Customer Rating: 
Summary: One of the best in the series!
Comment: To me, this is one of the best volumes in the series. It's a collection of eight separate stories of varying lengths, almost all with an historical connection. (To more or less real people, that is.) And there's no frame story for a change. "Three Septembers and a January" is a lovely piece about Emperor Norton, the deluded mascot of San Francisco for several decades in the 19th century, while "Thermidor" is a somewhat less successful piece about Lady Johanna Constantine and her search for the living head of Orpheus (who is also the son of Dream). Much later in the volume (oddly placed) is "Orpheus," about how he lost his bride and then his head. "The Hunt" is about werewolves, sort of, and it's cute but kind of a minor work. "August" is a fascinating and well-conceived story about the first Roman emperor's habit of going out into the city in disguise one day a year, just to think. "Soft Places" is an okay story about a lost Marco Polo's meeting in the desert with Fiddler's Green. "The Parliament of Rooks" is about Cain and Abel and a visiting Eve telling stories to a small child -- again, not that great, except for Eve's own story about Adam's three women. Finally, "Ramadan," a near-masterpiece about Haroun al-Rashid, with artwork by P. Craig Russell reminiscent of Little Nemo. It's literally a flying carpet story about the sultan and his golden city of Baghdad -- and there's a jarring ending that will bring you back to the present in a hurry.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Graphic SF Reader
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gaiman continues to amaze
Comment: In this handful of only barely connected stories, Gaiman does what he does best, he tells a damn good story. While not furthering any particular storyline, he portrays his fellow man in all his nobility, pettiness, glory, and malice, and all things in between, in ways only Gaiman can.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ...and then I realize I am not alone...
Comment: 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 *****
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good, as always.
Comment: Neil Gaiman, Sandman: Fables and Reflections (DC Comics, 1999)
Once again, we have a book of nine unconnected short graphic stories that touch on the Sandman in some way. As usual, both the quality of the writing and the art is superb; the whole team was pretty much above reproach by the time they got this far in the series.
The strongest of the stories, "The Hunt," shows both Gaiman and the illustrative team at the peaks of their powers. Thankfully, the majority of the book is of this quality. When it dips ("Fear of Falling," the closest thing to a throwaway piece that's been seen in Sandman's world to date), it does so only briefly, and we get back to the good stuff.
As always, well worth your time. ****
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