Once Upon a Bookshelf

The Story

One of the Endless, Destruction, left his realm and has been hidden from his siblings for many a year. Delirium has decided to go on a quest to find him, and is accompanied by Dream (whose reason for joining her on this quest is at first to distract himself from a broken heart). Destruction, however, had considered that people may search for him at some point in time, and so set up a number of protective mechanisms – including the deaths of some of the people that Delirium and Dream would attempt to contact to find him.

The Review

There is something different about each volume that stands out to me. This time it was the “not (an introduction): a few words.”

Peter Straub has done a real, honest-to-goodness introduction to the book, which, for reasons of not wanting to give too much away up front, we placed at the end of the book, after the story’s over.

You can go and read it now, if you like: it’s a very wise and wonderful introduction. Or you can wait until the end, in which case it will be a similarly wise and wonderful conclusion.

But that’s the introduction, not this. This is just a few words at the beginning, to say hello, and tell you what you need to know before you start.

I love that the introduction was moved to the end of the book and instead there was a cheeky non-introduction with a bit of background and acknowledgements instead where the introduction usually is. As mentioned, there is ALWAYS something different that stands out in these volumes, whether it’s the story, the typography, the not-an-introduction or whatever.

But it wasn’t just the fake-introduction that I loved in this volume; the story in this one was pretty awesome too. I especially liked seeing more of Delirium, who is quite possibly my favourite character in the Sandman books. And I really liked how this was tied in so well with other stories in the Sandman universe – specifically the story of Morpheus’ son, who had a pivotal role in Delirium and Dream’s search for their brother.

The Bottom Line

Oh yay what fun! This is one of the most enjoyable volumes that I’ve read in the series so far! Throughly enjoyed seeing more of the Endless that we haven’t really had a chance to see a lot of yet. Am definitely looking forward to reading more in the series!

Other Reviews

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

The sixth collection in the Sandman comic book series is a collection of stand-alone stories in the Sandman universe.

The Review

There’s something different that sticks out for me in each volume in this series. This time it was the typography of the table of contents. It was positively gorgeous, and as a graphic designer it made my little typography-obsessed heart geek out a little bit. Loved that.

As I mentioned for one of the previous volumes, I prefer it when the comics in the volumes are in the same arc – in this volume they were mostly standalones, so I didn’t really get into each of the stories before they were over.

My one favourite in this collection was “The Hunt”, which was about a werewolf who got the picture of a beautiful princess and his journey to find this princess. On his journey, he meets Baba Yaga, which is what made this story stick out for me. Oh, how wonderful and fun – Baba Yaga! I do like stories with her in them.

The Bottom Line

Not one of my favourites in the series, but it was still entertaining enough. None of the stories really stand out, other than the one with Baba Yaga though.

Other Reviews

The Wertzone. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

A Game of You is the fifth volume in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, collecting comic books 32 through 37. In this volume, we meet up again with Barbie, who was introduced in volume 2 (The Doll’s House). Barbie is now living in an apartment building in New York, with a wide variety of neighbours – Thessaly (a very vanilla-seeming girl who is more than she appears), George (a really creepy man who is a servant of the Cuckoo), Wanda (a totally awesome transsexual) and Foxglove and Hazel (a lesbian couple).

The Cuckoo has taken over Barbie’s dreams, and she’s forced on a journey through her dreamworld to try and save her world from the Cuckoo. Of course, she’s not alone on this journey – she has her childhood imaginary friends guiding her. Plus, Thessaly, Foxglove and Hazel all end up in Barbie’s dreamworld too, but for different reasons. Thessaly is looking out for revenge against the Cuckoo, while Foxglove and Hazel are more concerned with helping Barbie out.

The Review

There are so many things I loved about this volume that it’s hard to know where to start. And the thing is, what I like about this book doesn’t deal with the actual story, it’s more the issues that the story shows and explores – especially the roles of women.

I love that Gaiman is able to explore issues facing transexuals, even if it wasn’t the main part of the story. We get to see how Wanda’s family reacts to her decision to become female – and it’s heartbreaking! Her family pretty much disowned her because of this and it causes them embarrassment and pain when reminded about it. So sad!

I love that we got to know Barbie more. I didn’t particularly enjoy Barbie in The Doll’s House, but there was so much more depth to her in this volume, and she seemed much more like a real, three dimensional person. Sympathetic, and you actually get to understand and care for her.

I love the fact that everyone in this series is somehow connected to other people. Not only is this a continuation of Barbie’s story, but also Foxglove dated one of the girls who was in the first volume of the Sandman collection.

And most of all, I love the spreads in the preface. They are gorgeous. A little bit hard to read, due to a lack of contrast because of the light-coloured type on some light spots in the images used in the background, but gah! Lovely lovely!

The Bottom Line

I know I’ve said this about a few of the volumes so far, but this is one of my favourites of the series that I’ve read up until this point. Loved that Gaiman was able to explore all these things without it coming across as contrived. Definitely recommended.

Other Reviews

The Wertzone, Nothing of Importance, Bold. Blue. Adventure. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.