Book notes: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

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The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis:

“Hailed by the Los Angeles Times Magazine as “the greatest epic in the history of comic books,” The Sandman changed the game with its dark, literary world of fantasy and horror—creating a global, cultural phenomenon in the process. At long last, Audible and DC present the first-ever audio production of The New York Times best-selling series written by acclaimed storyteller Neil Gaiman (who also serves as co-executive producer). Adapted and directed by multi-award-winner (and frequent Gaiman collaborator) Dirk Maggs, and performed by an ensemble cast with James McAvoy (It, Parts one and two, X-Men: First Class, Split) in the title role, this first installment of a multi-part original audio series will transport you to a world that re-writes the rules of audio entertainment the way that The Sandman originally re-defined the graphic novel.

When The Sandman, also known as Lord Morpheus—the immortal king of dreams, stories and the imagination—is pulled from his realm and imprisoned on Earth by a nefarious cult, he languishes for decades before finally escaping. Once free, he must retrieve the three “tools” that will restore his power and help him to rebuild his dominion, which has deteriorated in his absence. As the multi-threaded story unspools, The Sandman descends into Hell to confront Lucifer (Michael Sheen), chases rogue nightmares who have escaped his realm, and crosses paths with an array of characters from DC comic books, ancient myths, and real-world history, including: Inmates of Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum, Doctor Destiny, the muse Calliope, the three Fates, William Shakespeare (Arthur Darvill), and many more.

A powerhouse supporting cast helps translate this masterwork into a sonic experience worthy of its legacy, including Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis, and more. Setting the stage for their performance is an unprecedented cinematic soundscape featuring an original musical score by British Academy Award winner James Hannigan. Fans will especially revel in a new twist for the audio adaptation: Neil Gaiman himself serves as the narrator. Follow him as he leads listeners along a winding path of myths, imagination and, often, terror. Even in your wildest dreams, you’ve never heard anything like this.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I’m not sure exactly what to expect, but Neil Gaiman is a fantastic writer. I am also intrigued that this Sandman character is based on the DC Comics / Universe character, so I’m curious if it’ll contain other DC characters or references. Lastly, this lineup of voice actors is pretty stacked. I really like James McAvoy so I’m excited to hear his portrayal of this character.

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Key notes:

Episode 1 – Sleep of the Just

• Morpheus, the Sandman, having been imprisoned in the mortal realm for decades, finally manages to escape back to his realm
• He takes revenge on one of his captors by granting him eternal wake, which is a state of being in a nightmare he can never escape

Epsiode 2 – Imperfect Hosts

• The Sandman tries to get his three lost artifacts to regain his full powers

Episode 3 – Dream a Little Dream of Me

• John Constantine helps Morpheus retrieve his sandbag from Rachel and helps her pass peacefully

Episode 4 – A Hope in Hell

• Dream goes to Hell and meets the three monarchs: Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Azazel to ask for help retrieving his stolen crown from one of the demons there
• Dream wins a challenge against the demon who had his helmet

Episode 5 – Passengers

• Dream almost gets his ruby amulet back but the recently escaped criminal from Arkham called Dr. Destiny retrieved it first

Episode 6 – 24 Hours

• Dr. Destiny traps a group of people in a diner to be tortured for 24 hours before Dream finally walks in

Episode 7 – Sound & Fury

• Dr. D accidentally destroyed the stone while trying to kill Dream, which ended up releasing the power of the stone back to Dream
• Dream then brought Dr. D back to Arkham Asylum

Episode 8 – Sound of Her Wings

• Dream’s older sister Death came to visit him while he was feeding pigeons
• He spends the day with his older sister Death and gains a new perspective on his purpose
  • He and his siblings serve a greater purpose and necessary function in the world, which calms his restlessness

Episode 9 – Tales in the Sand

• A tribe passes along the tale of a past queen who fell in love with the Dreamlord long ago but it didn’t end well

Episode 10 – Men of Good Fortune

• Dream made a deal to meet with the same man every 100 years to see if he would change his mind about not wishing for death
  • For the most part, the man has had good fortunes
• After 500 years or so, the man concluded that they were both friends by now

Episode 11 – The Dolls House

• Rose and her mother meet her long-lost grandmother

Episode 12 – Moving In

• Rose hired private investigators to track down her brother Jed

Episode 13 – Playing House

• The Sandman freed the child and Lita from the dream demons

Episode 14 – Collectors

• The motel where Rose and Gilbert were staying was hosting a convention for serial killers
• Rose gets attacked by one of the serial killers but calls for Morpheus and he saves her
• Gilbert comes back and manages to find Jed in the trunk
• Dream destroyed the Corinthian who was a nightmare he created originally decades ago

Episode 15 – Into the Night

• Morpheus takes Rose to the land of dreaming and tells her she’s a vortex of dreaming and he has to kill her to maintain balance and order

Episode 16 – Lost Hearts

• A vortex breaks down barriers of dreams and sucks the dreamers into one dream until it collapses and takes everyone with it, and also damages the dreaming
• Unity, Rose’s grandmother, comes to the land of dreaming and tells Morpheus that she was supposed to be the vortex but it passed to her granddaughter because of her long sleep
  • Unity takes the vortex from Rose and then dies, which solves the problem and Rose is saved
• Dream confronts his sibling Desire for them meddling in Dream’s affairs by being the father of Unity’s child and creating the vortex being passed to Rose
  • Dream tells Desire that they’re to serve humans, not be their masters, and if it happens again then he’ll deal with them

Episode 17 – Calliope

• Oneurus / Morpheus freed Calliope, one of the 9 muses, who was imprisoned for decades by humans for their own benefit
• She and Morpheus were once lovers and had a son together long ago

Episode 18 – A Dream of a Thousand Cats

• The small housecat met with other cats to hear a Siamese cat preach of her visit with the Dreamlord cat
• He told her that cats used to rule the world but the dreaming of 1000 humans changed reality
• Now she’s evangelizing cats all over to do the same and take back the world

Episode 19 – Facade

• She was a government agent who turned into an elemental being cursed to live for thousands of years and unable to kill herself
• Death helped her figure out a way by talking to the sun god Ra

Episode 20 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• Shakespeare and his troupe put on the play for Morpheus and his otherworldly guests
• Morpheus made a deal with Shakespeare for 2 plays about dreams and this was his first one 

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Closing thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, from the story to the voice acting and overall production! At first, it was a bit strange to get used to listening to a production like this. It almost seems like a TV show or movie converted into an audio format, with a lot of sounds, noises, and multiple people speaking at once. However, the narrator’s dialogue helped to paint a picture of what was going on which was very necessary in this medium. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to follow along.

I did enjoy some of the story arcs more than others, particularly the longer ones that involved Morpheus himself. When the plot shifted to these smaller stories and didn’t involve the larger narrative, it was hard to follow what was going on. It was generally harder to care about these new and minor characters compared to the main characters. However, it was still entertaining to follow along regardless.

Overall, I highly recommend this production and I’m excited to pick up the Act 2 next month.

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Nutshell:

The Sandman, aka Lord Morpheus—the immortal king of dreams, stories, and imagination, embarks on a quest to regain his power after a decades-long imprisonment. The series also follows several other stories in the world involving the dream king.

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Similar books:

• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• Lock In by John Scalzi
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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Rating:

4/5

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