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Rating: 
Summary: Eclectic Entertaining and Engaging Short Fiction by a Master
Review: I guess one would be extremely hard pressed to choose which of the Sandman collections can be considered the best, but I'm going to choose this one. I'm a little biased, because it was these stories which hooked me on the Sandman when the series was still being published in the early 90s. Gaiman is an intensely storyteller with a wide bredth of mythology at his command which he weaves together in the individaul issues reprinted in this collection. The artwork but such luminaries like Mike Allred of later Madman fame (in the mesmerizing story "Prez") enhance the spellbinding words that Gaiman has meticulously crafted for the right affect. The Sandman is best appreciated when read it order the magazine was publihsed, which is difficult to do in the TPB and hardcover editions because some of the stories are reprinted thematically, not sequentially. However, if you are not sure who you will respond to Gaiman, Dream and the rest of the Endless this edition will give you a satisfying glimpse of not just great comic storytelling, but great storytelling. I wouldn't call this fantasy, nor would I dismiss this as "a mere comic book." Gaiman helped elevate the medium with his creation, all fans of the written word and graphic art will enjoy this and all the volumes in the Sandman collection.
Rating: 
Summary: The construct is more important than the tale
Review: Interesting structure to a series of tales told by travelers stuck at an Inn during a storm. Cantebury Tales was the inspiration and Gaiman employs many levels of stories within stories and even eventually brings the story full circle, which is cheeky. However it seems that the stories were given little precedence and therefore come off very weak. Now part of this is expectation. Fables and Reflections blew me away and may be my fav of the series so I expected this as a series of individual stories to be just as good. So with it being just average I was overly disappointed. There are some good moments and the few appearances of Death and the Endless are captivating. However they are not enough. One note: the end of this book overtly hints at the plot of Kindly One's so if you want to be surprised, read this after that one. I wish Gaiman hadn't done that, myself.
Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed this!
Review: It's the first Sandman story I ever read and that's why I feel a bit out of place judging it. I'm reading Brief Lives right now too, but it seems like Sandman is beyond anything else in the industry right now. The Invisibles, Preacher and Sandman all have been cancelled so we're stuck with reflecting on these.
Rating:
Summary: Gaiman does Chaucer
Review: Like Fables and Recollections and Dream Country, World's End is a collection of individual stories that have little do with the Sandman arc. Unlike its predecessors, however, there is greater continuity between the stories, negating the impressions I had (particularly in Dream Country), that Gaiman just threw together a bunch of cool - but unrelated- ideas and constructed a book. The stories within World's End are all linked to a singular event: travelers gathering 'round and exchanging their weirdest, most interesting tales (admittedly, an almost done-to-death literary device). Gaiman breathes new life into this convention by inserting a dizzying amount of layers into the storytelling function. In a wonderfully witty Introduction, Stephen King compares the collection to "nested Chinese boxes:" stories existing within stories within stories. Gaiman really flexes his writing muscles here, constructing highly imaginative parallel universes that eerily mirror our own world (fans of Gaiman will note that "A Tale of Two Cities" borrows heavily from the essay he wrote for the SIMCITY 2000 game). He also inserts his most shocking plot twist to date at the end of the book, which forms the basis of the last two books on the Sandman collection and is guaranteed to pique the continued interest of the Sandman readership. I really enjoyed the diversity of the art; to note, the visually arresting rectangular and vertically arranged panels done by Alec Stevens in the aforementioned lead story "A Tale of Two Cities;" John Watkiss' crispness and use of clean lines; the tasteful, subdued tones of Michael Zulli and frequent Sandman collaborator Dick Giordano in "Hob's Leviathan." My only wish would have been for the book to be a little longer. Obviously, that's not a critique at all, but a compliment to Gaiman's skills as a writer. But, when you're plunking down $32.95 (Canadian) for a book, it's a little disappointing to get a relatively slim volume.
Rating: 
Summary: Travelers' Tales
Review: Telling stories is a lost art. Few do it well anymore, (although Anna Devere Smith and Spalding Gray come to mind) and Gaiman uses A World's End to take a breath and tell some stories before the end of the Sandman series. A tavern in the middle of nowhere is the place to tell stories of Prez Rickard, the elf Cluracan, of a young "man" at sea and a world dedicated to the proper treatment of the departed. As with any collection of short stories, some stories are more successful than others and one character even complains that they are all "boy's own stories" simply variations on a theme. This is basically true and I admire Gaiman for having made this reference himself. They are stories to kill time before the next journey.
Rating:
Summary: Another good one.
Review: These are good stories. Properly speaking, they are barely 'Sandman' stories: I think the Sandman makes just one cameo appearance. They're still good stories. The format is familiar: strangers wait out a storm at an inn unfamiliar to all of them. They pass the time exchanging stories. OK, it's an old bottle, but Gaiman fills it with new wine. The stories range from the biographical to the fantastic and satiric. The most mythic story, I think, takes place in the politics of a world much like modern America, or maybe 70s America. Mythology isn't about distant times, it's about grand heroes and their quests - I like to be reminded of that occasionally. I usually read comics for the artwork first and writing second. The various artists in this book are all capable enough, but that's not what carries the book. I was quite happy to be pulled along by the story-telling.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting stories
Review: This is another collection of independent short stories involving dream. Some of them are good, some are bad, but I think the one about the dreams cities have is the most interesting. The artwork changes to an interesting almost art-deco style, and the story is excellent surrealist literature. I would rank this volume above dream country, but below fables and reflections.
Rating:
Summary: Touches of Sandman
Review: This is not a Dream-centered books, you crazy women who are, admit it, a little stuck on the Sandman. This is a book about dreams...the lives, in essence, that he touches. He pops up in various places along the way, but this is more a collection of short stories. Two travelers get lost in a snowstorm in June and find their way to an inn of all worlds. Creatures from various times and places, caught up in the "reality storm" have come to this place for food and drink and rest from the icy storm, including Clurachan (sp?), a favorite faerie hedonist from other installments in the Sandman series. My favorite story is inarguable "A Tale of Two Cities" when a very average man with a very normal job and a great love of his city finds himself, after falling asleep in the subway (see if you can't connect to an interest in subways overall by Gaiman in his book "Neverwhere"), that he has fallen into a dream of the city. Cities dream as do people...anyone who has traveled extensively knows that cities do have their own personalities. New Orleans feels nothing like New York, etcetera. He searches for months trying to find an exit from the dream of the city, only to find temptation to stay. All of the stories are entertaining, but this one sticks out the most in my mind. I have a great love of cities, especially New York, and I can only imagine what she dreams. A dark shadow plagues the end of "World's End"...a funeral procession...who this funeral procession is for, well...call it foreshadowing.
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