false 330166 0 0 25102 1563890933 9781563890932 95 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184495538m/25102.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25102.The_Sandman_Vol_5_A_Game_of_You 4.44 6126 A Game of You to confound the issue even more, while at the same time standing as a fine example of such a description. This is not an easy book. The characters are dense and unique, while their observations are, as always with Gaiman, refreshingly familiar. Then there's the plot, which grinds along like a coffee mill, in the process breaking down the two worlds of this series, that of the dream and that of the dreamer. Gaiman pushes these worlds to their very extremes--one is a fantasy world with talking animals, a missing princess, and a mysterious villain called the Cuckoo; the other is an urban microcosm inhabited by a drag queen, a punk lesbian couple, and a New York doll named Barbie. In almost every way this book sits at 180 degrees from the earlier four volumes of the Sandman series--although the less it seems to belong to the series, the more it shows its heart. --Jim Pascoe]]> 1221698 4.13 284441 26325 264213 4.45 23071 447 430044 4.44 12281 177 321799 4.43 69807 1641 330166 4.43 12142 192 24604 4.40 13256 235 61983 4.49 12916 229 81221 4.47 25137 476 25106 1563891069 9781563891069 72 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167577137m/25106.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25106.The_Sandman_Vol_6_Fables_and_Reflections 4.46 5848
Three other issues appearing in Fables and Reflections, published as the Convergence story "arc", are also single-issue short stories in which Morpheus appears very little. Each of these issues details various characters' meetings with one another, and each is structured as a story within a story (this is a theme to which Gaiman will return in the Worlds' End arc). "Convergence" appeared between the "A Game of You" and "Brief Lives" story arcs.

The collection also includes the Sandman Special, retelling the Greek myth of Orpheus, and a brief piece from a Vertigo promotional comic.

Because Fables and Reflections partakes of so many elements, some believe it lacks the thematic or artistic consistency that is present even in the other short story collections. Perhaps in an effort to make these differences less apparent, DC has shuffled the issues in the volume instead of presenting them chronologically with "Distant Mirrors" at the front and "Convergence" at the back. Some readers may choose to read this volume cover-to-cover after "A Game of You", while others read individual stories in their place as originally published.

Due to its nature as a collection of short stories, Fables & Reflections is probably the least essential volume of the series in terms of the surface plot of The Sandman (with the exception of "Orpheus"), but perhaps the most accessible as the reader can dip in and out without needing a thorough grounding in the characters and previous stories. That said, some of the stories in Fables and Reflections provide key subtext that is invaluable to the close reader attempting to understand Morpheus' motivations in the rest of the series.]]> 1221698 4.13 284441 26325 2896679 4.46 5849 72 92725 4.46 17579 330 2568404 4.45 11291 139 55811 4.30 26726 923 9931 4.42 13641 392 723222 4.43 6153 110 321799 4.43 69807 1641 38328 4.36 21441 811 430044 4.44 12281 177 81221 4.47 25137 476 264213 4.45 23071 447 330166 4.43 12142 192 93330 140120497X 9781401204976 21 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171253746m/93330.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93330.Thessaly_Witch_for_Hire 3.28 149 12444 4.12 26797 1994 330166 4.43 12142 192 3351162 2845383681 9782845383685 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3351162.Spider_Man_tome_1_La_derni_re_chasse_de_Kraven 0.0 0 50040 3.78 1257 128 330166 4.43 12142 192