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Average Customer Rating:

Great Storytelling!!!

Customer Rating:

Blood and Rain Blood for the Masses From a review published originally by SavageNight E-zine The Sandman: The Dream Country, Volume 3 Written by Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Various Artists Reviewed By B.L.morgan 5 Stars I am in awe of Neil Gaiman. The Sandman: Volume 3, The Dream Country takes the series in different directions that no one could have seen coming. Some of these stories are set in the modern day. Other stories are set in Medieval Europe. One is even told through the eyes of a cat. All of the stories are thought provoking. I highly recommend this entire series. If you want graphic novels that are inventive, entertaining and different then check out The Sandman Series.

A Collection of One-Shots

Customer Rating:

After reading Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll's House, I began to wonder if the hype behind Neil Gaiman's long-running "The Sandman" series had any substance to it. Both volumes had their fair share amount of good points and bad points, evening out at a 7/10 each. I saw none of the astonishing writing people were talking about, but I did notice one thing. Gaiman is way, way better at writing one-shots than he is at writing story arcs. So I was very pleased that "Dream Country," the third volume, wouldn't just feature one one-shot like the previous two books did... it is entirely composed of four very different one shots. Calliope: I liked this story a lot. The art is a big sketchy and at times even ugly, but Gaiman's script is able to keep the issue afloat. The tale is tragic and really creepy, delving into the darkest corners of a writers mind and what that writer will do to get recognition. It's a disturbing tale, but also one of my favorites. Dream of a Thousand Cats: This might be the single most original concept I've ever read about. It's fantastically written and drawn well too, and is easily the best Gaiman story I've ever read. Finally, I'm starting to see what everyone is gushing over. A Mid-Summer Night's Dream: It's a good concept that Gaiman got a bit carried away with. In this story, Shakespeare performs A Midsummer Night's Dream for Morpheus and the various fair folk that are featured in the play. It's interesting watching the fair folk's reaction to their depiction, but that's about as far as the issue goes. It's tedious and filled with "Alright, I get it" moments. Some praise it is Gaiman's best, but for me it felt like a surprisingly soft spot in an otherwise solid work. Façade: Like he did in "Preludes and Nocturnes," Gaiman gives a very dark take on a DC superhero here. Element Girl is the star of this comic, and Gaiman utilizes her horrified appearance (think the female version of Metamorpho) to craft a story about self-loathing that really hits a tender note. The end felt a bit fast, as if Gaiman should have cut down on the "woe is me" narration a bit from the beginning so he could really sell the end, but other than that, this is a very solid story. This edition also includes Gaiman's script to "Calliope" which is, the say the absolutely least, a very... unique way of scripting comics. It's mildly interesting to read, and anyone who really loves Gaiman's writing will be thrilled to get a glimpse (actually, "a long stare" is more appropriate) into his writing process. Overall, this is the best volume in the Sandman series thus far. If the comics are able to maintain this level of quality, I'll definitely stick around to the end. 8/10

Graphic SF Reader	Customer Rating:
A few stand alone stories are in this volume. William Shakespeare produces the first play that Morpheus has requested, and puts on a live performance in the wild for Titania and Auberon. A man literally gets his muse from another writer, we see the Dream of Cats, and the final fate of an Element Woman who has had enough.

Highly original and beautifully written

Customer Rating:

Gaiman is an original in every sense of the word. The first couple of volumes I read in the "Sandman" series didn't impress me all that much, I have to admit. At least, not uniformly. But the average quality in this one is very high indeed. The four stories all share the theme of dreams, from a novelist enslaving Calliope the muse to provide ideas for his books, to a cat's revelation of what the real world used to be like, to a piece about a woman who only wants to die but can't (the only "comic book" story you'll find here, and the least successful, in my opinion), and the award-winning story of the first performance by Will Shakespeare's company of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- for an audience from Faerie (and that one alone is worth the price of the book).

Dream Country	Customer Rating:
Excellent book, it is a few seperate stories but there is some background of the main characters not to be missed.