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Summary: I was your typical Tori Amos fan...
Review: ...and I was listening to 'Horses'. Sure, I'd listened to the song a billion+ times before, but I paid particular attention to the line 'Will you find me if Neil makes me a tree?' I, like any good Toriphile, knew that she was talking about Neil Gaiman. I'd never read any of his books up to that time, and for some reason the song, with all it's subliminal messaging, had peaked my interest. (Why hadn't it done that before, you ask? I dunno, now sit your heiney down and let me tell you my story!) I, being completely Gaiman-illiterate, decided that A Game of You would be as good as place as any to start. Not only had it come highly recommended, but it had the prettiest cover! So, I took $20 out of me pocket and with blind faith bought my first Neil Gaiman/Sandman story. I had never loved a story so much in my entire life... I was totally captivated by the involved storyline, the beautiful artwork, and the incredible way that Neil could weave so many different lives into the story without over-doing it. The ending was so beautiful, and very fulfilling. That was a month ago. Now, 5 Gaiman novels richer, (and $100 poorer) I've decided that these are the most incredible graphic novels ever created. I highly suggest them. And, if you too are Gaiman illiterate, go for this one first. It's one of the best (after the Kindly Ones, but I wouldn't recommend that for your first.) ~N
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Summary: Where, oh where, has that little girl gone?
Review: I have always found this to be an underappreciated chapter in the Sandman series. I don't think people realize what Gaiman has pulled off here. Besides coming up with a fascinating adventure story and a dizzying sideline into how we categorize ourselves (profession, gender, dreams, affinities, relations), he has done something few men have ever done -- written intelligently about what it is like to be a woman and a little girl.At first this may not seem like much, but the whole tale of Barbie's quest is inherently feminine. The dream world she inhabits is not a boys world. The questors are female (well, most of them and the last one is trying hard), and the ending turns around the whole notion of being a girl (even more than merely a child) that one of my female friends was convinced that someone TOLD Gaiman what to write! This is also a tale of loyalty. When it all comes down, each of the characters has to make a decision based one what has happened, a decision that could ultimately change each of their lives. Surprising decisions are made, but they are understandable if you stop and think about them. I love this volume, as I love the Sandman series in general. I only wish (as many did) that Gaiman had written some more. Like any good story, we hate to see it come to an end.
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Summary: great author overrated story
Review: I have never read Sandman before this story but from what I have heard each story can stand alone. I also want to say I read neverwhere and "Sandman: The Dream Hunters" and loved them. This story though just wasn't his best work or really that good. This is my problem with the story. A lady has dreams that continue every single night like an unending story. Suddenly, one of the animals in her dreams finds her in real life. Creative? Original? This idea is all of those things? However, by the end of her story, every single one of her characters in her dreams that she likes die, you are left to wonder, what is the point??? She lost her battle to keep the creaturs in her dream to stay alive and you aren't sure if you care because they are only creatures in a dream. On another note, although I don't like this story I have a feeling this sandman series gets better as it goes along, however this one just wasnt good, might want to skip it and read a different book in this series
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Summary: Fabulous
Review: I really don't know what to say about this volume of Sandman. It's one of the most--different. Dream is hardly in it; instead, it's about Barbie and the other tenants of her apartment in New York. And it's about identity. One of the (many, many) things I love about Sandman is that it's very deep, with important themes and so on, but the symbolism and deeper meanings will not go over your head--you like (adore!) the story enough that you want to think about it for a long time, teasing out all the meanings and "what-was-he-trying-to-say-here", and you can actually come to understand what he *was* trying to say. I love how Neil Gaiman always treats his themes so subtly, letting you understand what he means (and even when you don't, you don't feel stupid and you still follow what's going on) while never shoving things in your face. A Game Of You is disturbing, moving, and very thought-provoking at the same time. Wonderful stuff. Also, it's got Thessaly in it. I mean, Thessaly! What more do you want? I LOVE this character. I really, really want to know more about her past...That's just me, though; if you don't like her you'll still find a lot to like in this story. The art isn't my favorite, although it's never ugly. (Like...I don't know, "Calliope" maybe, or "Passengers". Come to think of it, some Sandman art is worse than others, but it's rarely downright ugly.) And the depiction of Dream is quite beautiful. What else to say? Don't start with this volume. It wouldn't be as bad to start with as, say, The Kindly Ones or The Wake, but still, as a new reader you'd get more of a feel for the series with Preludes and Nocturnes or The Doll's House; or, for less disturbing stuff, Dream Country or Fables and Reflections. If you haven't read Sandman, do so now. Oh yeah; as another reviewer said, don't read the introduction until after you've finished the story. (For that matter, better not to read any Sandman introduction until you've finished the story; the authors tend to give away plot points. But especially don't read this one.)
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Summary: One of my favorites of the series
Review: I really enjoyed this TPB. I've read the first four volumes, and this is right up there with Vol. 1 Preludes and Nocturnes, and Vol. 4 Season of the Mist. The defining strength of A Game Of You lies within the distinctive, well developed cast of characters. Because I cared about each of these characters in turn, the mildly epic storyline captivated me as it effortlessly moved along. The whole nature of the journey reminded me in some ways of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, albeit on a smaller scale. The art always varies throughout the Sandman series because of the use of different artists, and A Game of You continues that practice, with some consistency, thanks to Shawn McManus. McManus contributes the majority of the art here, and his style is perfectly suited to this tale. The guest artists are competent, but not quite as masterful as McManus. A Game of You is a fine tale, and a great addition to the Sandman series. It certainly makes me look forward to reading the next volume.
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Summary: serious literature
Review: I'm not a comic book aficionado, but was persuaded to try the Sandman series. They're remarkable, but this one is a real standout -- it's a fine, serious, and at the same time very entertaining, piece of literature. But it's literature that works specifically in the context of the comic format, and that's none the less serious for all that. Gaiman is a real literary artist who knows how to use pictures (a variety of people actually executed the pictures, which are of variable attractiveness). "A Game of You" is magnificent -- but don't bother with Samuel Delaney's pompous and irrelevant "introduction"; the book itself is vastly smarter and more interesting.
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Summary: A Barbie girl in her Barbie world
Review: If the last Sandman chronicle, "Season of Mists" seemed a little extraordinary, there's a good reason for that. Unlike many of the other collections in the series, "Season", contained a unprecedented amount of Mr. Sandman as protagonist. The odd thing about this graphic novel series is that the hero really doesn't show up all that often. In "Season", he was all over the place. Now, with "A Game of You", it's as if Neil Gaiman recognized just how much Sandman there was in the last one and is working as hard as possible to never let it happen again. Though "A Game of You" is perhaps one of the best written collections in the series, it is a little lacking in the protagonist department. And somehow, that's okay.
Remember Barbie? The crazy apartment neighbor of Rose Walker who lived with her supposedly perfect boyfriend Ken in "The Doll's House"? Well she's back and all is not well. Barbie and Ken split up long ago and she's currently living alone in New York City without much purpose in her life. She has a good drag queen friend, some nice lesbians upstairs, a quiet girl named Thessaly (if you get the reference here then you're too well educated to read this graphic novel), and a kinda creepy fellow named George. Not much happens to Barbie, which is okay with her. I mean, she used to have these far out wacky dreams about being the ruler of an enchanted kingdom that was constantly under attack by something called the Cuckoo. But it's been a long time since Barbie's dreamed. And then, one day, one of her dream companions comes looking for her. Though Barbie may have left her dreams, it's clear that her dreams have not left her.
The standard line repeated regarding "The Sandman" is that it's one of the rare graphic novels that girls read just as often as boys. I never entirely understood why this was before. I mean, sure, the hero of the tales is cute in a kind of gothic way. Girls who go gaga over Robert Smith of The Cure would probably also go for this guy. Ditto Edward Scissorhands. But "A Game of You" shows the other aspects of the series that appeal. In this particular tale, for example, a witch and her two lesbian companions go off to save their friend while a transvestite guards a body and saves a homeless woman. There's a lot of moon rites, sex-ed talk, and confrontation of bigotry in this tale. The ending is nice and complex as well. It takes some appropriate pot shots at small-mindedness and the evil of daily ignorance as well. I also appreciated that the book wasn't just some big girls-who-look-like-Barbie-are-people-too deal.
What I really want to convey is that this book is really well written. It still has the basic horrific elements that, for reasons that remain unclear, are part of the series. So don't be shocked by the dead face nailed to the wall with its similarly nailed eyeballs and tongue. But it transcends this silliness. It's mostly just a story about interacting with other people and how the choices we make about our own lives affect the people around us (however unintentionally). And it has some kick-ass illustrations.
I think this is one of the rare Sandman Chronicles that you could read all by itself without having had read any others in the series. It's the novelist of the graphic novels. Just a nicely written treatise on dreamin' and livin'. A classy piece of work.
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Summary: Finally something different
Review: In an age where almost all comics are aimed towards mass media entertainment, such as X MEN and the rest, it's refreshing to read comics with more depth and content to them. A Game Of You is one of my favorite books in the Sandman series. It showcases amazing characters, great storytelling, and a main character who is almost not in the book at all, which I enjoyed because the King of Dreams has always personally annoyed me with his pride and arrogance. However, on a lighter note, this book is amazing, but I would not recommend it as the first book for one to read in the Sandman series.
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Summary: A Game of Many Actually!
Review: In this volume (5) of the Sandman series, we (the readers) follow a woman by the name of Barbie with whom we met in volume 2 "The Doll's House." Anyway, she left her husband Ken, is now living in the Big Apple. The story involves a disturbance in the Dreaming known as the Cuckoo who is slowly trying to breakdown their world.
I don't want to give to much away, but Barbie and her friends make a magical journey through her dreams in order to save her own skin.
This book isn't my favorite of the series, but it's all-in-all a very good read.
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Summary: The Best Sandman Story by this Point
Review: It saddens me that people who are not intelligent enough to understand something feel the need to trash it. This is the best Sandman story up until the time it was published. It is arguably the most emotional and seems to be the first to develop one theme with each word and picture--in this case, identity. Read all of the Sandman stories that came before and then read this one.
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