January 28, 2009

Sandman: Brief Lives & Sandman: Worlds' End by Neil Gaiman

Sandman: Brief Lives v. 7

The story of the Endless continue in the 7th volume of Sandman. In this one, Delirium enlists the help of Dream to find their missing brother Destruction. Destruction abandoned his realm about 300 years ago, Age of Enlightenment convincing him that humans could cause enough destruction without him. Delirium however misses him and thinks things would be better if he came back to the family. Dream reluctantly agrees to help. During their search, they encounter people whose lives have been touched in some way by Destruction and trouble ensues. Dream, Delirium and Destruction do meet up and the family reunion isn’t all that Delirium hoped for and was difficult for Dream also but for different reasons.

I love this series, the stories are odd and entertaining and I always feel like I’m missing levels of meaning. It’s worth reading and pondering and rereading.

Sandman: Worlds' End v. 8

Worlds’ End, the 8th of the Sandman series has a great phrase - “it’s a reality storm”. I love that. In the Inn at Worlds’ End people, fairies and other creatures have congregated to wait out the snow storm and to pass the time, they tell stories. Are the stories true tales of their lives or just made up tales to pass the time? While Dream appears briefly this is not a tale of the Endless. While I love the idea of the Inn at Worlds’ End and reality storms, I missed Death, Dream and Desire.

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