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A review by midici
The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
4.0
Unlike the first two Sandman books, "Dream Country" doesn't follow any one plot or character. Instead the book has a series of short stories, some of which contain characters that have been mentioned before (like Shakespeare), or who are familiar mythic figures (Calliope of the Nine Muses) or who have never been mentioned before at all (...the cats). Morpheus I definitely moe of a side character in these stories. He's involved in some way, but his presence is not central to the action.
Calliope is something of a dark, modern twist on a fairytale. It's as dark as some of the classics, but in this case it's the human Rick who has the upper hand over Calliope, who has been imprisoned for her ability to inspire great works of literature. Calliope, who was Morpheus' lover thousands of years past, doesn't expect any help from her past partner. Morpheus, on the other hand, who has recently escaped his own imprisonment feel compelled to act, taking things into his own hands.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats is one of those surreal stories that take a 'what-if' all the way. I like these types of stories, that make you think about what it is that makes up reality as we know it. In Cats its implied that reality is what we make of it - what we dream into being. And the main character thinks its high time some species other than human gets a chance to take control.
As a die-hard Shakespeare fan A Midsummer Night's Dream was a fun read. Not as thought provoking or dark as the other two but an entertaining take on what sort of deal Shakespeare and Morpheus made.
Facade was teh last story in the collection, and the saddest. The main character Rainie has been transformed by the Orb of Ra and cannot bring herself to live with the consequence. the best part of this story was the reintroduction of Morpheus' sister, Death, who comes to Rainie to give her some advice.
Calliope is something of a dark, modern twist on a fairytale. It's as dark as some of the classics, but in this case it's the human Rick who has the upper hand over Calliope, who has been imprisoned for her ability to inspire great works of literature. Calliope, who was Morpheus' lover thousands of years past, doesn't expect any help from her past partner. Morpheus, on the other hand, who has recently escaped his own imprisonment feel compelled to act, taking things into his own hands.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats is one of those surreal stories that take a 'what-if' all the way. I like these types of stories, that make you think about what it is that makes up reality as we know it. In Cats its implied that reality is what we make of it - what we dream into being. And the main character thinks its high time some species other than human gets a chance to take control.
As a die-hard Shakespeare fan A Midsummer Night's Dream was a fun read. Not as thought provoking or dark as the other two but an entertaining take on what sort of deal Shakespeare and Morpheus made.
Facade was teh last story in the collection, and the saddest. The main character Rainie has been transformed by the Orb of Ra and cannot bring herself to live with the consequence. the best part of this story was the reintroduction of Morpheus' sister, Death, who comes to Rainie to give her some advice.