9
Nov
2010
The Sandman: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman
Wow. This volume of The Sandman is so full of awesomeness. It has got to me my favorite of the series so far.
Alrighty. So, Morpheus is all bummin’ because he broke up with his girlfriend. This is a side of him that has been peaked at, but not really fully revealed to us. That he has fleeting emotions, that he can be melodramatic, that he can be moody, that he can be far more human than he’d probably like to admit.
Meanwhile, Delirium, Dream’s little sister, has gotten it into her demented head that she needs to track down her brother Destruction, who ditched them a couple of centuries ago. Dream is willing to help her, mainly just to get his mind off of his ex and pull himself out of his funk.
But strange things start happening and Morpheus realizes that someone or something is actively trying to stop them. Which, you know, has the opposite effect, as it just makes Morpheus really want to find his errant brother.
As for that brother…we see him throughout the volume, as he senses that his siblings are trying to find him. It took me a while to pinpoint what it was, but he looks far more human than the rest of the Eternal Ones. I think it has to do with his hair and complexion.
This whole volume adds so much depth to an already interesting character. There are dimensions to Morpheus that we probably knew were there, but haven’t seen before. The complexities of his life, personality, and family are revealed more and more.
But I have a feeling that Gaiman is setting us up for a downfall.
Buy The Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives on Amazon
If you like this book/author, you might like:
(my reviews in blue)
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Sandman Presents, The: The Furies by Mike Carey
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture by Randy Duncan
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley
Buffy: The Long Way Home
Other works by Neil Gaiman:
The Dangerous Alphabet
The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch
Black Orchid
InterWorld
M Is for Magic
Signal to Noise
The Last Temptation
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
Death: The High Cost of Living
Death: The Time of Your Life
Midnight Days
Harlequin Valentine
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
Anansi Boys
Neverwhere: A Novel
Stardust
MirrorMask: The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture
The Alchemy of MirrorMask
Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll’s House
The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You
The Sandman Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections
The Sandman Vol. 8: Worlds’ End
The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
The Sandman Vol. 10: The Wake
The Sandman: Endless Nights
A Walking Tour of the Shambles
The Books of Magic
Adventures in the Dream Trade
Creatures Of The Night
Violent Cases
Coraline Movie Tie-in Edition
Coraline: The Graphic Novel
The Graveyard Book
Absolute Death
Marvel 1602 Premiere HC
The Wolves in the Walls
Mr. Punch
Odd and the Frost Giants
American Gods
With P. Craig Russel
With Terry Pratchett:
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
This is my favourite book in the series. It gets better every time I read it.
I absolutely love Brief Lives. It’s got the best sibling interaction between the Endless. The moment when Dream has completely collapsed, and Delirium pulls herself together long enough to console him might be my favorite thing that happens in the entire series. Plus, Destruction’s poem. Hearts.
freaky cover…
I’m not sure how many books you read for the challenge, but there are 3 giveaways up for participants of the Vietnam War Reading Challenge. I hope you’ll enter and spread the word.