Ratings72
Average rating4.3
One of the most popular and critically acclaimed graphic novels of all time, Neil Gaiman's award-winning masterpiece The Sandman, is finally being collected for the first time in deluxe hardcover format. Illustrated by an exemplary selection of the medium's most gifted artists, the series is a rich blend of modern and ancient mythology in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven. This first book collecting Neil Gaiman's genre-defining series about the Dream King in a new deluxe edition series featuring an oversize hardcover format and bonus content. Collects the first two paperback volumes of the critically acclaimed series Sandman, issues 1-16, and Sandman Midnight Theatre 1.
Series
2 primary booksSandman Audible Original is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Neil Gaiman.
Reviews with the most likes.
Captured by a cult for nefarious reasons, the King of the Dream realm lies within a crystal prison. Morpheus bides his time, denying the cult even the sound of his voice. After all, what is a human life to one of the endless? But as Morpheus waits for his chance to escape, his realm is collapsing. When at long last the moment of escape arrives, Morpheus finds he has much work to do. Revenge is only the beginning of his tale. Morpheus must collect his stolen tools, rebuild the Realm of Dreams, and capture his freed nightmares.
The audiobook for The Sandman was remarkable. While the story is primarily dialogue-based due to its origins as a graphic novel, there was no confusion or lack of detail evident in the audio recording. The settings were created by a combination of ambient sounds and vocal clues from the characters within them. And the voice acting was so well done, bringing the various characters and creatures to life with unique dialects and accents. There were some moments I found it hard to understand certain characters due to their way of speech, but it made them feel all the more authentic.
The Sandman is not a tale for those faint of heart. Neil Gaiman spares no details as he dives into the dark side of humanity. From humans that will create nightmares to amuse themselves, to the nightmares themselves that use humans for entertainment. There are many facets of savagery and violence shown. Morpheus does what he can to amend the wrongs brought to those undeserving. However, if anyone so much as crosses Morpheus or brings harm to innocents, he will not hesitate to bring about his form of justice. Some may even find themselves living an eternal nightmare.
A few plot lines are left hanging in the balance by the end of this collection. Any story with planned sequels should have some amount of mystery left to solve. But there are characters introduced early on who did not quite line up with the story direction. For instance, there is the universe’s attempt at creating a Sandman when Morpheus is imprisoned. The new hero is a mortal who puts villains to sleep for a swift capture. But as Morpheus’ story progresses, the Sandman fades away. In later chapters, Morpheus takes up the title instead. I hope to see some of the loose ends tied up in later volumes. There is much left to explore in the world of The Sandman.
While I am not a graphic novel reader, I enjoyed the tie-in to the DC Universe. Fans of DC will certainly enjoy the cameo appearances of familiar characters. The Sandman is a thrilling and fast-paced adventure into the heart of humanity’s darkness. With much lore left to discover and a cast of characters yet to be fully realized, I look forward to the second audiobook.
Originally posted at www.behindthepages.org.
This was such an amazing listening experience. So excited to have the incomparable graphic novels brought to life in my ears. Check out my full review here. https://youtu.be/u6gOu1ogzPU
Ideally I would give this 3.5 stars, but I've decided to round up because it really was a hell of a ride.
The pros:
- The sound design was incredible. It was immersive and well-balanced (at least it was in my AirPods, can't speak to other sound options) and I loved the dimension of it.
- The voice actors were all very good. All of the characters felt incredibly alive.
- It's Neil Gaiman. ‘Nuff said.
The cons:
- It's a bit odd to binge through. It is very episodic, which makes sense coming from comics but can be jarring for an audiobook, especially when some of the episodes are very connected with seemingly no break in storyline while others jump decades or continents without warning and the characters only sometimes reappear.
- The mouth noises. One of the characters eats prominently in an episode and I almost had to turn it off. Very gross. (Although this does speak to the good sound design again, so...)
That said, I will definitely be continuing on to part two.
It is a radio drama of The Sandman. They did in soundscape what the artist did with drawings. Thought it was not the complete work.