The Sandman: Fables & Reflections (1993)

Probably the weakest collection since the first one. Yet, two stories really stood out for me. The one in Rome with Caesar Augustus, because the story was so damn good. And then there was the last one in the collection, with the best art of the entire Sandman series so far, by the incomparable P. Craig Russell. As far as I'm concerned, he drew the definitive Sandman.

Still a good collection, but nothing that truly moved the Sandman mythos forward all that much. ( )

The fonts varied quite a bit in this collection and I found some of them difficult to read. The palette of colours was quite different in the final story, Ramadhan, very bright primary colours like illustrations in a children's story. The longest story, The Song of Orpheus, was also the one I liked best, sticking for the most part to the myth as it has come down to us. ( )

Death was a little older than Dream. Things had the potential to die before they had the potential to dream.

The Endless are so fascinating. As it this story.

It's rather a grabbag, somewhat less directly related than preious compilations, but really, that works as well. Especially in such a broad universe as is Sandman.

Of particular interest, we have an Emperor spending a day as a common man, Marco Polo in a desert of dreams, another Emperor--this time of the United States[^sf], and another take on the myth of Orpheus[^hades].

A fun read.

Many many spoilery pictures;



The changes of the art style are odd sometimes. And the idea of falling in dream.



Joshua Norton, EMPEROR OF THE UNITED STATES.



You know. It works. It's sort of like a few in the Bible and otherwise, with various temptations. But he's Emperor--and a pretty good one, all things considered.



You know, I fully expected to see said 36 after this. That's quite the closeup of Death.



Ah Death. She's got a light touch and seems pretty good at the whole job. I guess she's been doing it for a very long time...



A head. That is all.



Listen, blood of my blood. Although I'm a hard man to anger, and I love you deeply, if you interrupt me again so help me I'll rip out your throat with my teeth.

You know... I feel that sometimes.



The Emperor spending time as a begger and learning about family. It's quite a story.



All because of a dream.



Trying to figure out exactly who's real and who's a dream--and if a dream, just how self aware are they anyways--is a fun job in these stories. Especially when they get all timeywimey and circular.



Heh. Fiddler's Green is weird but a lot of fun. And a few 'soft places'. A neat idea, worth exploring just for that.



Son of Morpheus, son of Dream. I don't think that's how it worked in the myths I'm familiar with, but it fits.



Hilarious. Just... hilarious.

[^sf]: I lived in the Bay Area for a few years. We learned all about this wonderful man and his story. It's fun to hear it done well.

[^hades]: I've been playing a lot of Hades. Another interesting take on a story I once knew. I don't think he'll be getting ahead in this one though. ( )

Volume 6 of 10 in the Sandman series, this volume ties together all of the books. I didn't realize it when I read it the first time, but it is perfectly placed in the middle, recalling themes and stories from the first 5 volumes, and foreshadowing what is to come.

It is a set of 8 individual stories, all tied together by dreams and Morpheus and the larger story of the series. Some are great and completely self-contained (Ramadan and Soft Places), and others serve the purpose of unifying the big story (Orpheus and Thermidor). They are all good, and while it might seem like an interlude in the greater story, it is essential reading for the Sandman series. ( )

I enjoyed the retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Also, li'l Death and li'l Morpheus? dawwwwwwwwww. ( )