Gaiman concludes the series with an amazing blend of writing and artwork. After the events of The Kindly Ones, the reader is brought on a sorrow-filled journey of picking up the pieces. Almost every reader will identify immediately with Mathew, and his thoughts and feelings about Dream and the current situation. What a wonderful conclusion to a masterful series. ( )

Is incredibly sad. Or at least the first part is. Bring a hankie to this one. And it's not just the content or the words that makes it sad, it's the feeling that floats off the pages. The artwork gets taken up a notch, but unlike KO, it doesn't feel strange or different, it feels right. It's not only the quality of the art that increases, nor is it solely the style, but more the seriousness of it, like this is shit you can't just get up and walk away from without being changed. I thought the first half of TW was amazing, but after that I thought it started to deteriorate and after dealing with the death of everyone's favorite character, seemingly random stories get thrown at us. Not nice. It's not that they're completely out of place, because they all relate, in some way, to Dream's passing and so really this is the only place they fit, but to a certain extent you want to see more of Dream's passing and less of scenes from earlier in the story. But whatever, it's still great. Four and a half stars. ( )

Gorgeous and heartbreaking. The mood was really perfect for what the characters -- and the reader -- have to be feeling after the complete body-blow of "The Kindly Ones". Bittersweet and evocative. ( )

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I finished The Wake just now. Just this second. I have spoken to no one about its contents. This is an instant reaction, a far cry from the last few posts. I wonder what I thought it would be. No, I don't. I know that I thought I would be introduced to the new Dream, but I was not. He is a minor character in these stories. In many ways it seems these are the stories that didn't fit anywhere else. Gaiman writes on the page after the last of the story that he is good at goodbyes. I am not. I am a little confused. I think there is some sort of memory thing I am supposed to be cherishing with the last tale, but all I can think is: he's dead, let him be.
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The story begins with the actual wake for the Dream who has just died: Morpheus. I truly enjoyed Matthew's journey from denial into acceptance. I really identify with Matthew. The new Dream (Daniel) who we meet briefly is actually quite charming. He is very sympathetic, and his sense of duty seems mingled with doing what is right by others. This is a change from the last Dream who did what was his duty, but did not always seem to consider the well-being of the others around him. Only five of the Endless show up for the wake and funeral. Destruction visits Daniel, but he does not visit his siblings. I like him less for that. Mostly I am disappointed that we don't hear what Death says, only that "her words make sense of everything. She gives you peace. She gives you meaning." I want peace and meaning! I feel a little cheated by that. This story/episode/whatever breaks the fourth wall and makes use of the second person. It's rarely done in modern lit, and it's always disconcerting to me. We were all there, supposedly, but I have no memory of it. It's a strange blending of realities.

After the wake and funeral have concluded, we catch up with our friend Hob Gadling. He has found new love and still does not desire death, even though he knows Morhpeus is dead. He is an interesting character. I like him. I like the fact that when he falls asleep he dreams that Dream and Destruction walk with him on a beach. When his girlfriend asks him how the story ends, he says, "Well, there's only one way to end a story, really." I love the contrasting worldviews here. Amidst this great tragedy, someone random tells us the only way to end a story is happily. It's my kind of worldview for sure.

Gadling's story is followed by a weird Chinese one that seems to have happened in the past, but I think Daniel is the Dream rather than Morpheus. You can't really tell from the artwork, but at one point it says, "Flames flicker in the whiteness of his robe," and that sounds like Daniel to me rather than Morpheus. Besides, Daniel gives the man an open invitation, which does not seem like something Morpheus would do. Once rejected, Morpheus seems to be incapable of renewing the offer. Daniel is much more human, as one of the introductions pointed out (not this one because I haven't read it). I think though, that the ability to retain one's humanity once you become a god might diminish with age. Death is very cool, but not everyone can have her upbeat personality. Definitely most people would be jaded by immortality. I think even my boyfriend, but who knows.

The final story returns to Shakespeare, and it is about the writing of The Tempest rather than A Midsummer Night's Dream. We meet Judith and Anne. Anne is horrible, but at one point Judith points out that she was really heartbroken when her husband left for London. She at least allows him to sleep in his house and see his daughter. It is, perhaps, more than I could have done. I can't harbor ill will towards her. Shakespeare is a little whiny in this piece, and I wonder what critics have made of that. He is very concerned with his afterlife in a way that upsets me a little. I guess one of the coolest things about Shakespeare is that we know so damned little about him. We can make him whatever we like. There is also some amazing hubris in the idea that Gaiman's Morpheus inspires Shakespeare. Shakespeare admits to borrowing tales and speeches. Isn't that enough?

I am keenly aware now of the fact that I have finished the series. I felt like I had finished it with Worlds' End. By the time, I got to The Kindly Ones, I had already accepted Dream's death. Now, I feel like I have mourned him and am ready for a new distraction/fascination. As far as book exchanges go though, this one was way more my thing than Stephen King's Dark Tower series, although I enjoyed that too in my own way. I find more and more that reading is a way for me to get through hard times. I know I am probably escaping rather than dealing, but I don't see a need to fight every battle. Lonliness and disappointment need not be thought about so much; there isn't really much one can do about them anyway. Lesson planning is necessary, however, and I must think on that now. :) Blessed with work and blessed with children. That I am.

I forgot to mention that in this book we figure out who Dream has been brooding over! It's Thessaly/Larissa the witch!!! I hate to sound gossipy (kind of), but I just can't believe she's his type. How could he ever be fooled into thinking she had a heart? Okay, I'm done now. ( )

SPOILER ALERT: Don't even look at this volume until you have read the previous nine.

'The Wake' is a resolution to the climactic events in volume 9 and provides fresh insights and perspectives on the many story lines introduced throughout Sandman's saga.

'We are gathered here today to remember my brother, who was the Lord of this Realm; to pay our respects, and then, ultimately, to forget him.... He was the Lord of the things that are not, and were not, and never will be ...' (71)