The Sandman: The Doll's House

Was there ever a more romantic, chilling story about a young woman discovering her animus? I find myself growing irrationally enamored of Morpheus/Sandman/King of Dreams in this second collection of his comic books. He must embody aspects of my personal animus. I am jealous of Rose Walker (wonderful name) who is allowed the privilege of facing Him, of negotiating for her life with Him, and of having her own brief moment of power in the Dream World.

Stories unfurl within stories. Characters from the past re-enter the action in ways that redefine their roles in previous episodes.
Perhaps my favorite story is what seems to be a minor interlude -- the tale of Robert Gadling, a man 'too smart' for death, whose tavern boast in 1389 is overheard show more by Death herself. He is granted a reprieve from both dying & aging, and becomes, perhaps, the first mortal to befriend an Endless. We will see him again. show less

Back in in full power, Morpheus is ready to take inventory of the Dreamworld, and work on rebuilding it. A good thing he does too, as it turns out that the palace staff, a most terrible nightmare, and the mysterious Fiddler's Green are nowhere to be found. The foursome obviously can't be allowed to roam freely in the human world, so the Dream Lord makes plans to recover them ASAP.

The Sandman doesn't actually get too much "screen time" this time around, but the intriguing events of the main story, along with the thrilling insights into Morpheus' past have managed to hold my attention for the most part.

In this 2nd volume, we follow Rose Walker in her quest to reunite with her estranged little brother, after a surprise family member show more reveal. Remember Felicity Kinkaid, the girl who got pregnant and gave birth all while being deep asleep during Morpheus' 70-year-old captivity? Turns out the kid was Rose's mother! And that's not all, because... actually, that'd be a huge spoiler, so just read the story youself.

Given all the foreshadowing from the first volume that seemed to hint at some rather dire consequences, we finally get to see them in here. Now that was one satisfyingly tied off story thread. Add to that, Rose's nerve-wracking search and the tonnes of interesting people she gets to meet along the way. The story of the second volume was such a treat!

I have only two complaints worth mentioning, with the second one of a truly nitpicky nature. The other one however, just drove me up the wall.

So first: the extremely inconsistent drawing style for Rose. She's supposed be somewhere between 21 and 22 (maybe 23?) years old throughout story, yet the illustrations make her look anywhere between 15 and 55. Bad enough to get annoyed? You decide...


Click image for full size

Second, the random short story of the man who refused to die, placed right in the middle of some of the more exciting turn of events. Had it been put at the end of Rose's story, I wouldn't have spent the entire reading time wondering what it had to do with the main story.

Score: 4.3/5 stars

A very exciting volume, this time without other D.C. character cameos. Or if there were, they were done much more inconspicuously. I was delighted to see the Sandman's impassive way of saving/refusing to save humans again, that made him such an interesting character in the first volume.

Now if I could just get used to the inconsistent illustration style...

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Review of volume 1: Prelude and Nocturnes
Review of volume 3: Dream Country
Review of volume 4: Season of Mists
Review of volume 5: A Game of You
Review of volume 6: Fables & Reflections
Review of volume 7: Brief Lives
Review of volume 8: World's End show less

Are we dreaming? Possibly… After the tumultuous events in the first collected storyarc of the Sandman, wherein Morpheus regained his items of power and his throne, we are given nary a moment to rest before new conflict stirs in the edge of the Dreaming. Opening with a prologue that tells the story of Morpheus’ short and disastrous relationship with Nada (who we met briefly on our sojourn through Hell) as historical lore before quickly transitioning back to the present with an exploration of Desire of the Endless’ realm, Gaiman sets a troubling set of themes to Morpheus’ journey that will not come to fruition until the events collected in the Kindly Ones arc. The Lord of Dreams may have power incarnate and a realm that most only show more dream of (pun intended, but factual!), but his relationships with humanity are fraught at best. His desire for Nada leads to her downfall, he denies a friendship with long-lived Hob Gadling for hundreds of years before admitting the truth, and it rarely works out easily for any humans who stumble into the Dreaming or for those who encounter Dreams in the real world. As Morpheus traces the remnants of the errant dream-beings who have strayed in his absence and seeks to find this eon’s dream vortex, Gaiman builds a cast of unique (if occasionally horrifying) characters whose lives intersect in unexpected ways. Tracing through Americana and dreamscapes, this story arc brings the Sandman out of the adventure narrative that Gaiman established in Preludes and Nocturnes and into a realm of graphic literary complexity that is clearly only the beginning of what is going to be one strange dream, indeed. show less

The Doll's House is the second in Gaiman's Sandman series, after Preludes and Nocturnes, and I must say I am now hooked. I did enjoy the first novel, but I didn't feel that burning need to read the second - the true mark that I am not totally in love with a series. The Doll's House, on the other hand, I was sad to finish, and I'm already planning on heading to Barnes and Noble to pick up the next two graphic novels in the series...probably today.

Many times when I read something I deem creepy, it's in a sporadic, silly, or disgusting way, but not this novel. Gaiman sets a creepy tone and maintains it throughout the entire story. The pictures accompanying the text - this is afterall a graphic novel - do nothing the diminish this tone. I show more never found myself smiling at a ridiculous image. When I did smile, for there is humor, it was not a this-is-funny type of grin; it was more an amused but horrified grimace.

The plot involves interweaving stories which simultaneously focus on Dream, one of the Endless and if I'm not mistaken, the main character in the series, and Rose Walker, the focus of this book in the series. Rose, unknowingly and mistakenly, is a dream vortex. The Doll's House is her story. And yet, it is a continuation of Dream's story begun in Preludes and Nocturnes. I find myself wanting to say so much more and yet any type of plot summary, in my mind, is a spoiler. I don't even read the backs of novels before reading the story itself. Suffice it to say, the plot is complex, surreal, and most importantly, interesting. show less

Dark, weird, twisted and ambitious, Sandman could only have come from the mind of Neil Gaiman. In The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll’s House, the story of Morpheus continues. He is the dream master and after being imprisoned for years he is trying to set things right in his kingdom. While he was absent, a few dreams and nightmares have escaped into reality and he must hunt them down. In a parallel story, we are introduced to Rose Walker, who unbeknown to herself, has become a dream vortex and threatens to rip apart Morpheus’ world and destroy mankind.

I was hooked into this story right away, even the prologue and side story in the middle were fascinating as they both reveal small bits of Morpheus’ character. I am sure I missed many of the show more references but still I greatly enjoyed this volume. The verbal contention between Rose and Morpheus, and then again with Morpheus and his sibling, Desire, about “who are the dolls and who are the manipulators” is something I will carry away with me to ponder at leisure. I also love how all the obscure threads in the story eventually entwine into the whole and bring the reader a few AHA moments.

Brilliant yet violent, I felt this volume ran closer to horror than the first but there is much to recommend and very little, unless you can’t handle the violence, to the negative. I would have given this 5 stars but I can’t help but think there may be better ones yet to come. I can’t wait for Volume 3! show less

I definitely enjoyed this second volume more than the first. As I said in my review at the time, I liked the first volume but I didn’t love it. Doll’s House I loved. In Preludes & Nocturnes we were introduced to Morpheus, and saw him escape his prison, and in Doll’s House we get to learn more about his realm of Dreaming and how he works.

The main focus of the story is teenage girl called Rose Walker, long-lost granddaughter of Unity Kinkaid – the girl who slept dreamlessly for thirty years, and was impregnated and gave birth during that time. It turns out Rose is a vortex, who’s existence threatens to destroy all of Dreaming. Morpheus also discovers that three have escaped in his absence; two nightmares – Brute and Glob, and show more the Corinthian; and the dream Fiddler’s Green.

After discovering that Unity is her grandmother, Rose goes to Florida to track down her missing younger brother to finally put all her family together (her mother must stay in England with Unity who is suffering following a stroke). She moves into house with cross-dressing Landlord Hal, eerily Stepford couple Ken and Barbie, the Spider Women – Chantal and Zelda who dress in white veils, collect dead spiders and only Chantal ever speaks – and a mysterious, odd, well-mannered fellow named Gilbert. I loved all of these guys... they were just so brilliantly weird.

In quite a twisty plot Gilbert - and Morpheus - helps Rose track down her brother Jed, and ultimately save him from the serial killer convention they unwittingly ended up staying amongst in a hotel. I did love the serial killer convention... It was sick, and very dark... But darkly humorous. I also like the story with Hob Galding. A man Dream granted immortality in the 14th Century, and met up with each hundred years. I also like the idea that he struck a deal the Shakespeare, who was previously somewhat of an untalented hack!

We also met more of Dream/Morpheus’s Endless siblings – the twins Desire and Despair, who scheme against their elder brother. I liked the fact that Desire as androgynous, rather than present as a typically female. I feel like I’m starting to understand Dream now and the world he lives in, and I finished it less confused than I was by the first volume. I hope we see more of Rose, I feel like it was implied that we will... and I’m interested to see what it will mean that she (and Jed) are descended from Desire.

I feel like I’m starting to ‘get’ the Sandman thing, and I’ starting to love it. Looking forward to Volume 3! show less

This was fantastic! I followed the plot, the art was lovely, and the themes were intriguing. There is some edginess here that I wasn't expecting (and a ton of queerness for the early 1990s -- though unfortunately it seemed to be used mostly as a signifier for the book being edgy). The Cereal convention was terrifying, Desire was hotly ambiguous, one panel in particular with text boxes set atop a face was gorgeous, but my favorite part by far was the every-hundred-years meetings of Hob Gadling. It's simply astounding how much things change, and the art very effectively conveys that sentiment. (The series gets even better than this? I can't wait.)