The introduction to "Endless Nights" includes a bit where someone asked him to sum up the series in one sentence. Look for that after you're done and I think you'll agree it's apt.

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(I think I've just fallen completely in love with Vampire Loves )

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So I finished Season of Mists, and hm. I think overall, I'm not as in love with it as I anticipated at the beginning. Various realms bitching over who gets to rule Hell is wicked cool, don't get me wrong, but I feel like there should have been more. Maybe I want more damn fighting. This is a comic, for God's sake! Where's my THWAP! POW! BIFF!

And in this story, rather than deus ex angina, we get deus ex...deus. I mean, the resolution makes a certain kind of sense, but it also feels like something out of Gilbert and Sullivan. We're teased with all these things Dream could have gotten from various factions, and in the end all he got was the relief of having gotten rid of the key. I did love, however, the angel's progression from "You can't do this! I haven't rebelled!" to "That's it! I'm rebelling!...Shit."

Oh, oh, and I must say: CHEER UP, EMO ENDLESS. "I've got this key I don't want, and it's causing me so much paaaaaain. I'm going to wear my black clothes and sit in the dark and broooooood." Of course, he balances it out every time he's like, "You're in the Dreaming, bitch! This is MY WORLD."

Also, I thought the zombie schoolchildren issue was kind of meh. It was boring and confusing. Yeah, I'm sure it will be important later, but that's no excuse for not making the setup a good read. When Death is going around cleaning up after a big mess ("When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth!"), I want to see THAT. I want to see mass chaos everywhere. Not just someone's dead grandmother talking about anal sex. Though that was good.

I think the problem is Gaiman keeps subverting my expectations, and dammit, once in a while I want him to fulfill them.

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Maybe I want more damn fighting. This is a comic, for God's sake! Where's my THWAP! POW! BIFF!

Barkin' up the wrong tree, chief.

Yeah, I'm sure it will be important later, but that's no excuse for not making the setup a good read. When Death is going around cleaning up after a big mess ("When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth!"), I want to see THAT.

See, I thought it was a great read, myself. Neil doesn't go in for the epic. He goes in for the specific. The humanizing angle. Mass chaos around the world doesn't work for him; individuals and how this chaos affects them, that's what works for him.

And I loved the ending. He gives it to the only people who aren't asking for it, and who in fact don't want it. He does to Heaven what was done to him, guessing that Heaven has the power to handle this white elephant gift better than he.

Oh, oh, and I must say: CHEER UP, EMO ENDLESS. "I've got this key I don't want, and it's causing me so much paaaaaain. I'm going to wear my black clothes and sit in the dark and broooooood."

This is like saying, "Cheer up, Gothypants" to Angel. These are Nature's brooders, here. It's the best topsy-turvy distinction he's made: Death is the cheerful one who brings blessed release and Dream is the morose one who brings chaos and disquiet.

Of course, he balances it out every time he's like, "You're in the Dreaming, bitch! This is MY WORLD."

That part made me pump my fist in triumph. It's the climax he Gaiman gives us in lieu of a Big Battle for the Key to Hell.

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Also, I thought the zombie schoolchildren issue was kind of meh. It was boring and confusing.

See, I found that one both sad and somehow sweet. YZombieMV.

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And I finished Game of You, which managed to be simultaneously satisfying and unsatisfying. It's well plotted, for the most part, and it doesn't have a random, unrelated middle issue like the two previous story arcs. As for the resolution, Gaiman embraces the comfortable familiarity of the Companion Who Unexpectedly Betrays You followed by the You Made It All Up, but then he adds the old Sandman twist (Note: I laughed out loud at "Is this where I find out I was abused as a child and I've been blocking it all these years?" because OMG IF I SEE THAT ONE MORE TIME). I wonder what Thessaly's deal is. Barbie is much more of an interesting character than I ever would have thought from her initial appearance.

Donna (as in belladonna) becomes Foxglove. Clever.

But I found it hard to really care about the fate of The Land because, for one, Dream didn't seem to care, and plus...it just seemed like it belonged in a different book. The art was deliberately incongruous with the rest of the book, with kiddie-style talking animals. And they weren't characters we really knew at all, so their presence in the Dreaming isn't very substantial. Okay, I was sad when Wilkinson died. Plus, the whole thing was internal, basically; it didn't seem to connect to the larger arc beyond being a slight side effect of Rose's vortex dream.

Dream is such a bitch. "You have trespassed! I am very displeased!" Oh, cool it. Just let them go. Have we met Alianora before?

From the Afterword, it's clear this was a story Gaiman really wanted to tell, and I think for some people, this could be their favorite one. It could hit all the right buttons; it's more human than the previous ones. But I'm ready to move on.

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Game of You is not my favorite, except for Wanda, who is a generally loved character. Once you're done with Sandman, you should check out the book of short stories by fifteen or so different writers set in the Sandman 'verse. Hell. What is it called?

As far as Dream goes, I think you're either going to sympathize with him, or you're going to spend the entire series wanting to smack him about the head.. He's a lot like Achilles in The Iliad. Unsurprisingly, I love them both.

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I think you're either going to sympathize with him, or you're going to spend the entire series wanting to smack him about the head.

I alternate.

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Plus, the whole thing was internal, basically; it didn't seem to connect to the larger arc beyond being a slight side effect of Rose's vortex dream.

I won't spoil, but everything connects, one way or another, and a lot of elements in "Doll's House" do end up being relevant.

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Halfway through Fables and Reflections, and it's kind of a mixed bag.

"Fear of Falling" is trite and forgettable. Sometimes when you fall, you fly? Really? I've never heard that one before.

"Three Septembers and a January" made me smile. It's cute, and there's a cameo by Mark Twain. Plus, we get another teeny piece of the Desire puzzle: she wants Dream to invoke the Kindly Ones. We already knew she was trying to get him to spill family blood. Plus, more mystery about the missing brother. Man, I hope I'm not disappointed when we finally learn what went down with that. And when Desire finally wins...and given that the penultimate book is called The Kindly Ones, I'm betting she does, or at least comes close. But why? What is this all for? Oh, the Endless. You and your sibling rivalry that threatens the very fabric of existence.

"Thermidor" has a talking severed head, and that's about the best part. I think there were supposed to be important themes about the French Revolution or something, but...I didn't care.

"The Hunt" was good. I do enjoy the old grandfather-telling-a-story conceit, and the narrative is old school, which is fun. It took me too long to recognize that the tall man was Lucien. I love Lucien. He's like Dream's Alfred. I should have seen that last twist coming, dammit. It's not like it's particularly new. Again, this is Gaiman being fascinated with the nature of stories and storytelling. Trust the story, not the storyteller. Huh.

"August," like "Thermidor," seems to rely on historical context for its oomph, and I didn't really care. It's mostly interesting to note that the Greek gods do exist in this world.

The one-offs are a neat idea, although this collection is strange in its content, with issues out of order and ones from way in the future. Freaky!

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