I definitely enjoyed this second volume more than the first. As I said in my review at the time, I liked the first volume but I didn’t love it. Doll’s House I loved. In Preludes & Nocturnes we were introduced to Morpheus, and saw him escape his prison, and in Doll’s House we get to learn more about his realm of Dreaming and how he works.

The main focus of the story is teenage girl called Rose Walker, long-lost granddaughter of Unity Kinkaid – the girl who slept dreamlessly for thirty years, and was impregnated and gave birth during that time. It turns out Rose is a vortex, who’s existence threatens to destroy all of Dreaming. Morpheus also discovers that three have escaped in his absence; two nightmares – Brute and Glob, and the Corinthian; and the dream Fiddler’s Green.

After discovering that Unity is her grandmother, Rose goes to Florida to track down her missing younger brother to finally put all her family together (her mother must stay in England with Unity who is suffering following a stroke). She moves into house with cross-dressing Landlord Hal, eerily Stepford couple Ken and Barbie, the Spider Women – Chantal and Zelda who dress in white veils, collect dead spiders and only Chantal ever speaks – and a mysterious, odd, well-mannered fellow named Gilbert. I loved all of these guys... they were just so brilliantly weird.

In quite a twisty plot Gilbert - and Morpheus - helps Rose track down her brother Jed, and ultimately save him from the serial killer convention they unwittingly ended up staying amongst in a hotel. I did love the serial killer convention... It was sick, and very dark... But darkly humorous. I also like the story with Hob Galding. A man Dream granted immortality in the 14th Century, and met up with each hundred years. I also like the idea that he struck a deal the Shakespeare, who was previously somewhat of an untalented hack!

We also met more of Dream/Morpheus’s Endless siblings – the twins Desire and Despair, who scheme against their elder brother. I liked the fact that Desire as androgynous, rather than present as a typically female. I feel like I’m starting to understand Dream now and the world he lives in, and I finished it less confused than I was by the first volume. I hope we see more of Rose, I feel like it was implied that we will... and I’m interested to see what it will mean that she (and Jed) are descended from Desire.

I feel like I’m starting to ‘get’ the Sandman thing, and I’ starting to love it. Looking forward to Volume 3!
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Are we dreaming? Possibly… After the tumultuous events in the first collected storyarc of the Sandman, wherein Morpheus regained his items of power and his throne, we are given nary a moment to rest before new conflict stirs in the edge of the Dreaming. Opening with a prologue that tells the story of Morpheus’ short and disastrous relationship with Nada (who we met briefly on our sojourn through Hell) as historical lore before quickly transitioning back to the present with an exploration of Desire of the Endless’ realm, Gaiman sets a troubling set of themes to Morpheus’ journey that will not come to fruition until the events collected in the Kindly Ones arc. The Lord of Dreams may have power incarnate and a realm that most only dream of (pun intended, but factual!), but his relationships with humanity are fraught at best. His desire for Nada leads to her downfall, he denies a friendship with long-lived Hob Gadling for hundreds of years before admitting the truth, and it rarely works out easily for any humans who stumble into the Dreaming or for those who encounter Dreams in the real world. As Morpheus traces the remnants of the errant dream-beings who have strayed in his absence and seeks to find this eon’s dream vortex, Gaiman builds a cast of unique (if occasionally horrifying) characters whose lives intersect in unexpected ways. Tracing through Americana and dreamscapes, this story arc brings the Sandman out of the adventure narrative that Gaiman established in Preludes and Nocturnes and into a realm of graphic literary complexity that is clearly only the beginning of what is going to be one strange dream, indeed. ( )

Collecting issues 9 to 16 of the DC comic series The Sandman, this volume centers on a seven-issue story arc, The Doll's House. It's the story of Rose Walker, a young woman who, unbeknownst to her, has the ability to destroy entire worlds through her ability to enter other's dreams.

Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, uses Rose's ability to attract dreams to find four entities of the dream world that escaped to the living world and are causing great damage on their own. Behind it all is Morpheus's gender-fluid sibling Desire, who has been trying to bring down their stuffy older brother for thousands of years.

Also included is a great stand-alone issue where Dream and Death give a mortal man immortality as an experiment to see if he will retain a passion for life. Dream visits him on the same date and at the same English tavern every 100 years to catch up.

This collection was much more realized than the previous volume. Rose Walker was a fully fleshed out character, and Morpheus's escaped nightmare, The Corinthian, was a fantastic, merciless villain. The convention of serial killers at which he is the keynote speaker was a darkly funny and deeply disturbing satire of comic book conventions. The volume hints at further shenanigans between Dream, Death, Desire, Despair and the rest of their siblings. Sign me up for the next volume! ( )

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The Sandman: The Doll’s House collects issues 9-16 of The Sandman. I read the German translation by Gerlinde Althoff.

Content Note: child abuse, mention of rape

Plot:
Back in his realm, Dream discovers that four of his creations have used his absence to escape and are now threatening the human world. There is also another threat to humanity that stems from his absence: a dream vortex that Dream’s siblings, twins Desire and Despair want to use – against Dream himself. Meanwhile on Earth, Rose Walker and her mother Miranda meet Unity Kincaid, one of the first victims of the sleeping sickness that occured when Dream was captured, and learn of their connection with her.

After the a bit bumpy, albeit creative and promising start with Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll’s House is a much smoother continuation of The Sandman’s story, and an interesting one at that. I really enjoyed it.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2023/02/14/the-sandman-the-dolls-house-neil-gaiman-mike-dr... ( )