The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones (1996)

I'm not much of a Neil Gaiman fan; I struggled through "American Gods" and was appreciative of "Stardust," but I don't actively seek out his works like some do. I'd had a few quotes from this volume of the Sandman floating around my computer for a couple of years, so when I was browsing the graphic novel collection at the library, I decided I should really give it a try. I was a little unsure about picking up #9 without having read any of the others, but a glance at the back cover indicated "these books can be read in order or as individual volumes," so I went with it.

Graphic novels aren't a genre that I tend to read, so it always takes me a little while to adapt to the visual format, and this was no exception. Although it initially did feel like being dropped into the middle of a story, I was able to pick up the threads and follow the arc of this particular volume.

Everything has a tragic, mythic, fantastical feel to it despite the sometimes modern settings. Having read this, I am interested in reading the previous volumes, although they are still a little outside my preferred reading genres. ( )

This one is probably the one that I love the most, but not because of the quick pace, the literary references, the art, or the final act. Or maybe it's because (or not because) of all of it.

No spoilers, but the furies can be a real bitch, and so is their puppet.

Then again, who's really pulling the strings?

This one brought me to tears both times I read it. It sneaks up on you. Even when you know it's coming from the previous volume's foreshadowing, it still sneaks up on you and you expect something else to occur and yet... it was always to be, wasn't it?

Fuck you, Destiny.
Fuck you to hell.

Oh my. I might be getting a little carried away with my emotions a little. ( )

I hereby declare Sandman a part of me; so whoever loves Sandman loves me.


Wasn't it really inevitable, that the story of Dream had to end this way? I knew what was coming at every step I took towards the end of the story, and yet I read on.

And Gaiman didn't disappoint. It was not some grand battle, it was like how a fire dies, little by little till you cannot remember where.

Still, I loved the little moments of artistry, where the writing touches your heart and kills you at the same time. It was like being granted love and having it taken away - it's hard on you but, you would go through it all over again.
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The ninth in the Sandman series gathers a number of threads, some started as far back as the second book in the series, and brings them to a conclusion. Morpheus is a stubborn character, someone who is not always prepared to compromise, and sometimes makes difficult choices. Characters from earlier books, including Hippolyta Hall, three witches, a Norse god and Thessaly are determined to settle those grudges
But there is a cohesive and separate storyline in the book too. A child is taken, and the mother thinks it is Morpheus and is set on destroying him. She turns to two ladies, The Kindly Ones, who she persuades to help her in this quest. Faced with the greatest challenge in his life, Morpheus confronts his foes and fears from a high and desolate peak surrounded and may have to make the greatest sacrifice yet.

"It's never what they want, and if we give them what they think they want, they like it less than ever."

The longest so far of the books, this is follows in the same vein as the last couple in the series, in that it has a set of stories that all hang together. Still dark though, but this time with an intensity and sinister and other worldly elements that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Sadly the artwork was not up to the quality of the previous books, not totally sure why, just lacked the detail. Other than that great book.
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https://www.astridterese.no/2015/03/26/the-sandman-volume-9-the-kindly-ones-av-n... ( )