The Sandman: Worlds' End

Without purpose. Unless you add it yourself. ( )

Quite enjoyed this one, one of my favorites so far, maybe my fave. Not very much Morpheus at all, but fun stories, stories within stories, and stories within stories within stories. Very nice artwork also. ( )

In The Sandman: World's End, Neil Gaiman channels Boccaccio's Decameron with travelers exchanging stories as they wait out a reality storm. The narrative style allows Gaiman and his artists to explore new worlds not tied to the larger Sandman narrative. Even eight volumes in, Gaiman maintains the compelling nature of these stories, raising the bar for the comics medium. ( )

Brant and Charlene are driving to Chicago when they get caught in a freak snowstorm in June and crash. They find themselves stranded at the Inn at World's End with travelers from all different worlds, who were likewise caught in freak storms. The innkeeper explains it as a reality storm.

To pass the time, the various travelers tell stories. There is the story of a man who stumbled into the dreams of a city (this may have been my favourite, it reminded me of Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness). There is the story of the faerie Cluracan, (the brother of Morpheus's servant Nuala) and his mission for Queen Mab/Titania. There is the story of a ship's hand, and the story of the perfect President. There is the story of the city where everyone is a mortician, and they study all the different burial traditions of the world.

And within these stories are more stories, and stories within those . . .

An engrossing read. And the end is just . . . wow. I really felt like I was seeing the giant procession across the sky through Brant Tucker's eyes. ( )

When you start having dreams that you're in the world of the book you're reading, the author's doing something right. ( )