectors dream.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Faithful to the Dreaming
Review: 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.


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Several interesting stories
Review: Like almost all anthologies, there are several good stories here, some not so good, and a few excellent ones. My favourites are Splatter, An Extra Smidgen of Eternity, and Stopp't Clock Yard. In Splatter, Gaiman's Endless are portrayed as what they really are - distant and indifferent, aspects of the human condition rather than human. In contrast, Dream and his sister Death are lovingly portrayed in Stopp't-Clock Yard - Morpheus is charmingly haughty, Death is compassionate, forgiving and kind. Tad Williams's story is interesting and well-written, but... Byron as a walking, talking teddy bear?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing short story collection
Review: Not as good as the original Gaiman Sandman comic -- like anything could be! -- these stories come at the Lord of Dreams, his family and the Dreaming from every angle. My favourite was Susannah Clarke's story 'Stopped Clock Yard' , but the John M Ford and the Will Shetterly and the Gene Wolfe and the Barbra Hambly are also amazing stories

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Taking the good with the bad
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: cool book
Review: This is a really very cool book, although you need a fair bit of the Sandman background for it all to make sense - I first read it when I'd only read the 'The Kindly Ones' sequence and some of it went over my head. Then I got the rest and suddenly quite a lot of things became clear...
It loses a star cause there's no actual Gaiman stories (although his comments at the start of each book are nearly as interesting as the stories - 'what Gandalf's rock'n rolling younger brother would look like if he were secretly a pirate' is a truly funky description for anyone).
For me the best are the Barbara Hambly, 'Stopp'd Clock Yard' and the 'Ain't you the most done' stories - the collection does veer pretty wildly between cool, cute 'n funky and seriously weird / sick.... Depends what you like. Like the comics, don't let children read it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my favorites. I've read my copy at least 8 times.
Review: This is a very diverse collection of authors writing about my favorite story of all time, Dream of the Family Endless. The different authors don't bother trying to mimic Neil Gaiman's style or vision. That would be a waste of time. Instead each tells their story in their own way, offering a very enjoybable alternative to The Sandman.


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