Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Burbank, CA : DC Vertigo, [2019]
Description
The critically acclaimed THE SANDMAN: FABLES AND REFLECTIONS continues the fantastical epic of Morpheus, the King of Dreams, as he observes and interacts with an odd assortment of historical and fictional characters throughout time. Featuring tales of kings, explorers, spies, and werewolves, this book of myth and imagination delves into the dark dreams of Augustus Caesar, Marco Polo, Cain and Abel, Norton I and Orpheus to illustrate the effects that these subconscious musings have had on the course of history and mankind. Collects issues #29-31, #38-40, #50 and SANDMAN SPECIAL #1.
User reviews
LibraryThing member -Eva-
In which Morpheus, the Dream King, the Sandman, gives hope to the hopeless, ask for a favor, comforts the inconsolable, shows how he has changed, and saves a Heavenly City. Although this installment in the series doesn't really advance the overall story arc, it does provide the back-stories and the
"Fear of Falling" - A story merged from a nightmare Gaiman had as a child and his adulthood realization that success is equally as scary as failure. Not great art, but a beautiful concept.
"Three Septembers and a January" - Great retelling of the story of Joshua Norton, the first and only Emperor of the United States of America. I love this story - Emperor Norton is an historical character that has intrigued me since I read about him as a child in an old Lucky Luke comic.
"Thermidor" - Regardless of your personal feelings about Robespierre, Lady Constantine is fantastic and her wonderful plot to save Orpheus is a great homage to the Scarlet Pimpernel. I adore the art of this story as well - Orpheus singing with his "comrades" is amazingly moving, considering what they all are.
"The Hunt" - An "Old Country" proper folktale about the reality of dreams - and as a proper folktale, it has a direct correlation in real life, exceedingly real in this case. The format is great in this - old-fashioned grandfather versus modern grand-daughter ("It all sounds suspiciously post-modern to me, grandpa. Are you sure this is really a story from the old country?").
"August" - Emperor Augustus hides from the gods in order to plan the future of Rome. Lovely and simultaneously uber-creepy story, making a few historical heroes more human than anyone would be comfortable with.
"Soft Places" - Lovely, lovely Fiddler's Green ("I remember, when I was just a young vicinity") gets to harbor Marco Polo in need and introduce us to the places in dream that are deteriorating or still forming. Not my favorite, art-wise, but I always enjoy meeting the jovial Fiddler's Green.
"Orpheus" - A fairly straightforward telling of the Orpheus myth, albeit with a Sandmanian twist. Apparently, Gaiman had meant to tell a more "jazz" version, but realized, during a signing tour, how few Americans knew the original myth, so he stuck close to the original instead. Mainly interesting because we get to see Dream as he was before his imprisonment - not such a nice character, is he?
"The Parliament of Rooks" - Cain and Abel and Eve telling young Daniel stories of creation. Abel's "'Lil Endless" characters are adorable, but it's Cain's story that packs the real punch - especially when Abel can't help but tell the secret, which of course will land him in a heap of trouble.
"Ramadan" - One of the, deservedly, most well known stories of the series, explaining how Arabian Nights Baghdad, war-torn and terrible as it is now, can still evoke magic in our minds and dreams.
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possibilities for many characters in the Sandman universe and what a great collection of stories it is."Fear of Falling" - A story merged from a nightmare Gaiman had as a child and his adulthood realization that success is equally as scary as failure. Not great art, but a beautiful concept.
"Three Septembers and a January" - Great retelling of the story of Joshua Norton, the first and only Emperor of the United States of America. I love this story - Emperor Norton is an historical character that has intrigued me since I read about him as a child in an old Lucky Luke comic.
"Thermidor" - Regardless of your personal feelings about Robespierre, Lady Constantine is fantastic and her wonderful plot to save Orpheus is a great homage to the Scarlet Pimpernel. I adore the art of this story as well - Orpheus singing with his "comrades" is amazingly moving, considering what they all are.
"The Hunt" - An "Old Country" proper folktale about the reality of dreams - and as a proper folktale, it has a direct correlation in real life, exceedingly real in this case. The format is great in this - old-fashioned grandfather versus modern grand-daughter ("It all sounds suspiciously post-modern to me, grandpa. Are you sure this is really a story from the old country?").
"August" - Emperor Augustus hides from the gods in order to plan the future of Rome. Lovely and simultaneously uber-creepy story, making a few historical heroes more human than anyone would be comfortable with.
"Soft Places" - Lovely, lovely Fiddler's Green ("I remember, when I was just a young vicinity") gets to harbor Marco Polo in need and introduce us to the places in dream that are deteriorating or still forming. Not my favorite, art-wise, but I always enjoy meeting the jovial Fiddler's Green.
"Orpheus" - A fairly straightforward telling of the Orpheus myth, albeit with a Sandmanian twist. Apparently, Gaiman had meant to tell a more "jazz" version, but realized, during a signing tour, how few Americans knew the original myth, so he stuck close to the original instead. Mainly interesting because we get to see Dream as he was before his imprisonment - not such a nice character, is he?
"The Parliament of Rooks" - Cain and Abel and Eve telling young Daniel stories of creation. Abel's "'Lil Endless" characters are adorable, but it's Cain's story that packs the real punch - especially when Abel can't help but tell the secret, which of course will land him in a heap of trouble.
"Ramadan" - One of the, deservedly, most well known stories of the series, explaining how Arabian Nights Baghdad, war-torn and terrible as it is now, can still evoke magic in our minds and dreams.
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LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
Again, one of the neat things that strike me as I re-read this whole series, is that Gaiman uses the short stories as part of the big arc too. Despite hopping back and forth in time, taking us from the French revolution to Greek Mythology, from Biblical creation stories to USA at the turn of the
Stopping me from naming this voulme one of my real favorites, however, is that at times Gaiman seems to be more about flaunting knowledge than telling tales here (as in Thermidor, for instance, much more a brief portrait of Robespierre than anything else), and quite a few of the chapters are predictable, if well told (I like the banter in ”The Hunt” a lot, but come on, who doesn’t see the final twist a mile away?). Then again: this is a comic book mixing Marco Polo, Augustus, Hades, Emperor Norton I of America (I love that fact that he was real!), werewolves and Goldie the baby gargoyle witout it feeling the least bit strained. Gaiman has clearly spoiled me.
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last century, and often featuring Dream only as a bit player, these shorts are not just intermission pieces. In one we find out about Desire’s plan to make Dream spill his own blood, in another we learn about Dream as a parent, in a third hints are made of a new love story, and in a fourth baby Daniel (still just any kid) visits the Dreaming. All of these stories are good – the enigmatic ”Ramadan” and the very ambitious ”August” (offering a new possible explanation for the downfall of Rome, even!) being my favorites, and the artwork is quite nice and diverse this time. Stopping me from naming this voulme one of my real favorites, however, is that at times Gaiman seems to be more about flaunting knowledge than telling tales here (as in Thermidor, for instance, much more a brief portrait of Robespierre than anything else), and quite a few of the chapters are predictable, if well told (I like the banter in ”The Hunt” a lot, but come on, who doesn’t see the final twist a mile away?). Then again: this is a comic book mixing Marco Polo, Augustus, Hades, Emperor Norton I of America (I love that fact that he was real!), werewolves and Goldie the baby gargoyle witout it feeling the least bit strained. Gaiman has clearly spoiled me.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The 6th Volume of The Sandman series, Fables & Reflections is a collection of assorted stories in which Morpheus makes an appearance. Some of the stories delve into his history and his siblings also show up in a random fashion. All these stories show a different side of Morpheus’ nature and this
There are nine separate stories in this issue and I am sure everyone has their own particular favourites. I loved “Three Septembers and a January”, featuring Emperor Norton I, and the “Parliament of Rooks” with Eve, Cain and Abel sharing stories with Matthew and Baby Daniel. The last story, “Ramadan” had a very different look with it’s colourful artwork and intriguing storyline. Truly I enjoyed each story although for me, “Soft Places” and “The Hunt” didn’t captivate my interest as strongly as most of the others.
Fables and Reflections is a wonderful addition to the Sandman series and it is beguiling to see the craft and imagination that Neil Gaiman and his crew has put into each volume of this series.
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volume does much to advance the series in various directions. Some familiar character make an appearance and some new ones, most notably, Morpheus’s son, the tragic Orpheus are revealed.There are nine separate stories in this issue and I am sure everyone has their own particular favourites. I loved “Three Septembers and a January”, featuring Emperor Norton I, and the “Parliament of Rooks” with Eve, Cain and Abel sharing stories with Matthew and Baby Daniel. The last story, “Ramadan” had a very different look with it’s colourful artwork and intriguing storyline. Truly I enjoyed each story although for me, “Soft Places” and “The Hunt” didn’t captivate my interest as strongly as most of the others.
Fables and Reflections is a wonderful addition to the Sandman series and it is beguiling to see the craft and imagination that Neil Gaiman and his crew has put into each volume of this series.
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LibraryThing member cromanelli927
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Like Dream Country, Fables & Reflections is a series of short stories in which Dream appears. There are nine stories, and many of them deal with historical figures. The stories are well organized; while many will have their favorites, they build from somewhat cute
I have never seen a book do what Fables & Reflections did with"Fear of Falling." The story starts right on the first page. I wasn't sure that my book wasn't damaged. The copyright page, the table of contents, and the introduction all come after "Fear of Falling." The story itself was kinda cute, but it was fairly predictable. What intrigued me was the artwork. I am way out of my league discussing comic book artwork. I am only now starting to understand how many different people are required to make the artwork: there's an illustrator or person who draws the pictures, then there's an inker who puts the color in, and there's even a person who just does lettering. That's what I'm gathering from the credits and bio pages anyway. The styles are really different between different artists. It's kinda like the difference between the animation in Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin. It's just got a different feel. Okay, so back to "Fear of Falling." The faces were shaded very differently. Everyone seemed a little shady, and I'm not sure that that was consistent really with the story or even the spirit of the story, but it was interesting. Also, the characters looked stretched. Everyone was just a little overly tall and thin. It kinda reminded me of a Hellboy comic my boyfriend showed me. I wonder if there's a name for this style of artwork. There was a lot of shadow, and the shadow was black, not gray or deeper colored. It was black. And, as a side note, Morpheus was a little less attractive that way.
I found Gene Wolfe's introduction interesting. He writes, "Do you read introductions? I do, and after having read a good many of them, I am sadly aware that most of us who write them do not know what they are supposed to accomplish, which is to enable you to start the stories without embarassment." I hadn't thought about how rarely people actually use introductions to introduce stories, but it's true, hardly anyone does. However, when Wolfe does get around to introducing the characters, he does it in a strange way. He gives us the literary/historical context behind the main characters, but he does not tell us anything that would enable us to have a conversation with the characters. He definitely leaves the human interest for Gaiman. He tells us that Caius is Emperor Augustus, but he doesn't tell us, "Hey, that's Caius, he's an okay guy, but don't mention Caesar; they had a sticky relationship." But I'm really glad I read this introduction. If I ever have to write an introduction of my own someday, I'll be sure to remember Wolfe's advice. Though I can't imagine why I would need to write an introduction.
"Three Septembers and a January" is a story about a challenge between Despair, Desire, and Dream. I liked it a lot. I liked Joshua, and I loved the fact that Dream was able to defeat his Despair by giving him the dream that he was someone. Some of it was obviously unrealistic: a newspaper would never really publish a letter claiming that one was emperor of the United States, for example. But the storyline was a hopeful one, and the minor appearances of Delirium and Death were fun. The scene between Dr. Pain and Joshua was a priceless little bit of Buddhist philosophy. I will eventually share this story with my mother. I may get her to read all the stories, but I definitely want her to read this one.
"Thermidor" is about the French Revolution, which I incidentally just learned about this past summer during my Romantic Poetry class. The main character is Lady Johanna Constantine, who I guess is in some way related to the other Constantines. Trying to protect the head of Orpheus she attempts to get it out of France, but she is waylaid by Louis-Antoine St. Just and Monsieur Robespierre. In the spirit of their revolution, they don't want any religious artifacts roaming around France. When the two are finally confronted with the head of Orpheus, they crack and can no longer run their country. The message seems to be that the way to end a bloody, misguided revolution is to bring a magic head to sing of liberty and freedom. This is, of course, a less than satisfactory answer to one of life's great questions, but...there you have it.
"The Hunt" is a story about a family of werewolves, but you don't know this until thirteen pages into the story. It was kind of romantic, but tales about vampires and werewolves often are these days. I still want to know why the werewolf man walks away from the sleeping "princess" figure toward the end. I guess true love conquers all? The grandfather telling the story was really pretty cute, and I think there are a variety of messages the young girl could take away from the story.
"August" is about Caius Agustus the Roman Emperor after Caesar spending a day each year as a beggar. I think I understood the message of the story. A lot of these stories are about boundaries, this one perhaps more than most. Caius says, "Firstly, Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jupiter must bow to him; boundaries are the most important of things, Lycius." In many ways, the boundaries Caius sets up for Rome are his way to rebel against Caesar, but in other ways, they are boundaries of morality and behavior. After telling Lycius that the number of men he has killed is countless, Caius seems to need a definite end, both physical and temporal, for the empire and its repercussions. I realize that I am talking about these stories like they all have morals, but the book is titled Fables & Reflections, so I don't feel too bad about it. Normally, I try not to talk about literature that way.
Fiddler's Green reappears in "Soft Places" (see The Doll's House), and we meet Marco Polo and Rustichello. The story is reallyabout the soft places in memory and dream where we can get stuck. That is a little obvious, but you know what I mean. Marco Polo almost did not exist because he travelled to a soft place. Dream tells him, "You come in, you do not go out again," but he eventually gets him out. Good ole Dream, huh? Time is an interesting construct in this story. Structurally the layers are interesting. Marco Polo meets a man he will not meet in his life for many years, Fiddler's Green shows up to escape one of Dream's romantic moods, and Dream himself shows up just after his captivity. We are sucked into the time portal as well because we read about Dream's release from captivity five books ago. It's all quite strange, but as I said, the stories get progressively more mind-boggling as the collection continues.
Ah, "Orpheus." What to say about this sad tale? The Endless are inserted in an interesting way. Destruction helps Orpheus seek Death, but Dream is really a horrible father. Death is adorable as ever. It's nice to see Calliope again, but unfortunate to find out that she's not sure she ever really loved Dream. Dream's lovelife is really his own fault, but it's still fairly pathetic. The way he treats his son is unforgivable though. I am not extremely well steeped in Greek myth, but I never really thought of Orpheus as regretting his immortality as much as he does in this story. Of course, he is reduced to a head, so that might have something to do with it. But I really thought he went on trips with Hercules and Jason and stuff even after he lost Euridyce. Oh well.
"The Parliament of Rooks" was one of my favorite stories. Believe it or not, I like Cain and Abel as characters. I also really liked Eve! She is so...over it all. I think it's funny and realistic. She tells Cain, "I've stopped telling stories," and "I'm NOT your mother, Cain" in a way that makes it seem like she's bitter, but handling it. The story is really about Daniel's trip to "The Dreaming," which I think foreshadows a greater role he will have to play. He ends up with Matthew, the talking raven, Eve, Cain, and Abel all telling stories. Abel's story is absolutely adorable! The drawings are so, so cute! Eve's story is pragmatic and actually I think has a basis in other mythology. I've definitely heard of Lilith before.The whole storytelling is framed by some interesting bird talk. I really enjoyed it.
The story "Ramadan" was really interesting until the political protest became too transparent. Dream is all god-like again, and the Caliph is really quite rude to him, but the ending on the streets of Bagdhad was a little too much. I guess I would not have got the point on my own, but I'm really not sure I would be happy to replace Bagdhad the way it is now with what it was in the beginning of the story. It was just too allegorical. Not enough was left up to the imagination.
Okay, so now I have finally finished my thoughts on book 6, finished book 7, and I think I'm going to take a break soon. I started a blog on The Indigo King, and I would hate to see February come along with January's reading unfinished, but we'll see. There are other reasons for giving Sandman a break right now, but I'll talk about those in the next blog.
Like Dream Country, Fables & Reflections is a series of short stories in which Dream appears. There are nine stories, and many of them deal with historical figures. The stories are well organized; while many will have their favorites, they build from somewhat cute
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to serious to rather mind-boggling. I was especially fond of "Three Septembers and a January" and "The Parliament of Rooks." I enjoyed "Orpheus" as well, but just as in the story about A Midsummer Night's Dream, the actual story is not all that original, only the telling is original. I'm going to go through them in order though because I think I have something I wanted to say about each.I have never seen a book do what Fables & Reflections did with"Fear of Falling." The story starts right on the first page. I wasn't sure that my book wasn't damaged. The copyright page, the table of contents, and the introduction all come after "Fear of Falling." The story itself was kinda cute, but it was fairly predictable. What intrigued me was the artwork. I am way out of my league discussing comic book artwork. I am only now starting to understand how many different people are required to make the artwork: there's an illustrator or person who draws the pictures, then there's an inker who puts the color in, and there's even a person who just does lettering. That's what I'm gathering from the credits and bio pages anyway. The styles are really different between different artists. It's kinda like the difference between the animation in Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin. It's just got a different feel. Okay, so back to "Fear of Falling." The faces were shaded very differently. Everyone seemed a little shady, and I'm not sure that that was consistent really with the story or even the spirit of the story, but it was interesting. Also, the characters looked stretched. Everyone was just a little overly tall and thin. It kinda reminded me of a Hellboy comic my boyfriend showed me. I wonder if there's a name for this style of artwork. There was a lot of shadow, and the shadow was black, not gray or deeper colored. It was black. And, as a side note, Morpheus was a little less attractive that way.
I found Gene Wolfe's introduction interesting. He writes, "Do you read introductions? I do, and after having read a good many of them, I am sadly aware that most of us who write them do not know what they are supposed to accomplish, which is to enable you to start the stories without embarassment." I hadn't thought about how rarely people actually use introductions to introduce stories, but it's true, hardly anyone does. However, when Wolfe does get around to introducing the characters, he does it in a strange way. He gives us the literary/historical context behind the main characters, but he does not tell us anything that would enable us to have a conversation with the characters. He definitely leaves the human interest for Gaiman. He tells us that Caius is Emperor Augustus, but he doesn't tell us, "Hey, that's Caius, he's an okay guy, but don't mention Caesar; they had a sticky relationship." But I'm really glad I read this introduction. If I ever have to write an introduction of my own someday, I'll be sure to remember Wolfe's advice. Though I can't imagine why I would need to write an introduction.
"Three Septembers and a January" is a story about a challenge between Despair, Desire, and Dream. I liked it a lot. I liked Joshua, and I loved the fact that Dream was able to defeat his Despair by giving him the dream that he was someone. Some of it was obviously unrealistic: a newspaper would never really publish a letter claiming that one was emperor of the United States, for example. But the storyline was a hopeful one, and the minor appearances of Delirium and Death were fun. The scene between Dr. Pain and Joshua was a priceless little bit of Buddhist philosophy. I will eventually share this story with my mother. I may get her to read all the stories, but I definitely want her to read this one.
"Thermidor" is about the French Revolution, which I incidentally just learned about this past summer during my Romantic Poetry class. The main character is Lady Johanna Constantine, who I guess is in some way related to the other Constantines. Trying to protect the head of Orpheus she attempts to get it out of France, but she is waylaid by Louis-Antoine St. Just and Monsieur Robespierre. In the spirit of their revolution, they don't want any religious artifacts roaming around France. When the two are finally confronted with the head of Orpheus, they crack and can no longer run their country. The message seems to be that the way to end a bloody, misguided revolution is to bring a magic head to sing of liberty and freedom. This is, of course, a less than satisfactory answer to one of life's great questions, but...there you have it.
"The Hunt" is a story about a family of werewolves, but you don't know this until thirteen pages into the story. It was kind of romantic, but tales about vampires and werewolves often are these days. I still want to know why the werewolf man walks away from the sleeping "princess" figure toward the end. I guess true love conquers all? The grandfather telling the story was really pretty cute, and I think there are a variety of messages the young girl could take away from the story.
"August" is about Caius Agustus the Roman Emperor after Caesar spending a day each year as a beggar. I think I understood the message of the story. A lot of these stories are about boundaries, this one perhaps more than most. Caius says, "Firstly, Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jupiter must bow to him; boundaries are the most important of things, Lycius." In many ways, the boundaries Caius sets up for Rome are his way to rebel against Caesar, but in other ways, they are boundaries of morality and behavior. After telling Lycius that the number of men he has killed is countless, Caius seems to need a definite end, both physical and temporal, for the empire and its repercussions. I realize that I am talking about these stories like they all have morals, but the book is titled Fables & Reflections, so I don't feel too bad about it. Normally, I try not to talk about literature that way.
Fiddler's Green reappears in "Soft Places" (see The Doll's House), and we meet Marco Polo and Rustichello. The story is reallyabout the soft places in memory and dream where we can get stuck. That is a little obvious, but you know what I mean. Marco Polo almost did not exist because he travelled to a soft place. Dream tells him, "You come in, you do not go out again," but he eventually gets him out. Good ole Dream, huh? Time is an interesting construct in this story. Structurally the layers are interesting. Marco Polo meets a man he will not meet in his life for many years, Fiddler's Green shows up to escape one of Dream's romantic moods, and Dream himself shows up just after his captivity. We are sucked into the time portal as well because we read about Dream's release from captivity five books ago. It's all quite strange, but as I said, the stories get progressively more mind-boggling as the collection continues.
Ah, "Orpheus." What to say about this sad tale? The Endless are inserted in an interesting way. Destruction helps Orpheus seek Death, but Dream is really a horrible father. Death is adorable as ever. It's nice to see Calliope again, but unfortunate to find out that she's not sure she ever really loved Dream. Dream's lovelife is really his own fault, but it's still fairly pathetic. The way he treats his son is unforgivable though. I am not extremely well steeped in Greek myth, but I never really thought of Orpheus as regretting his immortality as much as he does in this story. Of course, he is reduced to a head, so that might have something to do with it. But I really thought he went on trips with Hercules and Jason and stuff even after he lost Euridyce. Oh well.
"The Parliament of Rooks" was one of my favorite stories. Believe it or not, I like Cain and Abel as characters. I also really liked Eve! She is so...over it all. I think it's funny and realistic. She tells Cain, "I've stopped telling stories," and "I'm NOT your mother, Cain" in a way that makes it seem like she's bitter, but handling it. The story is really about Daniel's trip to "The Dreaming," which I think foreshadows a greater role he will have to play. He ends up with Matthew, the talking raven, Eve, Cain, and Abel all telling stories. Abel's story is absolutely adorable! The drawings are so, so cute! Eve's story is pragmatic and actually I think has a basis in other mythology. I've definitely heard of Lilith before.The whole storytelling is framed by some interesting bird talk. I really enjoyed it.
The story "Ramadan" was really interesting until the political protest became too transparent. Dream is all god-like again, and the Caliph is really quite rude to him, but the ending on the streets of Bagdhad was a little too much. I guess I would not have got the point on my own, but I'm really not sure I would be happy to replace Bagdhad the way it is now with what it was in the beginning of the story. It was just too allegorical. Not enough was left up to the imagination.
Okay, so now I have finally finished my thoughts on book 6, finished book 7, and I think I'm going to take a break soon. I started a blog on The Indigo King, and I would hate to see February come along with January's reading unfinished, but we'll see. There are other reasons for giving Sandman a break right now, but I'll talk about those in the next blog.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
Consistantly good writing. Keeps it interesting. Origin of orpheus was cool.
LibraryThing member LostFrog
The first issue was good, but the others dragged on for me. Not bad though! The story of Orpheus just didn't do much for me *tear*. A Game of You was better.
LibraryThing member xicanti
A collection of nine short stories set within the Sandman mythos.
This book contains some of my very favourite individual Sandman stories. I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite. Just when I think "Three Septembers and a January" has got to be it, I realize that I truly love "August," too. And "The
As a previous reviewer mentioned, these stories don't move the overall narrative along very much. Instead, they flesh out a few things readers may have been wondering about. We heard about Dream's relationship with Calliope back in Dream Country; now, through both "Thermidor" and "Orpheus," we see a little more of what went down and are able to gauge how Dream's subsequent experiences have altered him from the person he was then. (And we meet Destruction, at long last!)
We also get some more insight into the dynamic between Dream and his siblings, even as we see him fulfilling his function in a few different ways. We learn the origin of that city in a bottle we glimpsed back in Season of Mists. We see what Cain, Abel and Eve do, and we get to know both Daniel and Matthew a little better. It's great stuff.
And even though this can easily be read as a stand-alone volume, the stories don't exist in a vacuum. Little details have great importance to the story as a whole. Even when they don't move things very far forward, they don't exactly leave us standing still, either.
Highly recommended.
This book contains some of my very favourite individual Sandman stories. I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite. Just when I think "Three Septembers and a January" has got to be it, I realize that I truly love "August," too. And "The
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Hunt?" Or "Thermidor?" They're also right up there. And "Ramadan" is, to my mind, the single most beautiful Sandman story to see print.As a previous reviewer mentioned, these stories don't move the overall narrative along very much. Instead, they flesh out a few things readers may have been wondering about. We heard about Dream's relationship with Calliope back in Dream Country; now, through both "Thermidor" and "Orpheus," we see a little more of what went down and are able to gauge how Dream's subsequent experiences have altered him from the person he was then. (And we meet Destruction, at long last!)
We also get some more insight into the dynamic between Dream and his siblings, even as we see him fulfilling his function in a few different ways. We learn the origin of that city in a bottle we glimpsed back in Season of Mists. We see what Cain, Abel and Eve do, and we get to know both Daniel and Matthew a little better. It's great stuff.
And even though this can easily be read as a stand-alone volume, the stories don't exist in a vacuum. Little details have great importance to the story as a whole. Even when they don't move things very far forward, they don't exactly leave us standing still, either.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Mary_Overton
A collection of stories about fabulous people and places.
From "Soft Places":
"Time at the edge of the dreaming is softer than elsewhere, and here in the soft places it loops and whorls on itself. In the soft places where the border between dreams and reality is eroded, or has not yet formed .... In
Perhaps my favorite story is "Thermidor," because of my love for talking oracular heads. This is a head in need of rescue during the Terror of the French Revolution, when heads littered the landscape.
Also: A true story about the Emperor of the United States; what dreams werewolves have; a battle among gods for the destiny of the Roman Empire; a retelling of the legend of Orpheus; secrets still kept by the three Eves; a king who would sell a city to preserve it; and a short-short about dreams of falling -- I've had a few of those.
From "Soft Places":
"Time at the edge of the dreaming is softer than elsewhere, and here in the soft places it loops and whorls on itself. In the soft places where the border between dreams and reality is eroded, or has not yet formed .... In
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the soft places, where the geographies of dream intrude upon the real.... There were more of them in the olden days. I remember, when I was just a young vicinity, there were soft places everywhere .... Sometimes I think that their loss is your fault. [Speaking to the teenage Marco Polo.] .... The lot of you. The explorers, and the ones who came after you, who froze the world into rigid patterns." (140-141)Perhaps my favorite story is "Thermidor," because of my love for talking oracular heads. This is a head in need of rescue during the Terror of the French Revolution, when heads littered the landscape.
Also: A true story about the Emperor of the United States; what dreams werewolves have; a battle among gods for the destiny of the Roman Empire; a retelling of the legend of Orpheus; secrets still kept by the three Eves; a king who would sell a city to preserve it; and a short-short about dreams of falling -- I've had a few of those.
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LibraryThing member RogueBelle
Among the more uneven of the Sandman set, but has some very compelling stories nonetheless -- my favourites were "Three Septembers and a January" and "The Hunt" -- and the "Orpheus" plotline becomes important in later volumes. Not the most cohesive of Gaiman's work, but it still showcases his
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wonderful imagination and ability to weave worlds together. Show Less
LibraryThing member deslni01
Being the sixth volume in the Sandman series, Reflections and Fables takes a different twist than readers are accustomed to - a volume entirely of the past. There are nine stories in the volume, each relating to the Sandman universe in its own way, yet each remarkably different.
The opening chapter,
Gaiman remains top-notch in his writing, and the deviation from a direct story line may appeal to some readers, but perhaps not to all. Gaiman enriches the universe and the power of Dream, without using Dream as a main character. Some readers will enjoy this aspect - and perhaps enjoy the historical aspect of the stories - whereas others may wish to stay on track with the Dream as the main character.
Regardless, Fables and Reflections is a volume that should not be missed, and is one of the better Sandman volumes so far. Excellent work by Gaiman.
The opening chapter,
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Fear of Falling, really a prologue, is in itself wonderfully written and in only a few pages it packs a powerful message. Other notable chapters include Ramadan, Parliament of Rooks, Three Septembers and a January, and The Hunt - which makes up over half of the volume itself, showing that it is indeed a wonderful volume in the Sandman universe.Gaiman remains top-notch in his writing, and the deviation from a direct story line may appeal to some readers, but perhaps not to all. Gaiman enriches the universe and the power of Dream, without using Dream as a main character. Some readers will enjoy this aspect - and perhaps enjoy the historical aspect of the stories - whereas others may wish to stay on track with the Dream as the main character.
Regardless, Fables and Reflections is a volume that should not be missed, and is one of the better Sandman volumes so far. Excellent work by Gaiman.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
A collection of short stories, this is an example of what I think Gaiman does best; he blends reality and myth and fable into wonderful tales which make you sit and ponder a bit after you read them. I really enjoyed this one. The tale of Orpheus didn't get me much, but the one about the Emperor
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Norton made me cry. Also enjoyed the one about werewolves and the last one, Ramadan. I especially like the introduction about what happens when we dream we are falling and the third option. Show Less
LibraryThing member stipe168
more short stories from the sandman universe. gaiman has a way of introducing you to a new world with different rules, and making you feel incredibly comfortable there. I also love his dialouge, he is so cool!
LibraryThing member krau0098
This was another excellent volume in the Sandman series. Instead of being one long story this book consists of multiple stories; each story illustrated by a different artist. The stories are what the title suggests; fables and reflections.
The stories touch on familiar fables and myths. Everything
I enjoyed both the artwork and the stories greatly. Each story has its own little dark sense of humor, always with a touch of irony woven in. The stories are engrossing and thought provoking; while expanding on both well known and obscure fables and myths.
A great book. I continue to love this series and am excited to read the next book.
The stories touch on familiar fables and myths. Everything
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from Faust to Eurydice. This book was particularly interesting since more of Morpheus's family shows up. You get to meet a number of his siblings; his sister Death in particular makes a number of appearances.I enjoyed both the artwork and the stories greatly. Each story has its own little dark sense of humor, always with a touch of irony woven in. The stories are engrossing and thought provoking; while expanding on both well known and obscure fables and myths.
A great book. I continue to love this series and am excited to read the next book.
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LibraryThing member theboylatham
Six out of ten. CBR format.
A collection of short stories set throughout Morpheus' history. Four issues dealing with kings and rulers, while three others, detailing the meetings of various characters. Also includes the Sandman Special, a stand-alone issue, which assimilates the myth of Orpheus into
A collection of short stories set throughout Morpheus' history. Four issues dealing with kings and rulers, while three others, detailing the meetings of various characters. Also includes the Sandman Special, a stand-alone issue, which assimilates the myth of Orpheus into
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the Sandman mythos. Show Less
LibraryThing member heidilove
we love sandman. yes, we surely do.
LibraryThing member Audacity88
Of the six Sandman volumes I've read so far, Fables and Reflections is the volume most reminiscent of the first, Preludes and Nocturnes. Preludes and Nocturnes remains my favorite simply because of the sheer pleasure of the first exposure to the world of Dream, but Fables and Reflections stands a
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close second, with its absolutely brilliant first four stories a testament to the power of Gaiman's imagined realm. Show Less
LibraryThing member akmargie
A Game of You #5, might have ruined me for all the rest of the Sandman books. It was good, no doubt. But nothing can compare to the bittersweet I love I have for #5.
LibraryThing member ApollosCrow
Having read the entire Sandman decalogy, I'd say this is my favorite volume, because it showcases not only Mr. Gaiman's own great storytelling strength, but also his knowledge of storytelling itself, as mankind's greatest and oldest practice. Here we find vignettes that span eras from ancient Rome
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to the French Revolution to 19th c. America, and capture the mythos of a variety of traditions, from Slavic to Greek to Muslim. It is this combination of the author's insights into past traditions with his own singular imagination that make it such a powerful volume, and make this entire series an indispensable modern wonder. Show Less
LibraryThing member poonamsharma
Fun book surrounding dreams of several interesting characters and legends. Collection of Fables. Very nice introductory comic about a budding playwright and his dream.
Story of Orpheus (son of Morpheus and Calliope) and Eurydice. I loved the fact we have read about Calliope before. Aristaeus. (My
Lady Johanna Constantine (a previous character. Mark Twain is another character in the story.
Caius Augustus, Emperor Augustus. Suggestion that Julius Caesar raped Augustus when he was 18. Need to check this more.
Harun Al-Rashid (Aaron the Upright), King of Baghdad in a story called Ramadhan.
Fable of Marco Polo.
Cain and Abel. Again.
We learn the other names of the members of the family - Teleute (End), Aponia (Inaction), Mania (Madness), Epithumia (Desire), Oleothros (Destruction) and Potmos (Destiny).
Story of Orpheus (son of Morpheus and Calliope) and Eurydice. I loved the fact we have read about Calliope before. Aristaeus. (My
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favorite story was this one.)Lady Johanna Constantine (a previous character. Mark Twain is another character in the story.
Caius Augustus, Emperor Augustus. Suggestion that Julius Caesar raped Augustus when he was 18. Need to check this more.
Harun Al-Rashid (Aaron the Upright), King of Baghdad in a story called Ramadhan.
Fable of Marco Polo.
Cain and Abel. Again.
We learn the other names of the members of the family - Teleute (End), Aponia (Inaction), Mania (Madness), Epithumia (Desire), Oleothros (Destruction) and Potmos (Destiny).
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LibraryThing member hailelib
Volume Six of the Sandman is a collection of stories that, as the title says, are variations on fable and myth and reflections on certain moments in history with Dream in the background of the stories. I'm sure that I missed many of the allusions that Gaiman tucked into these stories but the ones I
My favorites among the stories were "Three Septembers and a January", "The Hunt" and "Ramadan". On average, the art here was an improvement over some of the earlier volumes.
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caught were interesting and sometimes surprising.My favorites among the stories were "Three Septembers and a January", "The Hunt" and "Ramadan". On average, the art here was an improvement over some of the earlier volumes.
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LibraryThing member pokylittlepuppy
The freaky folk tales were pretty good. The Roman marketplace should have been a lot better. I like baby Daniel in the Dreaming. The Baghdad story could have been way less cheesy. A few of these issues seem out of sequence with other things that already happened in earlier collections, but mostly
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these are either one-off stories or touching on Gaiman's treatment of the Orpheus myth. I did like that a lot of things came in between the first time we see him -- while he is an unsettling party to a completely different story and almost an afterthought -- and the issues with his story. That felt a little more novelesque, which made the collection a better read. Show Less
LibraryThing member capiam1234
These stand alone short stories have some that are great, and some that are good. After finishing it though I want to get back to the focus of the storytelling.
LibraryThing member AaronPt
These collections of short stories are often what 'The Sandman' truly excels at, dipping into all the curious aspects of the dream world. This volume is a showcase for Neil Gaiman's knowlege of myth and stories and for the range of the illustrators. It's a credit that they manage to keep up with
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Dream as he roams through the centuries. A very entertaining read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Xirxe
The sixth Sandman and until now my personal favourite!
It's not a continous story but rather 8 1/2 strips, including the short 'foreword-history'. More than the half of it base upon true historical incidents and life stories like Emperor Augustus, the French Revolution, Marco Polo etc. The others
Last but not least the pictures are again impressive as always. For every story there is a certain style (Ramadan - very coloured, like a fairy tale; Soft Places - almost paltry, blank spaces like you expect it in a desert etc.), which accords perfectly with the contents of the different tales.
Fantastic stories, amazing drawings - a great book!
It's not a continous story but rather 8 1/2 strips, including the short 'foreword-history'. More than the half of it base upon true historical incidents and life stories like Emperor Augustus, the French Revolution, Marco Polo etc. The others
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are predicated on old legends or myths, so throughout the whole readingtime I had the feeling, these are not just phantastic stories but they could have really happen like this. And in every event Sandman plays an important part.Last but not least the pictures are again impressive as always. For every story there is a certain style (Ramadan - very coloured, like a fairy tale; Soft Places - almost paltry, blank spaces like you expect it in a desert etc.), which accords perfectly with the contents of the different tales.
Fantastic stories, amazing drawings - a great book!
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LibraryThing member PDCRead
In this sixth book of the Sandman series, Gaiman takes a brief pause from the main storyline. There are nine of new stories in here, some short, others longer, with characters from earlier stories and a host of new ones.
Compared to earlier books, this is not as dark or bleak, and Gaiman has dusted
Having read some of the others, I didn’t feel that it was as strong, but he picks up on the dreams of the characters all the way through the stories. They are still intense and richly illustrated, and that it what makes these such a pleasure to read.
Compared to earlier books, this is not as dark or bleak, and Gaiman has dusted
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the stories within with a touch of whimsy, but they still have depth and the ability to make you think. Some are based in America, but he travels time and the world in the tales, with Morpheus appearing in some of them.Having read some of the others, I didn’t feel that it was as strong, but he picks up on the dreams of the characters all the way through the stories. They are still intense and richly illustrated, and that it what makes these such a pleasure to read.
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Language
Original publication date
1993-09-14
Physical description
26 cm
ISBN
9781401288464