Rating: Summary: This Story Lies All Within A Key Review: "The Sandman: Season of Mists" is the fourth volume of ten. In this epic, Dream travels to Hell in a quest to free a woman named Nada that he condeemed to Hell over ten thousand years ago. He goes on this quest, because he took the advice and encouragement of his eldest sister, Death. When Dream arrives to Hell he finds that there is no one there and that Lucifer no longer wants the burden of ruling Hell weighing down upon him, so he gives the key to his domain to Dream. Initially, Dream is honored, but he soon realizes that the power of this key is corrupting him. In his kingdom of the Dreaming, Dream sits and ponders what he should do with this key. At this time, Dream is visited by a horde of characters from mythological realms to the Silver City to the very depths of Hell itself. Dream's decision in this story is incredibly important not only to the people who have traveled for the key, but to the universe that surrounds them.
Anyway, this book is probably right up there with "The Doll's House," which still, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. "Season of Mists" should be in every comic book readers collection along with all the other "Sandman" books.
Rating: Summary: Easily the Best of the Sandman Review: ...While the first volume was easily the weakest, right next to "World's End." Still, any of these books are so much better than those Marvel superhero special FX fests you see in Hollywood movies. The covers by Dave McKean are gorgeous, and if you're a sucker for worldly mythology, this is the book for you. It's a wonderful story that sets the tone for what's coming in the end of the Sandman. "Death: at Death's Door" is a cute retelling of this story from Death's point of view, which does not do it justice since it's much shorter, condensed and does not recreate the epic sense of mythology that the Sandman is.
Rating: Summary: lucifer gets his revenge Review: " Season of Mists" is an epic focal point in the relationship between Dream( a.k.a. Morpheus, Sandman) and Lucifer Morningstar, the first prince of Hell. Sandman devotees will remember Lucifer's determination to destroy Dream back in " Prologues and Nocturnes", the first collection of books in the Sandman anthology. In the " Season of Misits", Lucifer offers Dream the most coveted real estate in the universe-- Hell-- in the hope of wrecking his existence. The collection goes through every step Dream takes in solving his problem and also cites the consequences of an empty, ruler- less Hell. New readers will get an excellent glimpse of the Sandman universe with the excellently scripted prologue. All in all, " Season of Mists" is a challenge for the rational and conventional mind.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic Review: All of the Endless (Except one) sit down for a nice family dinner given by Destiny. As is prone to happen at family dinners, arguments happen and old wounds are reopened. Desire makes Dream feel remorse for banishing a woman to Hell because she chose not to love him. Dream decided he was wrong in his actions that took place some 2,000 years ago (The entire story is contained in the prologue to Doll's House). Dream sets out to Hell to free Nada. However, once he arrives there, he finds Lucifer closing up and moving on. He has decided not to rule Hell anymore and gives the Key to Hell to Dream. This is where the story really begins... The research that Neil, put into this series is fantastic! He takes pieces from virtually every religion and mythology in the world and stirs them up in his own special Sandman stew. Once word gets around that Dream is now ruler of Hell, many assorted deities (such as Odin and Thor of the Norse Gods, faeries, assorted demons, etc.) plead their case that Dream should give them the key to Hell. Seeing the various characters interact with each other is the most interesting part of this complex story. The ending (which I won't give away) is very surprising, yet it makes sense. The art for these issues is terrific and the characters are equally great. This series contains the first appearences of Despair, Delirium, Lucifer, and Nuala all of whom would become major players in the series.
Rating: Summary: purely amazing Review: As with its predecessors, Season of Mists is intellectual, tinged with wry humor, old myths long forgotten, and even philosophy (though expertly hidden). It opens with Destiny and a beautiful description of his realm. He soon after calls a 'family meeting', the first one they'd had in quite some time. This triggers a chain of events (one event in particular) that, more or less, make up the whole novel. This novel challenges common belief about heaven, hell, death, souls and everything in between, opening our eyes to new possibilities. It transcends reality, shifting you into a whole new world you have never even thought possible. With a remarkable, unorthodox plot, characters far more interesting than the norm, fantastically rendered art, and smooth, amusing dialogue, this series has set a whole new standard for comics everywhere (particularly this novel, it skyrocketed The Sandman to a whole new level of thinking). To put it shortly, pick it up and read it. It's more than worth your time. :)
Rating: Summary: The best of all Sandman stories! Review: Gaiman created a fantastic new mythology with "The Sandman" This is no ordinary comic book, the only fights in this book were with words. Where else can you see Satan quit because he doesn't like ruling hell and end up complimenting God on those great sunsets. Gaiman is amazing, try some of his books without pictures (Neverwhere & Good Omens) I can't wait for his next book!
Rating: Summary: On the nature of hell Review: Gaiman takes a look at the nature of Hell in this thought provoking volume of The Sandman series. As Dream enters Hell to correct a heinous act he committed 10,000 years before, Lucifer confronts him. Dream prepared for battle finds instead Lucifer emptying Hell of its denizens and locking the gates. Finally he hands Dream the key to hell. The nature of responsibility, a theme Gaiman often returns to throughout the run of the series, is at the center of this story. Dream is now in possession of what is referred by his sister as "the most desirable plot of psychic real estate in the whole order of created things," and now Dream must decide what should be done with it and there is no shortage of suitors. Throughout the story (particularly in the conversation between Lucifer and Dream) Gaiman makes some excellent points about the nature of Hell and the afterlife. While I truly enjoyed the storyline I had difficulty with the simplicity of the ending, which is literally deus ex machina and the focus on the Christian concept of Hell (Lucifer) that seems to lack the overall worldview that is usually found in Sandman.
Rating: Summary: The most wonderful dissapointment i`ve ever read Review: I couldn`t really decide if I enjoyed this one very much. After a friend of mine told me about Sandman I started with "Brief Lives", which was a very good decision because I loved it a lot; it made me laugh a lot, got me near to tears in some parts, and really allowed me to get acquainted with the characters, who were very transparent in that particular volume. From there, all the other Sandman books I bought just seemed to go downhill in quality, ending in this one, which I wished I could have gotten from a library instead of spent all the money on. On the other hand, I much enjoyed the prologue, in which the entire family of the Endless meet and eat together in Destiny`s realm, resulting in lots of yelling, arguing, and a sad private farewell between Dream and his sister Death. This was the only part where I felt I could connect with the characters. From then on the only thing that makes the book worth your money is perhaps the scenes with Lucifer, which are both funny and insightful.
Rating: Summary: its a book Review: i don't want to say that neil gaiman is overrated, but neil gaiman is overrated. This book is good, yes, maybe even great, but it is by no means the most intelligent and mindexpanding thing you will ever read. The way gaiman strings together his sandman universe is magnificent, but I felt that this story had something lacking. the use of religous icons from other cultures was great, the interlude story about the boy in the boarding house was cool. As for Gaiman's theories about hell and its purpose, that's just his opinion and it wasn't very insightful to me. But this is a good sandman book, as sandman books go, and if you are a gaiman or sandman fan it won't kill you to pick this baby up.
Rating: Summary: Amazing! Review: I haven't read all 10 books yet, only through 5, but this is probably my favorite so far. Just because of the prologue. The art in the prologue is fantastic and the intense featuring of the endless all togethor (except for whathisface...) and there's death. I love death. Best character in the series and she's drawn perfectly here. Oh and the rest of the story is great (except that horrid picture of death halfway through where she looks like a fat middle aged woman dieing of a drug overdose (it's that ugly)). I love the whole death leaving hell idea. Gaiman has already prooven himself a master of character development in a short time. I really cared for all the characters introduced in this book. Even the mythological characters were really cool. I wholeheartedly reccomend this novel! Go order it now!
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