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A Game of You (Sandman, Book 5)

A Game of You (Sandman, Book 5)

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $13.57
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not the best Sandman, but still stellar
Review: This interesting entry in the Sandman canon has great moments, fascinating artwork and the trademark Gaiman inventiveness all his fans have come to enjoy. However, the all-over story is as magical as some of the others in the series (particularly Season of the Mists, Brief Lives and World's End).

I couldn't give it a five, because not everything can get a 5! Even a dynamic as this volume is. It's a must for anyone thinking of buying the entire hardcover set, because unlike most comics the Sandman is one large complete story that needs to be read in order (as it is there is a volume of onoe-shot stories that don't fall in any particular order within the continuity, per se).

All in all, A Game of You will dazzle and delight in its own unique way.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good story from an excellent story-teller
Review: This is a good story, but that is pretty much where it ends. Gaiman is capable of much more, as is shown by _Fables & Reflections_ and other works. Less profound than, say _The Sound of Her Wings_ (found in _Preludes and Nocturnes_ and _The Doll's House_).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dreadful, boring, aweful
Review: This is by far the worst Sandman novel. The story is so utterly boring, the writing is bad. I don't know what happened. The rest of the series is extremely excellent, and I recommend buying them all. Skip this one though. Uggh!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A primer of dreams, a portent of endings....
Review: This is one of my favorite books from the Sandman series, because it is, in essense, a primer on the nature of dreams. The story line reveals that dreams can reach into and effect our waking "reality." It also shows us that dreams can have power, dreams can be shared, dreams can be stolen, and lastly, dreams can finally die. Indeed, here we have the first seeds of the end of Dream himself.
The character developement is superb, you actually recognise these characters from daily life without them slipping into stereotypes. I found myself caring about them.
Personally, I think that Thessaly, the Diannic witch is the most important character introduced. It is her arrogance and manipulation of the worlds, in the service of her own ego, which will ultimately result in the permant ending of things far beyond her limited power to comprehend....
This book can really stand on it's own without knowlege of the rest of the series once you accept that the archetype of dream is personified in Morphius, and that he has a sister named Death. Not too far a stretch, for both death and dreams carry us across the threshold into other worlds.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What can I say that hasn't already been said?
Review: This is simply a great book. Neil Gaiman is a genius, and I have no doubt that he is one of the names of our era that will go down in literary history. One of the reasons for this is that despite writing in a genre that has traditionally been considered masculine, Gaiman has a profound understanding of the female psyche, and that understanding is best shown off in this chapter of the Sandman series. Although I hesitate to recommend this collection as an introduction to Gaiman's work, I do think it may be a good starting point for women readers, especially those who have been conditioned to think of graphic novels as "a guy thing." Gaiman's grasp of his female characters is astounding.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a beautiful story of everyone's past...
Review: Though this isn't my favorite Sandman book, it is one of my favorite stories. The philosophy that your "inner child" has a grudge against you for the dreams that you have not fulfilled is frightening and thought provoking as most all Gaiman's stories are... This, also, was my first introduction to the Dreaming as a real and tangible land and quite an introduction it was. Barbie's progression from a frightened girl to a strong and valiant princess is one that I certainly learned from. I think that there are many of us who go through life looked at as a piece of meat, and in our dreams are princesses. Barbie had the courage to take what she had learned in her dream and transfer it Real Side, as displayed through what she wrote on Wanda's grave. Also, Thessaly is a fascinating character, who seems quite innocent and naive... up until the point that she nails a man's face to the wall, whom she has murdered in order to know the secrets that he keeps. Hazel and Foxglove, the young and somewhat confused lesbian couple make for comic relief, but Hazel's struggle with the possibility of her pregnancy and how she feels it will affect her relationship with Fox is touching. Foxglove sparks interest with her nightmare regarding a former and now deceased lover who physically abused her. But the most intriguing character of all is, of course, Morpheus himself. As always he speaks cryptic truths and caustic sentences, acting in a manner that only an Endless would. He grants Barbie's vindictive child self (the Cuckoo) its one wish, though she tried to kill Barbie, Thessaly, and succeded at killing all of Barbie's allies. The book never preaches, but it makes you consider things in a light that few would otherwise have shed on their thoughts.

The Sandman: A Game of You makes you ask yourself; is the Dreaming all that far from our fragile and transient reality?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The best story/art combo in whole series (IMHO)
Review: Well, lotsa people read the book and felt dissapointed, esp. the ones who loved Seasons of Mist. IMHO, this story is something that should've been published under different title or like A Game of You mini series, because it shows very personal journey of Barbie in her childhood. Dream of Endless appears just to justify a title :) Art is great and suits the story perfectly, while story itself represents a complete little psychoterapeutical insight into childhood inner schizm of main character and journey into a part of someone's psyche. If you're new to Sandman, start w either Brief Lives or Seasons of Mist, my friend's common favorites. Otherwise, if you're a vet Sandman reader OR a MAXX fan, pick this one up and enjoy !!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The most emotional one yet
Review: Why does Neil KEEP having to write masterpieces? I can't afford all this but can't stop buying! Well, anyway, it seems that each Sandman graphic novel is the best I've seen at what it does: Preludes and Nocturnes was the most disturbing, the kind of thing you'd read after watching Silence of the Lambs and while listening to Radiohead or maybe Joy Division(NIN works too), and it also introduced his best character: Death. Doll's House was his first great narrative and really got the ball rolling. Besides, it was BURSTING with ideas, from the Corinthian to the "Cereal" to that raven pal of Morpheus'. Dream Country slowed things down and did 4 excellent stories and showed that Neil could spread himself out and experiment(and experiment he did! Just bask in the glory of Midsummer Night's Dream). Season of Mists set up the human side of the overall narrative and was a great sweeping epic in the old, grand mythic style.

THIS one, on the other hand, takes the humanity card and trumps it up for all it's worth. Every page is filled with pain and joy and peace and sorrow and hope and despair and...do you get the idea? Both the "real world" and the Narnia-like landscape of Barbie's dreams draw you in. The metaphors are piercing and the characters make you care more about them here than in almost any work of literature. Read the introduction and keep those ideas in mind while reading the story: it all weaves together and the parable is inseparable from the story. Both are very worthwhile. Oh @#$@#%, just READ the darn thing, if you own the first 4 Sandman Graphic Novels. If not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???


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