Are Sandman fans such because they love the characters (Dream, Delirium, etc.) or because they love the writings of Neil Gaiman?

I'd imagine that there are both types, and that most of us are somewhere on a continuum in-between.

I mention this, because those of you who are closer to the "love Gaiman" pole, like myself, will doubtless love this collection of short stories, set in the Sandman universe. On the otherhand, those who are closer to the characters pole might well be disappointed, as they are almost non-existent, here.

Worlds' End concerns a group of travellers, taking shelter from a very strange storm at a pan-dimensional inn, who while away the hours telling stories, a la The Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, Hyperion, etc. While we *could* say that this is a tired cliche, or device, or any number of things that would be unfairly unflattering of Mr. Gaiman, I think, rather, that he's using this structure to make a point. In fact, *within* one of these stories, there is a character who gets into a group that starts telling stories to pass the time. The tale, itself, is a narration of a story being told. And, lest we forget, the whole comic is a story being told from Gaiman to us. Stories, within stories, within stories, within stories, within stories...

I think that, here, Gaiman wants to reflect in part on the role that stories play in our lives. Sandman, here, isn't Dream, but is the Master of Stories (which is pointed out in this volume).

And so, if you're comfortable with the fact that cutie Death will only put in a cameo or two, the question becomes: are these stories any good?

My answer--yes, they're good.

Another strong book in an amazing series. Five stars.

_There is an inn at worlds' end. It is a place beyond space and time where all realms, all planes, intersect. Some travelers between the worlds come there willingly, but others find themselves driven there by reality storms- storms caused by events that disturb the very fabric of the cosmos itself. That is the case with the guests on this night. They find themselves trapped, and by immortal custom, obliged to pay for their keep with their best stories.

_The first of these stories is "A Tale of Two Cities." It deals with a man trapped in a dream city- or is it the dream of a sleeping city?

_The second story "Cluracan's Tale" tells of the mission of Cluracan, Ambassador of the Queen of Faery to the mortal world. It teaches why it is both unwise to attempt to combine temporal and spiritual power- and to offer disrespect to the Fair Folk.

_Tale three "Hob's Leviathan" is from the last days of working sail upon the high seas- and of those who walk among us who are not what they seem.

_The fourth "The Golden Boy" is the myth of Prez Rickard- born to be America's greatest president. His nemesis is "Boss Smiley" (interesting that this symbol of corruption and evil is based on the symbol of Wal-Mart....)

_Finally, there is the story "Cerements", of the great necropolis Litharge. This is a city whose entire reason for existance is to render respectful last rites to the dead. Even the Endless trust their cerements to the inhabitants of this city.

_And after all the tales are told the guests at the inn are granted a vision of the event that is powerful enough to create a storm to shake all their worlds....

Neil Gaiman, Sandman: Worlds' End (DC Comics, 1999)

Worlds' End, the eighth book in the Sandman series, shows the increasing fragmentation of the main characters' stories, as we get another book that only tangentially has anything to do with the Endless. That said, the possible disintegration of the overarching story arc does nothing to diminish the quality of this fantastic series.

Brent and Charlene are driving through rural Illinois when a snowstorm blows up. This would not be strange, save that it's the middle of June. The car is wrecked, and the two of them eventually come to the Worlds' End Inn, a place between the worlds where travelers caught in out-of-the-ordinary storms come to rest and exchange stories until the storm ends. That's the frame, anyway; the actual book is stories within stories within stories. And while the stories themselves are fascinating glimpses into both new worlds and those we already know, what is most interesting about this book is its construction, the way in which we go levels deep into stories without ever getting confused as to where we are and how far down we've gone; everything works surprisingly well for this sort of narrative.

This probably shouldn't surprise me, given that Sandman has a well-deserved reputation for brilliance. This book is one of those that truly showcases it. ****

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is one of the greatest comic books of all time. Alan Moore may have started the comic-book-as-art movement, but Neil Gaiman made it more accessible by setting his stories in the common world of Myth. Sandman is the comic book that English teachers (should) love, a story that blends both popular and obscure myths and stories of Egyptian, Greek, and other cultures into an entertaining story backed by poignant and timeless philosophy.

That being said, I don't like this book nearly so much as some of the others. "World's End" centers on several travelers who find themselves unstuck from their native universes and they pass the time telling stories together. Like "Dream Country," this is not a story but rather a series of largely conflict-less vignettes, and I don't enjoy those nearly so much as the mythic epics like "Brief Lives" and "Season of Mists." In those stories, there is a sense of adventure, but in these short story collections I feel like I am just witnessing Neil Gaiman ramble on about some weird thought he had, a thought that is intriguing but doesn't really go anywhere.

This is of course personal preference, but I think it is best exemplified by the "Prez" story. Our narrator meets a man who tells her a story about an alternate universe President of the U.S. This president was beloved by the people but discovered that he was put in power by a guy named Mr. Smiley, who has a smiley face for a head. That's pretty much the whole story. For this pointless bunch of words to be lodged squarely between "Brief Lives" (a fantastic and thoughtful book where someone dies) and "The Kindly Ones" (a world-shattering book where someone else dies), I don't know, I have to admit that I was kind of bored. I didn't really know why I was being told the things that I was being told, and felt generally unsatisfied.

I like the end of "World's End" very much, when we discover why these people have found themselves at the end of the world, and when we learn what happens to them afterwards, but I didn't much enjoy getting there. I got this one out of the library, whereas I bought many of the other ones, because that's pretty much what it was worth to me.