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!

Those three you liked were some of my favorites in the series. I like the next collection of short one-offs, too (I think it's called World's End).

Wait, I only liked two: "Three Septembers" and "The Hunt." I didn't really like "Thermidor" that much, but it was better than "August."

And World's End is one-offs? Heh, I thought it was a plot spoiler.

Is World's End the one that has "Ramadan"? I love that one.

I'm going to have to reread now.

The book of short stories is called The Sandman: Book of Dreams. Stories by Tad Williams, Gene Wolfe, Caitlin Kiernan, Susannah Clarke, and several other people.

Is World's End the one that has "Ramadan"? I love that one.

I was thinking of the one with the Prez story. But I think now that I have the name of the collection wrong. And, yeah, Ramadan was great.

Sorry I misunderstood, P-C. "Thermidor" stuck with me more than many of the other stories.

Is World's End the one that has "Ramadan"? I love that one.

No, that's at the end of this one. Ooh.

Oh, dammit! Clicking that link spoiled me for the identity of the missing D.

Aw, crap. I'm sorry.

And World's End is one-offs? Heh, I thought it was a plot spoiler.

Now that I think about it, there's a major plot spoiler at the end of the book, so don't read it out of sequence.

Aw, crap. I'm sorry.

It's okay. What's in a name?

Now that I think about it, there's a major plot spoiler at the end of the book, so don't read it out of sequence.

Oh, I don't plan to. I'm reading in order.

Speaking of order of reading, where do "Death: the high cost of living", "Death: the time of your life", and the book about Goldie the gargoyle (when Goldie leaves the brothers--can't remember the title) fit within the 10 (?) volumes of the collected Sandman?