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.

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

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.

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).

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

When one walks into a movie theater, they expect to see a movie. When one walks into a pizzeria, they expect to be served pizza. When one plays paintball, you should expect to be hit by at least one paintball. So, one could draw the conclusion that when one reads any of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, you should expect to be pulled into a bizarre world where your heroine (or dark figure leading the show) happens to be the actual Sandman ... right? Apparently, the answer is closer towards the "no" theory than one could expect. I understand the concept of building a stage and allowing readers to see the entire universe, and not just one small figure, but that isn't why I purchased this series. I purchased it for the sole reason that I enjoyed the first two in this collective series. I find the character of the Sandman to be one of the greatest literary figures in graphic novels today. His words will entice, his patience will amaze, and his strength will force you to think of Superman as the weakest man alive. The Sandman is intelligence, boldness, and heroics all boiled together into one shaded character. He is the epitome of "cool", if one were to phrase it that way. Yet, why would anyone who loves this series think that without the main character, the central focus of the show, would a series be able to survive? If I had started with this collection, I don't believe I would have gone any further.

I know, I seem to be an odd voice in this collection that seems to have garnered award after award for possibly the dullest story ever dreamed by Gaiman. For those fan boys out there that are drooling over the ingenuity of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", I would say - not rudely - but get over it. Sure, there were moments of fun and inspiration, but for the most part this story seemed to go on longer than needed and gave this avid Sandman reader a chance to catch up on some well deserved rest. I had seen Gaiman twist the story of Shakespeare earlier in one of the early collections (I think it was when the Sandman was talking with his "friend", Hob Gadling), but I didn't think he would dedicate half a collection to the birth of an idea. Again, I am not knocking the creativity of the piece, because I saw the premise well, it just felt overly-dramatic coupled with an overall sense of "blah". It was too much for this reader to enjoy. I wanted the fantastical coupled with sinister, and before you say it, this just didn't have it. Sure, there were creatures, but they did not come anywhere close to what I witnessed in the first two collections. I just missed the tone that Gaiman had captured with his creation in the first two collections; obviously this was a completely different step.

How did I enjoy the other stories? I thought that "A Dream of A Thousand Cats" was decent, but again lacking that panache that lingered from the first two books. "Facades" was utterly fun, but diabolically confusing. Who remembers Element Girl? To me, it just seemed too outdated for the rest of the series. My personal favorite was "Calliope", a truly frightening tale of imagination that reminded me of why I am such a big Gaiman fan. It was dark and spooky all at the same time. It was the epitome of what the Sandman represents, then we are left with nothing more a ramshackle of other stories that don't fit the bill. They were a hit or miss with me, as I have read, it seems to be the case with other Gaiman fans. I wanted, and desperately needed, more Sandman. I wanted my character back. I wanted something to breathe life back into this short collection. For those of you wondering where most of the pages remain, there is a huge development of the "Calliope" story at the end which nearly takes up 20 pages. This was a waste of time and space. Obviously, this was the weakest link pertaining to the series.

Overall, I cannot suggest this book to friends or family. If one asks which collection they should start learning about our heroine, the Sandman, in Gaiman's eyes, I would tell them to stay clear of this collection. Dream Country may be giving us a hit of what is to come, but for me it felt tired, bored, and over inflated. While "Calliope" will pull you in, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will confuse you to the point of insanity, or at least give you a good nights rest. Dream Country was weak, and it is obvious with the fact that there was what I like to call "filler" at the end of the collection. If one doesn't have anything worth saying, don't waste my time. This collection will anger any fans of the series that loved the first two. Read through this one quickly, and get to the next. I promise ... it will only get better from here.

Grade: ** out of *****

Let me just say that I have kids. They do things that kids are wont to do; make noise, make messes and generally prevent me from reading, my favorite pleasure. So I made a compromise; I wanted to read, but I couldn't get into a book, then I decided to get back into comics. Needless to say, I am a long time comic reader. Superhero stuff mainly. Characters from the DC universe (Batman is my favorite) and Kurt Busiek's Astro City were pretty much it for me.

But I got restless. I needed a change. Not that I've quit reading about superheroes, but I needed to broaden my outlook.

I've long known about Gaiman's classic Sandman series, but at the time, it just didn't seem interesting to me. But I asked a young woman who worked in a comic book store about it. She praised it and recommended the series. Since I didn't know anything about Morpheus or any of his siblings in the endless, she suggested starting off with Dream Country, in what is the third volume of the series.

To veteran Sandman readers, it's a brief collection of four short stories and the shortest book of the lot. But for the novice, it's a superb introduction to Neil Gaiman's brilliant storytelling and a nice way to ease into his fantastic world. I read the collection in a day. I then got the rest of the series. If you like good stories well told, superb characters you want to feel for and a taste for the different, look no further.

I would recommend Sandman to even the most jaded reader. I'd be genuinely shocked of they weren't won over.

This is a great book. I think too many people go gagga over anything Shakespeare, though. Read the rest of the book, too. And just because this volume has an award winning story, do not think that it is the best volume to start out on Sandman with.

The Sandman is great. However, it is really 1 story. If you have loads of cash, get the new 2 volume set. Otherwise buy a few every few months till you have the whole story.

Neil Gaiman's great strength as a storyteller is how he weaves intricate plotlines into satisfying conclusions, and future setups. So it may seem unusual at first blush, to experience this collection of short Sandman stories instead of Gaiman's long story arcs. Yet, Dream Country invites us to come along on an enjoyable ride, as Gaiman explores his smaller side ideas. More a collection of "what if" supernatural scenarios, than a part of the Sandman saga...it is still very much uniquely Sandman. The stories revolve around the complex character of Morpheus (even when he is removed from center stage)...and Death's tale truly begins once she appears. Dream Country doesn't advance the larger Sandman plot, but even casual readers will still find it satisfying.

Neil Gaiman's great strength as a storyteller is how he weaves intricate plotlines into satisfying conclusions, and future setups. So it may seem unusual at first blush, to experience this collection of short Sandman stories instead of Gaiman's long story arcs. Yet, Dream Country invites us to come along on an enjoyable ride, as Gaiman explores his smaller side ideas. More a collection of "what if" supernatural scenarios, than a part of the Sandman saga...it is still very much uniquely Sandman. The stories revolve around the complex character of Morpheus (even when he is removed from center stage)...and Death's tale truly begins once she appears. Dream Country doesn't advance the larger Sandman plot, but even casual readers will still find it satisfying.

Of all the Sandman books, I'd have to say this is one of my personal favorites. The individual short stories, may not have a lot to do with the overall Sandman storyline but are each emotionally powerful in their own right.

Besides the Shakespearen classic A Mid-Summer Night Dream, I'd had have to say that the best stories are a Dream of a Thousand Cats and Facade. The thousand cats storyline deals with a cat preacher who tries to convince her followers that if a thousand of them would dream of a better life (a life where cats rule humans) then their dreams would come true. While it proves to be a little hokey in concept, the story does have a powerful element of truth in how dreamers change the world.

The story Facade in my mind brings to light the painful truth, of what it is like to be a superhero in modern day society. I thought Alan Moore was good at humanizing his characters but this one really hits home in terms of what it's like to be alienated and alone. In it, Element Girl (A former superhero known as Urania Blackwell) lives a meager existence in a run down apartment building, afraid of going anywhere in public or doing anything. It shows us what it is like to be so different from her fellow human beings that she can no longer exist among them. I praise this story for piercing the naive fantasy children have when dreaming of superheros. Usually they think about how good it would be to jump buildings, to fly and have laser vision. But for Urania this is a nightmare. There are some particularily moving moments in this story, particularly when her former best friend, being unaware of her condition, calls a girl born with no legs a freak. Each night, she dreams of a better life, one where she is normal and very happy only to wake up crying to find out things are not so. This is something everyone can identify with and relate to.

Of all the Sandman books, I'd have to say this is one of my personal favorites. The individual short stories, may not have a lot to do with the overall Sandman storyline but are each emotionally powerful in their own right.

Besides the Shakespearen classic A Mid-Summer Night Dream, I'd had have to say that the best stories are a Dream of a Thousand Cats and Facade. The thousand cats storyline deals with a cat preacher who tries to convince her followers that if a thousand of them would dream of a better life (a life where cats rule humans) then their dreams would come true. While it proves to be a little hokey in concept, the story does have a powerful element of truth in how dreamers change the world.

The story Facade in my mind brings to light the painful truth, of what it is like to be a superhero in modern day society. I thought Alan Moore was good at humanizing his characters but this one really hits home in terms of what it's like to be alienated and alone. In it, Element Girl (A former superhero known as Urania Blackwell) lives a meager existence in a run down apartment building, afraid of going anywhere in public or doing anything. It shows us what it is like to be so different from her fellow human beings that she can no longer exist among them. I praise this story for piercing the naive fantasy children have when dreaming of superheros. Usually they think about how good it would be to jump buildings, to fly and have laser vision. But for Urania this is a nightmare. There are some particularily moving moments in this story, particularly when her former best friend, being unaware of her condition, calls a girl born with no legs a freak. Each night, she dreams of a better life, one where she is normal and very happy only to wake up crying to find out things are not so. This is something everyone can identify with and relate to.

Others have written enough about the story content, so I just want to add an additional annoyance with this volume: the last 40 pages (out of 160) are just for the script of 'Calliope'. All text. No pictures... The book was already short enough compared to the others. And that script took even more away from it...

Dream Country is a little collection of short stories that do not revolve around The Sandman, but usually do involve him. At the least, they are unified by taking place in the same universe, and bound by the same uber-mythology.

As such, they are marvelous short stories, each a treat. The only issue I take here is with the artwork for Calliope, which I found severely wanting. After reading the comics, I read through the script of Calliope included at the end, and my conspiracy theorist side suggests that maybe it was included to *show* the reader how much Gaiman intended versus how little was communicated through the drawings.... Though, probably not.

Still, these are extrodinary myth stories playing with some familiar characters. Another excellent entry in a top-notch series.

Dream Country is a little collection of short stories that do not revolve around The Sandman, but usually do involve him. At the least, they are unified by taking place in the same universe, and bound by the same uber-mythology.

As such, they are marvelous short stories, each a treat. The only issue I take here is with the artwork for Calliope, which I found severely wanting. After reading the comics, I read through the script of Calliope included at the end, and my conspiracy theorist side suggests that maybe it was included to *show* the reader how much Gaiman intended versus how little was communicated through the drawings.... Though, probably not.

Still, these are extrodinary myth stories playing with some familiar characters. Another excellent entry in a top-notch series.

Neil Gaiman, Sandman: Dream Country (DC Comics, 1991)

Steve Erickson, in his prologue to this third installment in the Sandman series, says he really revs things up in book four. I'd have to disagree; having read both (in fact, I finished the fourth book in the series the night before writing this review), it seems to me that Dream Country is, by a hair, the better of the two books.

Dream Country takes us away from the main storyline of the Sandman tales a bit and gives us four stories that tangentially touch on Morpheus himself (plus a script for the first of them, which is a great behind-the-scenes look at how one of these things gets made). "Calliope" starts things off on a rather ugly note, the story of a one-hit novelist who's desperate for another book. Through an acquaintance, he comes into possession of the muse Calliope. "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" is the second, and the name pretty much tells you all you need to know. "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which won the World Fantasy Award (giving, according to Harlan Ellison in the introduction to volume 4, a number of fantasy and sci-fi writers something approaching apoplexy), tells the story of how the Kingdom of Faerie is invited to a performance of a new William Shakespeare play; "Facades," in which the Dream king doesn't even make an appearance, is about what happens to superheroes once they retire.

What Gaiman has created here is more than just a graphic novel (actually, collection of graphic short stories). These contain some of Gaiman's finest work in any genre; it's easily the equivalent of American Gods or Coraline. If you're a Gaiman fan and have not yet been exposed to the Sandman books, even if you don't plan to read the rest of the series, read this. **** ½

A decent addition to the Sandman books - but they were very much a series of apparently unrelated short stories touching upon the tales of Morpheus without furthering the juicy storyline developed in Volumes 1 & 2 and then later picked up again in Volume 4. Interesting but ultimately unthrilling.

Okay, the Sandman "Dream Country" is a collection of short stories that are related to the characters in the series, but unrelated in terms of the main storyline that's been going on in "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House." I hate when good storylines like that in "The Doll's House (Vol. 2)" get cut off with something unrelated like this book. There are four stories in this collection and they are as follows Calliope (which is very disturbing and my favorite), Tale of Thousand Cats (a real yawner in my opinion), A Mid Summer's Night Dream (another yawner that apparently won the World Fantasy Award), and then there is Facade (which is my second favorite and features an appearance of Dream's sister, Death).

I would not be so down on this book if it was in relation to the actual story that is unfolding. What was great about "The Doll's House" is it left off where "Preludes and Nocturnes" started. "The Doll's House" also introduced some new characters to the fold. Really, really well written books, but I feel that "Dream Country" though amusing and somewhat entertaining, is just not a good Sandman book. I gave this book three stars because while I dislike it, it is a far better read then alot of crap that's out there today. I mean don't we comic readers get tired of men and women running around in tights pretending to be somthing they're not. I know I do, but I just do not like this particular book. Definitely, the worst of the series.

It must have occurred to Neil Gaiman that a character like The Sandman presented an infinitely difficult challenge. I mean, here's a character that is all powerful... all the time. Oh sure, the first Sandman collection (Preludes and Nocturnes) gave us some brief moments of un-Sandmanlike frailty. There was a distinct possibility at the beginning that dear old Morpheus might come to some serious harm. With "Dream Country", however, it's perfectly clear that our hero is impossible to defeat. This places his author in an interesting position. Instead of your usual good-guy-fights-bad-guy-and-almost-loses-then-at-last-wins, the story has become more focused on far more infinite matters. Suddenly we're reading stories in which muses are the prisoners of writers, where cats used to be gods, and the origins of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are explained. When your hero has supreme powers, things can get a lot more interesting.

This particular collection contains four stories, all varying in type and quality. The first is the most disturbing, and probably also the best. In it, the muse Calliope has been captured and imprisoned by a writer for sixty years. Now he's just traded her to an upcoming new author and her torment begins anew. Fortunately her one-time lover, Morpheus, has recently been freed from his own prison. And he doesn't look kindly on jailors. The second story, "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" opines the theory that once cats were the rulers of the world until humans dreamed themselves into control. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" shows the true source of Shakespeare's brilliant creation and promises future and highly amusing sequels. Finally, "Façade" (the weakest of the bunch) shows Element Girl seeking Death's help.

Stronger than the previous collection "The Doll's House", this book is an interesting series of conjectures. Though the first story hurt to read, it was well thought through. Gaiman has even added, at the end of this book, the original script as he wrote it for that story. Unfortunately, artists Kelley Jones and Malcom Jones III decided that in spite of Gaiman's requests that his tortured Calliope be more like a Holocaust victim than a supermodel, this is the comic book world and the supermodel idea won out in the end. Which sucks and almost ruins the story (once you know Gaiman's original intent). So naughty naughty to the Joneses. Other tales fare better. The one involving cats, in some ways, shows why "The Sandman" has always been the one graphic novel read by as many women as men. And no one can deny the enticing "Midsummer". I haven't read any Sandman comics past this book, but I am truly hoping for a "Tempest" based story to come up at some point as well. As for "Façade", it's weak. One of those in-jokes for people who enjoy old comic book superheroes. If you're not familiar with Element Girl then the story doesn't make a heckuva lotta sense. Why include it? Because, I suspect, someone was clamoring for that hottie Death to make another appearance. But it's just a mildly depressing story that ends oddly. I didn't know what to make of it. I just knew it was poorly thought out.

Nonetheless, the tales in this book still hold together well in the end. I wouldn't hand this book to someone trying to decide whether or not to even read "The Sandman", of course. This is not a good Sandman starter novel. But for those already hooked fans, it has its charms. A fun dwelling on the nature of our own R.E.M. cycles.

Dream Country is a great little book. It feels good to take a break after surviving The Doll's House. If you are planning on reading the Sandman through and through, you should definately catch up on this volume before entering Season of Mists. None of the stories are essential--although some of them will heighten your enjoyment of future volumes if you have read them first.

All in all, a little book with big meaning, that is both engrossing and greatly enjoyable. Not to be skipped.

In between the glorious and groundbreaking story-arcs of `Doll's House' and `Season of Mists', Mr. Gaiman took some time off with four individual one-issue long stories in the Sandman universe; these are collected in `Dream Country'. Technically, it can probably be considered the least important of Sandman collections, and should take second priority to volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5. Still, `Dream Country' is Gaiman at his best, and each of these stories is important and well worth the purchase. If you're a Gaiman fan, it's an essential part of your library.

The stories in `Dream Country' are important in the development of the series because the Sandman himself, Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, plays in them only a background role. That was the foundation for one of the elements that made the series great - that it's not just the story of one hero; the hero can be himself, an active character, but just as often he is simply the essence of something bigger. That is precisely the role Morpheus plays in `Calliope' and `Dream of a Thousand Cats', both with splendid dark artwork by Kelley Jones. `Calliope' is a splendid philosophical tale of urban mythology that shows Gaiman's unique and original attitude towards storytelling and inspiration.

`Dream of a Thousand Cats' Is my favorite in this collection and probably the most underrated story in the Sandman catalogue; though `A Midsummer Night's Dream' is the celebrated story that made history by being the first `comic book' to win the World Fantasy Award (for best short story of the year), I personally find `Dream of a Thousand Cats' to be superior by far. Though it tells a very small tale, and one that is without significance in the greater continuity of the Sandman saga, it's gorgeously written and has a great atmosphere about it. It also gets across Neil's ideas about the importance of dreams and stories better than any of the others. The artwork, to, is brilliant.

`Facade', finally, is probably the weakest story in the collection. It's important, if nothing else, for being the first story in the Sandman series in which Morpheus does not appear at all, even as a guest. Instead, it features his older sister, Death - one of the Endless and one of the most lovable characters in Gaiman's universe, as well as does a great job in resurrecting a forgotten character from DC's history, Element Girl; Neil does as amazingly in rasterizing her as he did with other old comics characters like Lyta Hall AKA The Fury, or the absurd Sandman character from the 60s.

Last but not least, there's a delicious bonus for those who buy `Dream Country' - the complete, original script to `Calliope'. It's rare indeed for a writer to reveal to his readers his work in progress, and this script is fascinating to both fans of Gaiman and aspiring writers of graphic literature, as it gives us a precious glimpse into Neil's precise and masterful scriptwriting process. All this and more reasons for buying `Dream Country', especially if you're hoping for a complete Sandman collection. It's one of the best `comic books' you can find.

The earliest two Sandman collections are good but the third, Dream Country, is great. The book features four single-issue stories in which the saga's title character, the mystical king of dreams, moves to the background (he is not even in one tale). His preeminence will not be missed, however because one cannot read stories this smart, imaginative, creepy and all around superb and feel that anything is lacking.

The first story is "Calliope," in which a one-hit novelist enslaves an actual muse and becomes as productive and popular as Stephen King. The author is not a cruel person, but he cannot set her free if he wants his flow of ideas to continue. Gaiman provides a thoroughly creepy dissertation on the madness of writers and Kelly Jones' darkly astounding drawings of attics, faces and shadows perfectly complements the tale.

The second is "Dream of a Thousand Cats," in which a feline prophetess shares her vision of a cat-ruled world; one that is open to her brethren if they only believe. Gaiman creates a religious outlook perfect for these slinky, self-satisfied animals and, just as in "Calliope," Jones' art is a major asset. Personality and mystique are translated wonderfully in his cat eyes and cat body language. This is Dream Country's best story and one of the best issues of a comic book series I have ever read.

The third, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," famously won the World Fantasy Award for best short story, the first and only time a comic book has done so. In that tale, Shakespeare and his troupe perform the title play in front of the fairy creatures it is based upon. It is a wonderful parody/tribute to the renowned playwright.

The fourth, "Facade," is one of two times the use of a superhero in a Sandman story works (The other is the story acrh The Kindly Ones, which practically stars Lyta Hall, formerly The Fury). The hero is Element Girl, a sidekick to Metamorpho who vanished in the late 1960s without much notice. "Facade" tells of how her super-powers turned on her, how she became a tormented agoraphobe and how she finally found release.

Dream Country is Sandman at its best; an intelligent and unique series that not only represents comic books at their best, but speculative fiction in general. I cannot recommend this volume more highly.

It's all I want in a comic. There is a loose connection from the un-named master of dreams, through a cat, a minor goddess, an elfin king, and an angst-ridden female Metamorpho. (That's a 60s comic character, one I had to look up.)

Gaiman's stories are always good, and these are no exception. Vess' art is uniquely well-suited to the Midsummer Night's Dream - maybe not to the play, but certainly to the audience. His slender lines can be as fragile as hair or sharp as a razor's edge, all within one panel. The other artists, also good, follow their own visions in telling Gaiman's stories.

It's a comic. I can't take it too seriously, even though I've been reading Vess since Star*Reach. It's good, though, and I'll be coming back for more - lots more.

Although this volume of the Sandman series has technically nothing to do with the main Sandman story arc, and can therefore be ignored , I daresay anyone doing that would be missing a whole lot. For my money, this is the best instalment of the entire series. While containing 'merely' four issues, each instalment is so brilliant and original that only the very cantankerous would quibble with the relative thinness of the volume.

It is perhaps because this collection is sequentially out of keeping with the Sandman arc that Gaiman can give himself free-reign to explore storylines and motifs. Enslaved muses, dreaming cats, Shakespeare, and depressed Metamorphs take centre stage and completely 'de-centre' the established characters and plots of the Sandman pantheon. The fascinating sidebar that is "Dream Country" demonstrates just how far Gaiman's imagination is able to take him.

Altough Gaiman's take on Shakespeare's classic "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is what most pundits rave about (and deservedly so - it won a World Fantasy Award), I elect "A Night as a Thousand Cats" as Gaiman's masterpiece. Beautiful, sublime, moving. Cats frame the tale for us, and we sympathize with their lot in life. Dreams become the repository of their lost hopes; a repository that is consciously designed to actualize an old mythology that will help change their faded status as pets.

The first story, "Calliope," has some particularly great art in it. I particularly enjoyed the last page, where a struggling writer attempts to hold onto his memory of Morpheus; Kelley Jones does a marvelous job of graphically representing a fading memory.

"Facade" is a tongue-in-cheek attack on our obsession with physical appearances. It certainly puts a new spin on the expression "putting my face on."

Each read reveals new layers; a true sign of great writing. There's no getting bored with this collection.

"Mythologies take longer to die than people believe. They linger on in a kind of dream country that affects all of you."
- Death of the Endless, in "Facade", herein

"Calliope" in some ways is the most interesting entry; Gaiman has also included his script for Calliope, as annotated during his conversations with the artist. Gaiman emphasizes that this isn't the One True Way of scriptwriting - but a student would have to look long and hard to find a better published example. The script supplies both dialogue and detailed descriptions of the accompanying visual images the artist should capture, also documenting their origins. (Failing author Rick Madoc's workspace, for instance, is based on Gaiman's own, without the Groucho Marx statue.)

Calliope and Dream were once lovers, but the fate of their son (one of the key elements of the Sandman mosaic, in FABLES AND REFLECTIONS) caused a rift between them that never healed. Like Dream, Calliope has spent much of the 20th century as a mortal's prisoner - in her case, Erasmus Fry captured her as she made a nostalgic visit to Greece in 1927, and rather than wooing her, forced her to provide inspiration. Now an old man, Erasmus as the story opens has sold her to Rick Madoc, who wants to break his writer's block before the deadline of his second novel falls due. (Forced inspiration involves Madoc raping Calliope, telling himself she's not really human.) Tasting success, Madoc gets greedy, and continues to exploit Calliope as he rises to fame and fortune - and enough time passes for Dream, an ultimate source of inspiration with a gift for epic vengeance, to escape his *own* unfortunate incarceration.

"A Dream of a Thousand Cats" is the message preached by a mother who learned the true depths of the falsehood of feline independence, when her humans drowned the litter sired by her first lover, a stray tom whose bloodline wasn't 'good enough' for a purebred Siamese. In her grief, she sought the heart of the dreaming for justice, revelation, and wisdom. A dead crow there, denying first justice and then wisdom, directed her to the king of dreams - another aspect of Dream, just as Nada and the last Martian saw him differently than the usual artist's portrayal. The truth the nameless mother brought back from the dreamworld - of how humans came to dominate cats, and what it *really* takes to change the world - is very powerful, despite the savage irony of the long odds against her.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (by Neil Gaiman and William Shakespeare) picks up the thread of Dream's working relationship with Will Shakespeare, begun in "Men of Good Fortune" in THE DOLL'S HOUSE. (The bargain is concluded in the last story of THE WAKE.) The artist, Charles Vess, later collaborated with Gaiman on his full-length novel of Faerie, STARDUST.

Lord Strange's Men - the acting company in which Shakespeare worked as both actor and playwright before joining the Lord Chamberlain's Men - have left London to tour the provinces after their patron's death (historical fact; Gaiman cannot typically be caught out in any continuity error). Here at Wendel's Mound in Sussex, Dream has called in one of the chips owed him by Shakespeare in exchange for inspiration. (Dream sees nothing unusual in the choice of stage, as this was a theatre long before the coming of Shakespeare's people to the island. "The Normans?" "The humans.")

A performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' for the *real* Auberon and Titania, whose people have long since left the mortal plane, but who have accepted Dream's invitation to a single night's entertainment, in thanks for the diversion their people have provided for Dream in his eternal existence. This story marks the first overlap between Faerie and the Sandman storyline, introducing not only the royals, but the shadowy figure (noted, with a most-wanted flavor, as being still at large) of the Puck. [As the real Peaseblossom says, "'I am that merry wanderer of the night'? I am that giggling-dangerous-totally-bloody-psychotic-menace-to-life-and-limb, more like it.'" "Shh, Peaseblossom. The Puck might *hear* you!" The by-play in the audience is well written.]

The characters of Lord Strange's Men are dead-on accurate, with Richard Burbage (technically the best actor) taking Oberon's part, Shakespeare as Duke Theseus, and Will Kemp (the strongest comedian, whose insistence on ad-libbing eventually caused his break with the company, as Shakespeare preferred people to stick with his scripts) as Bottom the weaver. The *real* price Shakespeare has paid for his inspiration, though, can be seen in his relationship with his young son Hamnet, experiencing a rare few weeks of his father's company - in the silent part of the boy servant over whom Oberon and Titania quarrel in the play, an irony that deepens as we see the reaction of the real Fair Folk to him. The Puck can't resist the temptation of playing himself on stage...

"Facade" Urania Blackwell was once the superhero Element Girl, long forgotten by the intelligence agency that persuaded her to use the Orb of Ra to trade her humanity for superpowers, then shelved her. The one shape she can't take for long is that of an ordinary human; 'putting on her face' involves forming short-lived clay masks from her own substance, to be able to pass. She has lost the will to live, existing as a shut-in on a "company" pension, and has only 2 kinds of dreams - bad and terrible. (Ordinary nightmares are only bad dreams; the *terrible* dreams are those in which she lives a normal life, then wakes to find that she's still a metamorph.) Death, not Dream, appears in this one, but not to end Urania's life - she heard Urania crying while collecting a neighbour woman who'd fallen from a ladder. After all, as Death points out, she just has a job to do; people make their own fates, and put their own interpretation on her job, whether as gift or punishment.