Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections, The Sandman

One of many things that separated Neil Gaiman's Sandman from other comic book characters is that the foreboding but likable king of dreams has existed since the beginning of time and is supposed to be an archetype common to all cultures. Gaiman was free to visit any time and place he wanted to. However, he set all of Sandman's long story arches in the present. Tales from ancient Rome or Elizabethan England were limited to single issue stories bordering bigger epics. Fables and Reflections, placed sixth in the Sandman library, collects most of these.
Another thing that separates Fables from other Sandman volumes is that it is a hodgepodge. These stories are from different points in the series' development and are collected here only because there is no other place for them. Due to this, Fables and Reflections is hit-or-miss. It contains some of Sandman's best moments and some of its worst.
The collection starts off on a high note "Three Septembers and a January." The story shows the role of Sandman's family in the life of Joshua Norton, a San Francisco man who declared himself emporer of the United States in 1859. The story features terribly underdeveloped versions of Sandman's family (Despair talks like some Spiderman villain) but Gaiman's treatment of Norton (a real life person) is funny, heartfelt and wholly entertaining.
In the next story, "Thermidor," Sandman hires Johanna Constantine, an ancestor of John Constantine of the DC series Hellblazer, for a rescue mission during Revolution-era France. Sandman's occasional overlapping into other DC series is usually awkward and this is no exception.
After that is "The Hunt," in which an old man annoys his teenage granddaughter (and readers) with a banal fairy tale about a savage who finds one of Sandman's lost books.
Next is "August," in which Sandman instructs the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, to spend a day disguised as a beggar. This story does not have the depth Gaiman obviously intended for it.
The duds keep coming with "Soft Places," in which explorer Marco Polo finds a desert oasis where space, time and reality loose their meanings. The tale crumples into postmodern mush.
Fables picks up again with "Song of Orpheus," which positions the Sandman mythos in ancient Greece for a haunting retelling of the myth of Orpheus.
Fables' sole present day story, "Parliament of Rooks," is another winner. The tale sheds light of three denizens of Sandman's realm: the sadistic Cain, the stuttering Abel and the reclusive Eve, all of whom may or may not be the actual Biblical figures (as the story says, "the mystery endures, not the explanation"). Each character in the dream realm is half deeply symbolic specter and half twisted Disney character. In this story, Gaiman maximizes both their poignancy and their comedic value.
The last story is "Ramadan," in which a king of ancient Baghdad becomes bored with riches, sex and opulence and considers making a deal with Sandman. This issue is justly considered one of the series' best. Gaiman's ability to assimilate the story-telling traditions of other cultures is always amazing and the illustrator's cities and castles are gorgeous. Add in lush computerized coloring and you have an extraordinary comic book.
Because of its inconsistency, Fables and Reflections is a low point in the Sandman library (most volumes are wholly excellent). Yet some of these tales represent Sandman at its best so, for true aficionados, Fables and Reflections is a reluctant must.

Being a series of stories about stories, Sandman translates from comics to short-story format exceedingly well. All of the tales contained in this volume are worth reading. The only complaint that I have is that most of them rehash the background and description of the Endless and their realms, which can get repetitive when you read through the book quickly.

Like the title, never been much for comics. I always thought that they were boring and unrealistic. The adventures of muscle bound freaks with ungodly amounts of testerstrone was the very last thing I wanted to read.

But lo and behold, here was a comic series that had substance and a story beyond heroics. Neil Gaiman can really craft a story and the artwork was fascinatingly beautiful. The characters were great. I loved how Gaiman drew from mythology to tell his story.

All I can say about this series, is give me the next volume.

This collection of curated stories about the Sandman universe are very hit and miss. The best stories could work as stand-alones, disconnected from the Sandman link and still hold their own. Sadly many of the writers seem to have a tenuous grasp on the characters and universe they are writing about, which results in a lot of out of character behaviour and terrible forced dialogue. Not bad for the price if you're into short stories, but if you're looking for the proper Sandman flavour you're not going to find it here.

Vol. 6: My favourite of the Sandman series so far.

At times I have nearly given up on the Sandman series, despite the rave critical reviews and the genius tags imputed to Neil Gaiman. But this is the volume where all the raves are justified. There is nothing of the random nightmare scenarios that I didn't enjoy as much earlier in the series, there aren't the `adult' discourses - rather it is a sometimes-straightforward but often original retelling of the myths, histories and fables we grew up with, and if we didn't then this is a good place to remedy the shortage; and some new ones altogether.

"Fear of Falling" makes a succinct and non-didactic case of keeping on going when fear tells you to stop. "Three Septembers and a January" tells the tale of the first and last emperor of the USA - a character and story I had never encountered before, but which Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson have written about - about a likeable fellow named Joshua Norton. The lashings of the Eternal in the story makes this Neil Gaiman's own. I like the way Death at the end says to Mr. Norton, "I've met a lot of kings and emperors and heads of state in my time, Joshua. I've met them all. And you know something? I think I liked you the best." So did I.

In "Thermidor" Neil Gaiman creates a Lady Johanna Constantine to weave in the story of the French Revolution and the story of Orpheus from Greek fable. It is so interesting that I thought that the character may have been real, with a fairy-tale element added to it as Mr. Gaiman so often does. One of my favourite was "The Hunt" and I was as rapt as when I used to read fairy tales and myths as a child. I waited for the punishment of Vassily for turning his back on his father, for trusting the old gypsy and for daring to love a princess. That my assumptions were turned on their head left me fascinated.

"August" was disturbing and I couldn't find any verification of the acts ascribed to Julius Caesar. "Soft Places" - where in the deserts one dreams or goes into deliriums - is a good way of invoking why the Lord of Dream, Morpheus, comes to be. It is more creation of fable rather than rehashing.

"The Song of Orpheus" was too much of a retelling without much originality, however, it did set me on the path to read the myth. "The Parliament of Rooks" was fascinating - all the amazing detail! "Ramadan" was in my view a little didactic. The excesses of Baghdad could not fail to be punished. I am surprised that Mr. Gaiman wrote it in his current climate of writing it - and bravo! Very fun book to read.

Clearly, I expected a little too much from this particular Sandman graphic novel. Flicking through and considering the wildly beautiful artwork for stories like 'Ramadan', I imagined 'Fables and Reflections' to be the serie's finest point.
The notion of the work is an excellent one. Nine stories, each completed by different artists and each portraying a historical event with a little Sandman twist.
However, the execution of the work leaves a little to be desired. For the most part, the stories are anti-climatic, slow and irrelevent. Perhaps the only pieces that can stand alone are the whimisical 'The Hunt' and the tale of lost love, 'Orpheus'. Elsewhere, there is little of Gaiman's usual originality to be found.
'Fables and Reflections' is clearly not a great starting point for delving into The Sandman. I would, however, recommend 'Seasons of Mist', 'Brief lives' and 'The Kindly ones.'

Although he doesn't really need to, Gaimain keeps innovating his Sandman novels in new an interesting ways. This work, moreso than any piece proceeding it, feels like a larger collaborations of writers and themes, a series of different dreams, if you will. As a Grecophile, it's also really exciting to see a new relationship develop, between the Sandman and... his son.

I must say that this book was a surprise when I read it. This was the first short story collection of the Sandman series that I encountered and I fell in love with it. It was amazing to see the size of the canvas upon which Gaiman's ultimate work could be laid: here we had his characters encountering the mythical, the historical, and all spaces in between to give us tales that I'll never forget. I really enjoyed this volume of the Sandman, and there's even a little foreshadowing in the story about the first and last Emperor of America story about what is going to soon happen in the actual Sandman continuity. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Sandman, history and myth, or just a damn good story!

This is essential to the plot developments in the Sandman series. However, I didn't think this is the best volume. The illustration work is steady and the characters partake in the usual brilliant Gaiman dialogue, but the at the end I was kind of satisfied without being overly enthusiastic.

An average-to-good collection of short Sandman stories. My two favorites: "Escape Artist" by Caitlin Kiernan, while not technically perfect, is touching and memorable; "Ain't You 'Most Done" by Gene Wolfe represents the Dreaming as it's really like -- no German Expressionist tilting dark walls and Hollywood special effects, but real life gone just a little bit... different. Very well done.

A bunch of little short stories that somehow involve Dream of the Endless. A bunch of dreams, stories of emperors, and a bunch of other stuff. This one's very disconnected, but always it comes back to how Dream was involved.

Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer and it is because of his stories about "The Sandman" that I became a comic book fan. If you can suspend belief and open your mind to the realm of imagination, you can step into the world that Mr. Gaiman created revolving around the King of Dreams. The entire series of the Sandman will leave you riveted and wanting more. Take the time to explore the realm of dreams and you will not be disappointed!

Considering the quality and creativity that were displayed in the sandman comics I expected this book to be a real stand out. Unfortunately almost all of the stories were retread formulatic snoozers.
Maybe I expected too much from the book but I couldn't, in good faith, recommend the hardcover to anyone. If you must have it wait a few months until it is discounted to under $5.

This is a really very cool book, although you need a fair bit of the Sandman background for it all to make sense - I first read it when I'd only read the 'The Kindly Ones' sequence and some of it went over my head. Then I got the rest and suddenly quite a lot of things became clear...
It loses a star cause there's no actual Gaiman stories (although his comments at the start of each book are nearly as interesting as the stories - 'what Gandalf's rock'n rolling younger brother would look like if he were secretly a pirate' is a truly funky description for anyone).
For me the best are the Barbara Hambly, 'Stopp'd Clock Yard' and the 'Ain't you the most done' stories - the collection does veer pretty wildly between cool, cute 'n funky and seriously weird / sick.... Depends what you like. Like the comics, don't let children read it.

This is a very diverse collection of authors writing about my favorite story of all time, Dream of the Family Endless. The different authors don't bother trying to mimic Neil Gaiman's style or vision. That would be a waste of time. Instead each tells their story in their own way, offering a very enjoybable alternative to The Sandman.

This was an extraordinary book. I loved all the stories and their characters. I especially enjoyed Stronger Than Desire, Each Damp Thing, Extra Smidgen of Eternity, and The Writer's Child. :) And the afterword by TORI AMOS made me love this book even more!

A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES RATHER LIKE "DREAM COUNTRY" WHERE THERE IS NO GRAND PLOT LINE RUNNING THROUGHOUT. OTHER THAN THE PLOT LINE FOR THE SERIES AS A WHOLE, AND THATS PLOT LINE ENOUGH FOR ANYONE, ALL THE STORIES ANSWER QUESTIONS AND CREATE NEW ONES. HAVING READ THE ENTIRE SERIES I KEEP REREADING ALL THE SANDMAN NOVELS AND WONDERING IF GAIMAN PLANNED IT ALL FROM THE BEGINING OR IF HE LET THE STORY TELL ITSELF AS THE SERIES RAN. EITHER WAY IF YOU ARE LOOKING HARD ENOUGH YOU CAN SEE ANSWERS TO ONIEROS' DECISION IN THE "KINDLY ONES" \. NEIL IF YOU READ THIS----THANK YOU

ARG. I hate starting reviews with this word, but I am beginning to question the value of this series as it continually jumps from conscious storytelling to short, uneventful stories that do not involve the infamous Sandman at all. I just finished reading the sixth volume in this series, and my mind is still traveling the ups and downs of the rollercoaster. Not to dissect the rest of the books again, I just want complete storytelling. I want to Gaiman (whom I adore) to develop further the world of Sandman without intermingling these short stories throughout the work. I realize that these stories were written many years ago, but they are still as captivating today as they were in the early 90s, but I just hate the idea of going from a story where the entire structure is built around the Sandman or about a singular group of characters, to this drivel where one story is based off history and the complex stories that we once were familiar with get a new face. "Fables & Reflections" felt like it was trying to be smarter than the reader, and why I think the short stories that Gaiman likes to intermingle between the more developed storyline are his weakest element yet.

The stories themselves could not stand alone, but coupled with the name "Sandman", they seem to garnish some great remarks. Personally, I had trouble with the opening stories, but did begin to find some value in those that concluded the collection. The beginning story about the Emperor of the United States started strong, but by the center and final conflict, I was diminishing. I didn't care about this character and his brief run-ins with famous historical figures. This is exactly why I feel that the collection was trying to be smarter than the reader. Here you have this possibly "mad" character that is telling Mark Twain what he should be doing next ... to me this wasn't striking me as original! Next on the list was the story of the werewolf discovering his true love - again, another ramshackled story that began with some originality, but lost speed as the story progressed. The interruptions by the granddaughter learning about her heritage were annoying and all together not clever at all. Then, we are led, nearly by hand, into my least favorite stories of the series thus far - the destiny of Orpheus. Finally we have the opportunity to see what we all came to see, Sandman's family, but the story is almost a derivative of modern day Soap Operas in that you have this hidden affair, the son that wants nothing to do with his father, and a head that seems to stay alive throughout the ages. I think we can all see this on Tuesday afternoon "story" time, can't we? Thankfully, Gaiman proves to us that he is worth the pages that I bought with two of my favorite stories in this series, the first was "Parliament of Rooks" and the other was the finale entitled, "Ramadan". "Ramadan" seemed to give me goose bumps with the current situation of the world in Baghdad, but really was a powerful story of memories and truthfulness. "Parliament of Rooks" was zany and added yet another nook on the "smarter than the reader" element, but this time it was subtle. I liked the story because it answered a question, its delivery was crisp, and the characters were flamboyant enough to enjoy! Alas, these final two stories could not compete with the disastrous opening.

Overall, I must admit that this is my least favorite collection of the series. It ranks right behind "Dream Country" because I am not a fan of the sub-stories that Gaiman likes to engulf his avid readers with. I would like to clarify, because I wouldn't mind sub-stories involving further the Sandman or his immediate family, but these random ones likes "August" just seem to lessen the pace of the book and create heaviness in the eyes. This was not the type of storytelling that I initially began with this series, and I do not want it to be transformed into it. I found myself on a plane reading this book slowly chanting to myself, "I want Sandman. I want Sandman", but alas, could not find him at all. Gaiman needs to rediscover his roots and bring us back to the character that we all fell in love with in "Preludes & Nocturnes" and perhaps even bring back some old DC villains to make his point even clearer. I love this series, don't get me wrong, but Gaiman knows how to get under my skin with these short stories. While I want to love each one of them, I just find them slow, distracting, and unappealing to the reader that was first involved with Sandman from the beginning. I want to be a part of his world, and while I know these stories represent his world, I just don't need it. It is like eating a big meal hours before Thanksgiving. You have been looking forward to that turkey for weeks, why spoil your meal now?

All I can say is this, and I ask other readers of this series to do the same. I am not complete, and I am about to jump into "Brief Lives", but have cracked the graphic novel with these words on my lips:

"I WANT SANDMAN"

"I WANT SANDMAN"

Grade: *** out of *****

The best of the Sandman series. This book has nicer artwork than "The Kindly Ones" and the individual stories are more satisfying, especially "Thermidor," a great history lesson in and of itself. If you are interested in comics, you can't go wrong with this book.

This is perhaps the least interesting of the Sandman volumes so far, with each issue a different story of someone affected in one way or another by The Sandman. Even directly, in the case of Orpheus, his son, and his refusal to take any advice from any of The Endless. Stories of Ramadan, Caeasar, and even Lyta Hall's son Daniel being told a story in the House of Secrets.

So far I have read 1 to 6 in this series.And each time I have found a connection with my life.Each time I read ,I forget my existence in this world, find myself one of the dreams.Each time I learn something,I remember something,I dream something...

Neil is really good,he combines his knowledge of history,myths,art,language with his imagination so well.I like most of the comics,but this is special ,you can enjoy X-men or Spiderman,but you can never ever compare it with sandman.Let the lord of dreams welcome you.Let him come in to your dreams :)

I bought this book as an ebook for my smartphone. Planning to use the Kindle app. It is not possible to read it with this app as it is not possible to zoom in on the pictures. I have read several of the other in this series but then in paper and loved them. But buying electronically for my phone was a waste of money.