The Sandman, Vol. 3

Jul 17, 2012 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Earlier, when I reviewed The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch, I said that I wished more of Gaiman's short stories could be adapted in graphic novel form. Dream Country fills that wish a bit; rather than being part of the storyline started in the first two Sandman volumes, this compilation contains four single-issue stories. All four stories demonstrated once again that Gaiman is a master of the short story, and even though I'm not a cat person, I was very fond of the dreaming ki...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Airiz C rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, graphic-novel, horror, my-favorites, mythology, paranormal, surreal, science-fiction, gaimanic-disorder, the-sandman-catalog

The Sandman graphic novels are a myriad of styles in themselves: Preludes and Nocturnes cemented the foundation of the whole series, introducing us to Morpheus, the axis where this fictional universe rotates; The Dolls House proved how Gaiman can masterfully weave a story of mortals thrown in a mythology. In Dream Country, Gaiman gives us a quartet of stand-alone short stories—Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Façade. While Sandman takes a backseat again in this...more The Sandman graphic novels are a myriad of styles in themselves: Preludes and Nocturnes cemented the foundation of the whole series, introducing us to Morpheus, the axis where this fictional universe rotates; The Dolls House proved how Gaiman can masterfully weave a story of mortals thrown in a mythology. In Dream Country, Gaiman gives us a quartet of stand-alone short stories—Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Façade. While Sandman takes a backseat again in this volume, Gaiman used him as a significant role-player in the first three stories.\

In “Calliope”, Gaiman meshed ancient Greece and the modern times in a generic “be careful what you wish for” story. Richard Madoc, a novelist, is struggling from a very bad case of writer’s block for almost a year now. Fraught as he is by his bosses, he gets himself a trichonobezoar, a ball of hair found in the stomach of a girl who has Rapunzel syndrome or a disorder where she compulsively eats her own hair; it is believed to be an elixir of sorts by many. He trades this thing to an old writer named Erasmus Fry for the muse Calliope—yes, THAT Calliope—and begins to abuse her, getting ideas in the process. I take this sick story as a metaphorical representation of how greedy and desperate people can be just to be successful, and I commend Gaiman for giving the readers this spot-on reflection. The tale’s premise might not be entirely original, but the author took a perfect angle to tell it. Instead of zeroing in on Madoc’s, the spotlight is on Calliope. In this issue another failed love story is hinted at, this time between Calliope and Oneiros (Morpheus’ Greek name), and a story about their son that will be told in the next installments. “Calliope” also shows how his long-time incarceration changed Morpheus, in that he forgives Calliope for their bitter past.

“A Dream of a Thousand Cats” is a bizarrely adorable fable about a cat who seeks justice and understanding about the cruelty of her owners, and she goes to the Cat of Dreams (yes, Morpheus—dreaming felines see him as a feline as well). This story shows how powerful Morpheus is: he is the Dream King not only of humans but of all other living things too. Most of all, it shows how potent a dream can be, in a sense that it can bring change in the world. :)

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, as you may have guessed, includes William Shakespeare. Morpheus overhears the playwright bellyaching about not having enough inspiration (seems like writer’s block is a recurring theme in this series, eh?). He makes a bargain with Shakespeare: in exchange of inspiration, the latter should write him two plays. The first is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which Morpheus will give as a present to the king and queen of Faerie. This is not my favorite in this little compendium, but I liked it just the same, having a link to a scene presented to the readers in The Doll’s House. It promises more links in the future, and I quite like the buildup.

Please forgive my bias but for me, the last story, “Façade”, takes the cake because Death (my favorite Endless) is here. :p Plus it features another awesome DC universe superheroine, Element Girl. Urania “Ranie” Blackwell becomes a metamorphae—a shape-shifter of sorts that can alter the chemical composition of her body—after coming in contact with the Orb of Ra. It’s a gift more than a curse; she tries changing her face into flesh, but it smells like rotten meat so she settles for silicate. It reduces Ranie into a pariah, and she wants to die to end her suffering. Death doesn’t actually come to the rescue—she’s just passing by—but she is able to help Ranie find her peace anyway.

As a whole it’s a wonderful compilation. It’s amazing how Gaiman can use his mythology to produce other tales and at the same time giving us a glimpse of more sides of the Endless through the new tales.
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Apr 08, 2013 Alex Ristea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, graphic-novel, series, library, read-2013, trade-paperback

Wow. I'm glad I started reading The Sandman again.

Dream Country is the shortest of the series (I believe), comprised of four short stories. Take note of that before you get frustrated that none of the issues are part of a larger arc, like I did.

I'm still curious where this whole series is going, but this volume fleshed out the world a bit more, and is getting me to think about what I think the author thinks I should think about.

The artwork in this volume blew me away again. A perfect combination...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Dante rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, graphic-novel, imaginative-lit, comic, fantasy

This is certain: Neil Gaiman has a very dark and weird imagination.

I love the artwork, but I'm not comfortable with weirdness right now.

Still, I find the stories very interesting.

This volume contains only four stories, and they are not related with each other or with the general plot of Sandman:

Calliope (#17)
A Dream of a Thousand Cats (#18)
Midsummer Night's Dream (#19)
Facade (#20)

In Calliope, a writer enslaves a muse in order to write great novels, poems, and plays.

In A Dream of a Thousand Cats,...more

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Jul 18, 2008 Karyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels

I'm not at all a fan of graphic novels/stories, and will probably never read one again. But. One of my creative writing students loves sci fi and is super smart and really wanted me to read this book so I could get a sense of the writing she admires. So I did. (Also, Tori Amos mentions Gainman in a song on one of her early albums, one of the two that came out when I was in high school and still worshiped her.) Dream Country is smart, creepy, complex, moving, and well-imagined. I enjoyed the play...more

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May 06, 2008 Dave Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

so, this, of course, is the third in the Sandman series. this had a different flow and feel to it. i think it was because this graphic novel doesnt really follow the main character of the series. this is almost a book of side stories. it didnt have the brutally honest candor and dark undertones that the first two had. in that respect, i liked it better, since i could read it and not worry about debating within my own mind whether or not to continue on, reading such a dark novel. but the fact tha...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Deslni01 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, graphic, novel, comic, vertigo

The third Sandman volume, Dream Country is a collection of short stories following the Doll's House arc. While there is no overarching story arc in the collection, there is of course a sense of relevance as each part develops the Sandman's universe and other characters - especially his sister, Death, in the final part.[return][return]Included with the set is an interest bonus - a copy of the script for one of the parts (Calliope). Neil introduces is as merely an example of one script, for one is...more

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Mar 04, 2009 CuriousLibrarian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, best-reads-2009

This is a volume with three brilliant stories and one mediocre one. So I give it a 4.5. The last story keeps me from giving it a 5. I know there is still plenty more Sandman to go, but this will continue to rank as one of my favorites whatever comes in the future volumes.

I don't like to do spoilery reviews, but I don't see how I could review this one without them. So I guess I'll be vague instead.

"Calliope" - The creepiest and most disturbing story I've seen Gaiman do. Not least because there's...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading three volumes of "The Sandman" out of sequence, I've gone back to reading the Sandman Library in order of publication, rather than according to which volumes catch my interest-such as "Endless Nights", which appealed to me simply because of the premise ( a reunion, of sorts, of the Endless after several years.)

Do the volumes of "The Sandman" need to be read sequentially? For the most part, I think not, especially as we are dealing with dreams, here! (For instance, I'm pretty sure t...more After reading three volumes of "The Sandman" out of sequence, I've gone back to reading the Sandman Library in order of publication, rather than according to which volumes catch my interest-such as "Endless Nights", which appealed to me simply because of the premise ( a reunion, of sorts, of the Endless after several years.)

Do the volumes of "The Sandman" need to be read sequentially? For the most part, I think not, especially as we are dealing with dreams, here! (For instance, I'm pretty sure the vision of a funeral procession in Volume 8, "World's End", represented an event that had not yet happened.) But for future reference I will try to read the volumes in order.

In "Calliope", the first of the four stories that makes up this collection, an old codger named Erasmus Fry says "All writers are liars,". According to Gaiman, they must also be sexist pigs, at least as far as this story is concerned. The only thing that pardons the young writer's behavior-at least, in his mind- is the belief that Calliope is not actually human. But, then again, neither is Morpheus...

The artwork, by Kelly Jones and Malcolm Jones III, was so reminiscent of Jones III's work in "Sleep of the Just" (from the first volume,) that it had me wondering if this was somehow a "lost" story from that time period. But no, the story takes place immediately after "The Doll's House", yet the parallels between the first Sandman story and this story are striking. Not least of which is that "Calliope" and "Sleep of the Just" both reveal Lord Morpheus' rather wicked sense of humor.

From the bold statement that "All writers are liars" we go to "A Midsummer Night's Dream", where Gaiman muses on the nature of truth, particularly truth in fiction. (Actually, it is the next-to-last story in the collection, but no matter, it serves as a good counterpoint to "Calliope") As the author explains, the "truth" of Shakespeare's play will last, long after the real events have faded away, and be all that anyone remembers. A sobering thought.

The Cat of Dreams in the second story, "Dream of a Thousand Cats" makes me think of Morpheus' other animal form, the Fox of Dreams in "The Dream Hunters". This is the only other story in the collection where Morpheus makes an appearance, as the last story, "Facade", is a showcase for his oldest sister.

In all these stories, "Midsummer's" is the one where Dream is given the most face-time, but "Calliope" is the only one where he exerts his power directly over Man. Of course, one might ask why Dream, or any of the Endless, as the embodiments of ideas, should be required to take an active role in any of the "Sandman" stories-rather, they should be seen hovering behind the scenes-in the sidelines, on the outskirts of reality.(less)

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Oct 21, 2012 Klytia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Il terzo volume della serie contiene quattro storie indipendenti dalla trama principale.
Le terre del sogno Incontriamo Calliope, la musa della poesia epica, secondo la tradizione mitologica. Calliope viene rapita da uno scrittore divenendone a tutti gli effetti la Musa ispiratrice e rendendolo quindi prolifico e famoso. Ma Calliope è stata è anche la madre di Orfeo, nato da una relazione con Morfeo, e sarà proprio lui a diventare il centro del destino del Signore dei Sogni.
Il Sogno di Mille Ga...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Ideasmith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The third Sandman novel is a collection of 4 short stories - 3 featuring Dream and 1 with Death.

'Calliope' tells of an imprisoned woman who just happens to be one of the Muses. Her captors are writers who abuse her for their own purposes. The story offers an uncomplimentary look into the writer's mind and to our world today where ideas and knowledge, instead of being venerated, are stolen and traded like commodities.

'A Dream of a thousand cats' offers an alternate history of our world and also t...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, 2012-books

While I really like this book, just as in Vol 2, Gaiman uses rape in a way that bothers me. It seems to me that while rape is depicted as wrong, is also not portrayed as wrong enough. The true emotional and spiritual violence is not portrayed. Of course every writer must tell their stories as they see them, and their cannot, and should not, be a prescribed way to write rape and violence. In no way am I trying to limit the readership for this book, or say that it shouldn't have been written. Inde...more While I really like this book, just as in Vol 2, Gaiman uses rape in a way that bothers me. It seems to me that while rape is depicted as wrong, is also not portrayed as wrong enough. The true emotional and spiritual violence is not portrayed. Of course every writer must tell their stories as they see them, and their cannot, and should not, be a prescribed way to write rape and violence. In no way am I trying to limit the readership for this book, or say that it shouldn't have been written. Indeed, I mostly like this book, and I mostly like the first comic about the muse, and it is in this comic that the rape occurs. It is just that I want writers to just be a bit more careful and conscious when using it as a literary tool. It is dangerous to portray rape as something every man might just be able to do without a second thought. That is a limiting and damaging view of men, and a scary message to be passing on to the readers of graphic novels.

Now, to be fair, the fact that the character rapes so easily is likely more meant to show how damaged he already was as a man that he could do that (because while he denies that it is really rape, since the Muse isn't a real woman, it is still so obviously rape), but I think Gaiman could have done a bit more work in showing us Madoc for the damaged man he already was, or the damage his actions wreak upon him. Again, I realize that Gaiman does do that, in his own way, and for the most part the book is mostly good and beautiful, with fun play with Shakespeare and the nature of truth and dreaming, and I even enjoyed the random interlude of a comic staring cats (this from a non-cat fan). And that particular first comic with the rape is mostly good, but yet it also bothers me. I'm not sure if it bothers me in of itself, or as just the accumulation of reading so much sex and violence in the last two, with all the serial killers and such in the last comic. I might just be violence saturated and need to take a break. I am, to be honest, bothered by every depiction of rape in literature, and feel that it comes far too often, and used far too easily by writers, and so I bring that view to Gaiman. Regardless, I have every intention of continuing this series, because the good outweighs the bad, I just hope that maybe Gaiman continues to mature as a writer as this series continues, and doesn't use rape as a short cut for evil. And I'll likely take a little break before I read Book 4.(less)

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Aug 06, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Sandman is a series of intense collaboration with many artists, but there is one permanent fixture in the creator Neil Gaiman. Gaiman, who happens to be one of the few authors in which his entire portfolio I admire and enjoy, is a storyteller that has risen to popularity in circles that transcend genre. He has written in just about every category and has maintained rich and complex storytelling throughout. And while this entry starts with my utmost respect and admiration of the author, I know ma...more Sandman is a series of intense collaboration with many artists, but there is one permanent fixture in the creator Neil Gaiman. Gaiman, who happens to be one of the few authors in which his entire portfolio I admire and enjoy, is a storyteller that has risen to popularity in circles that transcend genre. He has written in just about every category and has maintained rich and complex storytelling throughout. And while this entry starts with my utmost respect and admiration of the author, I know many readers do not like or understand many of Gaiman’s works. The Sandman series is perhaps the most prevalent example within these particular readers’ thoughts due to its very gritty, graphic, and collaborative nature as well as the fact that the series is a graphic text.
Throughout his career Gaiman has built a reputation for his very collaborative nature, not only with other writers and artists, but to his readers as well. For this entry I want to talk about the collaborative nature not only of the writer Neil Gaiman, but of the collaborative nature of many graphic texts.
In chapter 3 of “Making Comics” McCloud offers sound advice concerning collaboration when creating comics, in which the story the team creates will be at its “strongest if [it] feels like [it was] created with a single-minded purpose” (149). And McCloud warns creators of either the art or the writing trying to take over the text will only lead to a lacking creation for the reader. Taking McCloud’s advice into volume 3 of Sandman, “Dream Country” readers are able to see a variety of collaboration with the 4 short graphic stories combined into one volume.
For instance, in the award-winning “Midsummer’s Night Dream” we see artwork that is very different that the rest of the text. The artist’s choices of paneling, line, color, and overall style for the characters is a contrast to the other stories in the selection. To speak of one variation is the use of color. The artist uses a very different and more pastel palette than the other stories; this complements the tale and makes it more light-hearted and playful and very different than the choice of a dark color palette. Overall, the use of lighter colors works for this story, where they most likely wouldn’t in “façade” or “Calliope”.
For Gaiman, collaboration is one of his strongest qualities. Outside his writing he takes advantage of social media such as Tumblr to reach out to his readers and answer questions. This endears him to his fans and makes a stronger connection for the readers’ of his works. Also, In his prose he has worked with authors such as Terry Prachett to produce the book “Good Omens” and he utilizes, in Sandman, multiple artists to enhance the overall message and theme of the work. So, while Gaiman is a permanent fixture within the Sandman series, it might be his work with multiple artists that make the Sandman comics so worthwhile as Gaiman and his chosen artist work in tandem to create a piece that is compositionally strong and wroth holding esteem throughout a long period of time.
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Jul 23, 2012 Jade Kerrion rated it 5 of 5 stars

In general, I'm not a fan of short stories, but I'll admit, Gaiman does them exceedingly well. It helps, of course, that the short stories illuminate various facets of Dream and his elder sibling, Death.

In "Calliope," Dream proves he has changed and has learned to let go of implacable hatred when he saves a former lover, and the mother of his son, from imprisonment.

"A Dream of a Thousand Cats" leaves you wondering what power have dreams to change the world. It's a charming tale, and has made me...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Ronyell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-adventure, alternative-worlds, book-series, drama, fantasy, graphic-novels-comics, horror, mystery, neil-gaiman, read-in-2012, reviewed-books, strong-hero, surreal, vertigo-comics, young-adult-teen-books, world-fantasy-award, ronyell-s-epinions-reviews, my-blog-reviews

The more I read from Neil Gaiman’s popular “Sandman” series, the more interested I get in reading more about Dream and the other Endless characters! In the third volume of Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, “Dream Country,” we are introduced to more stories regarding Dream and his sister Death and we also get to read the World Fantasy Award-winning story, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

In this volume “Dream Country,” there are four stories that continue the adventures of Dream (or Morpheus) and his pr...more The more I read from Neil Gaiman’s popular “Sandman” series, the more interested I get in reading more about Dream and the other Endless characters! In the third volume of Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, “Dream Country,” we are introduced to more stories regarding Dream and his sister Death and we also get to read the World Fantasy Award-winning story, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

In this volume “Dream Country,” there are four stories that continue the adventures of Dream (or Morpheus) and his presence in the dream world:

Calliope – In this tale, a beautiful muse named Calliope is imprisoned by an author who wants to use her to get ideas for his novels.

A Dream of a Thousand Cats – In this tale, a cat relates her tragic tale about how humanity has treated her cruelly and how in her dreams, she discovers that cats were originally the rulers of the world and not mankind and how mankind later on came to power in the world.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – In this tale, Dream travels back in time to witness William Shakespeare’s famous play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” while inviting some “special” guests to the play.

Façade – In this tale, a young immortal woman who has a frightening appearance wishes to die and gets a special visit from Death herself!

Neil Gaiman clearly has a great handle on telling interesting stories set in surreal worlds. I love how in the “Sandman” series, the worlds are surreal and dark at the same time which provides for some really intriguing stories. My favorite stories in this volume are “Calliope” and “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” as the characters in both stories is interesting and the plots were truly fleshed out. I will admit that when I read “Calliope,” I was actually shocked at how the author in the story was willing to keep an innocent human being (or in this case a muse) locked up just to be famous for his inspirations in his writing and this story is a bit creepy to me also because of the idea of a human being locked up against their will. I really enjoyed “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” because it provided an interesting insight about how cats viewed humanity and how they wished that they were rulers of the world once again. The artwork of Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and Malcolm Jones III is brilliant and I loved the surreal and creepy qualities that each artist put into each story as it made the stories even more interesting. I also loved seeing the different styles that each artist put into each story as it matches with the surreal quality of this volume.

Like the first two “Sandman” stories, this volume does have some disturbing moments such as in the story “Calliope” where a muse is being locked up against her will and there is some violence in this volume such as in the story “A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” Also, the reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because even though I loved the first two stories in this volume, I felt that the last two stories in this volume “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Façade” were lacking action. I think that fans of William Shakespeare’s works would appreciate “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but I could never understand the language that goes into William Shakespeare’s works. Oh well, maybe I might understand his works in the future if I start reading his work for the pleasure of it. With the last story “Façade” I felt that this story was a bit too short and I wish that it went on longer since I was interested in the main character’s problem.

Overall, “The Sandman: Dream Country” is a great volume for fans who want to read a graphic novel interpretation on William Shakespeare’s works and who love reading Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, but the last two stories might bore readers who want more action.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog(less)

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Dec 18, 2011 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, graphic-novel, my-favorites, read-2011, series

Feeling lazy, I will let this review serve as my review of the entire series.
If you are at ALL interested in mythology, art, literature, dreams, how literature has changed in recent years, or just generally, big ideas, this series is for you! Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, loved by millions, and this is the series that helped him hone his writing chops.

If you're unfamiliar with the conceit of this series, allow me to fill you in. Dream, Morpheus, the Sandman (he's got several more names than...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Elena rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, urban-fantasy-paranormal, adult

Every time I read a volume of Sandman, I desperately hope I'll love it. Then I get a sinking feeling as I read and find myself bored and unimpressed, and I start to fear that someone is going to show up at my door and revoke my nerd card. Because everyone loves Sandman. You can't be a nerd without adoring this series, whether or not you like any other graphic novel series. I...do not adore this series.

It seemed like it took me ages to get through the Midsummer Night's Dream section of this book...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Moira rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sandman je prostě úkaz sám o sobě a je mi skoro blbé ho nějak hodnotit.. :D Nevím, jestli je to tím, že už jsem se v tom "smočila", nebo jednoduše mi zrovna tato kniha nesedla, ale dávám jen tři hvězdičky. Důvod je jednoduchý: Jedna povídka se mi líbila "úplně šíleně dokonale famózně hodně", další se mi líbila "dost hodně" a dvě se mi líbily "moc". Vám to možná nic neřekne, ale mně z toho vyplyne něco mezi čtyřkou a trojkou. A jelikož nechci být nudná, dám prozatím tři hvězdičky. Možná to pozděj...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Anthony Chavez rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel-manga

Gaiman's The Sandman Vol. 3 "Dream Country" is more or less a collection of short stories that are related to the the series, but unrelated in terms of the main storyline that's been going on in the first two volumes. I hate when good storylines like that in "The Doll's House (Vol. 2)" get cut off with something unrelated like this book, but this tangent was good. I have heard Gaiman's short stories are amazing and the volumes in Dream Country are all unrelated short stories that touch on little...more Gaiman's The Sandman Vol. 3 "Dream Country" is more or less a collection of short stories that are related to the the series, but unrelated in terms of the main storyline that's been going on in the first two volumes. I hate when good storylines like that in "The Doll's House (Vol. 2)" get cut off with something unrelated like this book, but this tangent was good. I have heard Gaiman's short stories are amazing and the volumes in Dream Country are all unrelated short stories that touch on little things we know and let us learn more about Dream and his sister Death. You could almost read these stories alone if you had some knowledge of the Endless. There are four stories in this collection and they are as follows Calliope (which is very disturbing and my favorite), Tale of Thousand Cats (an interesting story where we learn cat's dream too), A Midsummer's Night Dream (an award winning short story that reintroduces Mr. Bill Shakespeare), and then there is Facade (which is my second favorite and features Dream's sis Death).

Dream Country is smart, creepy, complex, moving, and like all Gaiman I have read thus far, very well-imagined. I enjoyed how Gaiman played with notions of dreams and reality, how the four stories all seemed to speak to the idea of sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of writers. I wish I could remember enough about Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to really get that story and say something smart about it. My favorite part of the edition though, was Gaiman's reproduction of his script & his notes for "Calliope" at the end of the book. It's neat to get inside the mind of a writer and get their thoughts on things as they were writing it.

I would not be so down on this book if it was in relation to the actual story that is unfolding. What was great about "The Doll's House" is it left off where "Preludes and Nocturnes" started. "The Doll's House" also introduced some new characters to the fold. I gave this book three stars because while I don't dislike it, it is a far better read then alot of crap that's out there today. Maybe in the grand scheme after finishing the series I will appreciate this one more, I have heard that volume 2 and 4 are the favorites of most people, this one is the bridge between those two, that has to count for something.(less)

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Sep 11, 2011 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, comics, fantasea, reviewed

It was very hard to get through Dream Country.

I am not a fan of the drawings style employed in the Sandman series, and have had to rely on an affinity for Gaiman's writing to get through the previous two volumes. However, I did not realize starting out that Dream Country is an anthology of unrelated stories, and was exasperated with the chapters that came after the first - a creepy, but brilliant tale of a man keeping his muse captive - expecting the lackluster plots to eventually relate, but o...more

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May 22, 2011 Melanti rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, graphic-novel, library

I know I said I was done with The Sandman, but I was stuck (happily so) in the library for several hours this afternoon, and was in the graphic novel section looking for Charles Vess's Ballads collection when this caught my eye. Since I had plenty of time to spend, I decided to give it a try.

Instead of being one long story like the first two Sandman collections are, this is a set of 4 short stories that don't seem to be connected to the story arcs of the previous collections.

Calliope - the story...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Ea Solinas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

One of the best things about the Sandman series is that it isn't actually necessary to have Dream -- or any of the other Endless -- in much of the story. Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country" demonstrates that beautifully, with four lusciously haunting, sometimes horrifying tales of magic, muses, cats and faerie royals.

In "Calliope," a struggling writer is willing to do anything if he can write his second novel, but he's got a wicked case of writer's block. So he gains possession of...more One of the best things about the Sandman series is that it isn't actually necessary to have Dream -- or any of the other Endless -- in much of the story. Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country" demonstrates that beautifully, with four lusciously haunting, sometimes horrifying tales of magic, muses, cats and faerie royals.

In "Calliope," a struggling writer is willing to do anything if he can write his second novel, but he's got a wicked case of writer's block. So he gains possession of Calliope, the muse of literature, and rapes her so that he can write once again. Desperate to be free of her imprisonment, Calliope calls on the only one who can help her.

Then "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" shows a congregation of cats, one of whom tells a story of how her owners murdered her kittens. This led her into a journey into the Dream Country, so that she might see the truth about dreams and reality.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes place as Shakespeare and his company perform the titular play on a hillside. Morpheus appears, along with the Faerie Court of Titania and Auberon, and the origins of Shakespeare's talent are revealed at last as the play goes on.

And finally, "Facade" introduces us to Element Girl/Rainie, a retired superheroine who lives a reclusive life because of her frightening appearance. When an old friend calls her, she crafts a false face to hide her appearance -- only to have it fall off during their dinner. The devastated Rainie longs to die, but it will take a visit from one of the Endless to help her...

Despite the title ("The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country"), there's not much of either the Dream Country or Morpheus in this volume. In fact, there's only one foray into the Dream Country, and Morpheus makes two cameos, one major appearance, and is completely absent from the story "Facade."

Rather, this is a chance for Neil Gaiman to flex his storytelling muscles. Each of the stories is painfully bittersweet, and are shadowed by loss, loneliness and misery. There are some moments of wrenching horror (Calliope being raped for inspiration), but Gaiman also shows off his dark, witty sense of humor as well ("'I am that merry wanderer of the night'? I am that giggling-dangerous-totally-bloody-psychotic-menace-to-life-and-limb, more like it").

And the art is absolutely gorgeous. Charles Vess's delicately-drawn, colorful pictures make the entire faerie story come to life, and the muted, shadowed art of the cats and their vision of the Dream Country is entrancing. "Calliope" is brightly colored but clouded with shadows and darkness, as if the writer's heart is overshadowing the world around him.

"The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country" has small but significant connections to both the Sandman and the Dream Country -- four haunting, bittersweet stories from a master storyteller.
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Apr 20, 2011 Andrew Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This (very) short collection reprints issues 17-20 of the series, with Neil Gaiman's script for issue 18 as bonus material. The script makes for interesting reading, particularly for those curious to know more of how a comic is put together. Morpheus plays a minor role in the stories, and unlike the previous two collections, there is no broad story arc. Each issue is self-contained. Gaiman has an impressive imagination, but the stories themselves, with one notable exception, are disappointing. T...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Yousif Mukhtar rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is probably the weakest of the series due to being an 'anthology', and not one whole story arc. In this volume, you get four different issues:

1. Calliope: The story begins with a writer who took a muse from an author friend. The muse is called Calliope, who helps him to write. But the muse wants to be free, and so tells the Dream Lord to free her. What you get is a frightening work of art. 4/5

2. A Dream of a Thousand Cats: This is one of my favorite of all Sandman issues because of its...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Leigh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having fallen in love with The Sandman by reading its second book, The Doll's House, I had really high hopes upon picking up this book, the third in the series. I found the book enjoyable but lacking the magic of its predecessor.

Dream Country is a series of four tales. In one story, a Muse is enslaved by a writer whose need for ideas trumps his ability to feel compassion for the plight of his captive. In another, we are shown the world as viewed by cats. In the most-acclaimed tale, we are shown...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Tancredi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

"This is magnificent, and it is true! it never happened, yet it is still true. What magic art is this?"

Sul volume in particolare:
Un altro dei miei preferiti della serie. Non a caso, è il volume che contiene l'episodio "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate". Esattamente: Shakespeare è uno dei personaggi ricorrenti in questa serie! E la magistrale trattazione ha fruttato a Gaiman un premio riservato alle opere letterarie: la prima (ed unica) volta che a vincerlo è un fumetto!

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Sulla serie in...more "This is magnificent, and it is true! it never happened, yet it is still true. What magic art is this?"

Sul volume in particolare:
Un altro dei miei preferiti della serie. Non a caso, è il volume che contiene l'episodio "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate". Esattamente: Shakespeare è uno dei personaggi ricorrenti in questa serie! E la magistrale trattazione ha fruttato a Gaiman un premio riservato alle opere letterarie: la prima (ed unica) volta che a vincerlo è un fumetto!

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Sulla serie in generale:

Parlare di "The Sandman" mi mette imbarazzo e non solo, perché di fronte ad un'opera mastodontica e superiore come questa non posso che sentirmi un mero ammasso di carne pensante per sbaglio, per una malata frizione casuale tra i miei neuroni.

La verità è che "The Sandman" è l'opera di un genio fuori dal comune, che non si può comprendere mai del tutto, nemmeno leggendolo mille volte. Per la profondità della sua scrittura, per la finezza dellle sue citazioni letterarie, per la cura paziente e poetica con cui ogni singola parola pausa e virgola viene scelta, per il modo oserei dire "chirurgico" con cui si intrufola nell'animo umano, mettendolo a nudo.
"The Sandman" è un'opera che sostanzialmente è una rappresentazione di ciò che siamo, una rappresentazione dell'essere umano, con tutte le sue pieghe, le sue contraddizioni e le zone nascoste, in ombra.
La finezza della sua analisi dell'uomo la si può vedere ad esempio nella creazione dei sette Eterni: Sogno, Morte, Destino, Distruzione, Disperazione, Desiderio, Delirio. Sette personificazioni di sette elementi che scuotono gli uomini, che ne plasmano la crescita.
Parlando della trama, che qui è veramente l'intreccio invisibile e complesso di mille fili narrativi, "The Sandman" è fondamentalmente la storia di una crescita morale, quella di Sogno, il protagonista, che sceglie un percorso forzato con lo scopo di redimersi completamente, viaggiando tra dimensioni più o meno allegoriche, contattando e interagendo con una miriade di personaggi (ed è STRAORDINARIA la caleidoscopia varietà di personalità secondarie che Gaiman crea, arricchendo la storia).
"The Sandman" è soprattutto la prova che il fumetto, o meglio, la "graphic novel" è un'opera d'arte degna della qualità di letteratura.
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Dec 22, 2010 Patrick rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first story was ok and I liked the last one but the middle two were too shamelessly indulgent nerdscapes of fantasy for me. I have a phobia against serious talking animal stories, especially ones in which humans are characterized as ignorant/evil, and I also dislike stories where historical figures are used as cypher-pawns to spruce up a story. These two stories stink of too much pixie dust and fey faeries and rainbows and unicorns for my temperament this evening (I like them even less now a...more

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Sep 13, 2010 Trisha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dream Country contains 4 disturbing stories: Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, and Facade. Plus, Gaiman has included his script for Calliope which gives us insight into Gaiman's writing process on this particular story.

Calliope was difficult for me to read. Artfully done and intriguing, the story features a young author who comes into possession of a muse (who used to date...is that the right word?...Dream) and uses her to become rich and famous. That is not the di...more

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Mar 14, 2010 Tim Pendry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, horror, popular-culture

Volume 3 of the acclaimed 'Sandman' series but stand-alone. This edition also contains the original script for the first of its four stories, 'Calliope', which might be of interest to students of illustration.

If we are to be honest, Neil Gaiman is engaged in a project to bring 'Tales from the Crypt' up the literary and artistic food chain. There is no doubt that he succeeds admirably in his task, aided by a series of excellent illustrators, but the stories, with the exception of his re-thinking...more Volume 3 of the acclaimed 'Sandman' series but stand-alone. This edition also contains the original script for the first of its four stories, 'Calliope', which might be of interest to students of illustration.

If we are to be honest, Neil Gaiman is engaged in a project to bring 'Tales from the Crypt' up the literary and artistic food chain. There is no doubt that he succeeds admirably in his task, aided by a series of excellent illustrators, but the stories, with the exception of his re-thinking of the origins of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream', are not complex - poetic and suggestive perhaps but not complex.

The first story. the 'Calliope', tells of a writer's abuse of an incarnated muse, an exploitation that has its sexual side and which brilliantly makes a creative reader feel besmirched by his own potential for evil in following his artistic ambition. Gaiman and illustrator Kelley Jones' skill lies in making a captured Greek mythological figure into the type of sex-trafficked woman and the artist into little more than a sleazy punter or pimp - a reversal of romantic views of the artist and her muse that is truly horrific.

The second, 'A Dream of a Thousand Cats' is a 'take' on another type of dream, not that of ambition but of dream as magical transformer of reality. This is a theme that we know from 'The Matrix' but here it is expressed as the remaking of reality and their history by humans and cats in turn and intentionally leaves us with a sense of unease. It might also be read as a commentary on the potential power of religious faith, born out of suffering, to change the world although the unease remains just that, unease - there is no real evidence here that faith changes anything but the faithful or that the faithful have anything more to look forward to than homeless wandering and more pain.

The award winning Shakespearian tale is magical at two levels. It is English-magical in referring back to the Old Religion and the ancient countryside in a way that should have earned it a place at the recent 'Dark Monarch' Exhibition by the Tate on magic and modernity in English art. But it also revisits the issue of the price paid by the artist in his obsessive disregard for a greater personal creation than his play and his bargain with the Dark Lord of the the dream world for inspiration, a bargain as cruel in its way as that of the writer in 'Calliope'.

Gaiman is different from all his contemporaries in questioning here and occasionally elsewhere whether the imagination and magic are sufficient cause to abandon the world. The conclusion appears to be that he and other imaginative people can do no other but that they should be under no illusion that what they do is somehow inevitably better or nobler than the lives of ordinary mortals.

This seems to be an attitude very different from that of the bulk of the English School of imaginative and magical writers, of which Alan Moore is exemplar, where the world of faery, alchemy, imagination and magic seem to be presented as an alternate reality truer than our mundane world. It strikes me as no surprise that Gaiman would find himself not only living happily in America but seemingly welcoming its modernity in later works. There is an ambiguity in Gaiman that might just, when history judges him, tip him into the very top rank of authors.

The final story,'Facade', as if to confirm this thesis, is, by contrast very modern and very American, with a nod to the 'superhero' tradition that never really embedded itself in Gaiman's homeland. In this case, we may have an Egyptian mythological back story and visual references to the Mummy tradition but the core story is one of mysterious government agencies and advanced bodily transmutation in which science rather than magic is dominant. This is the world of 'Superman' if seen through a very dark lens. Ra's magic is as scientific in its way as the speculations of Stoker's main protagonist against 'The Mummy' in the 'Jewel of the Seven Stars' nearly a hundred years before.

Taken together, the four stories are variations on the theme of dreaming a myth - of the incorporation of myth into reality, of the use of myth to change reality, of the creative interplay, with its dangers, of myth and reality and of science as a dream or myth in its own right. The Dark Lord of the dream world appears in two of them - where myth and legend are most obviously in sight. The other two have American settings and owe their style to the American comic book tradition. As in 'American Gods', Gaiman is merging European mythic and American popular cultural traditions with not a little genius.

It is probably no accident that Gaiman uses a quotation in a letter from the quintessential English writer of the supernatural, magic and the Old Religion, Arthur Machen, to the American James Branch Cabell in 1918 as one of his two introductory quotations. He also quotes separately that all writers are liars. The two quotations set the mood - an artist-writer hybridising two great traditions of magic and modernity but not believing that anything he creates represents anything bigger than a human imaginative creation. Pragmatic, sceptical, Gaiman uses but is not part of the English mystical-magical tradition.

Yet, at the end of the day, while the style is brilliant and the themes intriguing, the attempt to go beyond the comic book shows the weakness of the genre. In general, high quality books are far better than the films that they derive from - we think of Moravia's treatment by no less Directors than Bertolucci and Godard. On the other hand, films made from comic books and second-rate pulp fiction tend to be superior to their sources.

There is an intellectual hierarchy here whether we like it or not, albeit with exceptions on all sides. This graphic novel is far greater than most graphic material and it deserves re-reading but you sense that it is a stepping stone to the prize rather than the prize itself and has lost something by trying to do more than graphic novels can do. Still, it has to be in any respectable collection and Gaiman certainly gets the best out of his illustrators. You will not regret owning it.
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Mar 21, 2013 Paul Nelson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

Four seemingly unconnected stories, in the first Calliope who was Homers muse is enslaved by a writer and then passed onto another writer who has run out of ideas and subsequently becomes a huge success through the inventiveness she prompts. Raped and abused she seeks help and here we learn of a past relationship with Dream thousands of years ago and a son born to them. There is evidence that Dream has changed due to his imprisonment as he shows empathy with Calliope's situation. This was my fav...more

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The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country (Sandman Collection #3)

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