I finished Fables & Reflections last weekend and thought yesterday would be a prime opportunity to pick up the next volume at a bookstore downtown. Yes, the second-to-last shopping day before Christmas. Great idea. The bookstore was packed and alas, only copies of the first volume of the Sandman remained on the shelves. I left without purchasing anything, despite the many tempting journals on the ground floor.
I believe this is as far as I’ve ever gotten in the Sandman. In high school, I asked the local library to borrow the volumes from other libraries. It always took weeks before the next volume arrived, so eventually I grew discouraged and stopped. Then the summer after my senior year when I had no bills but a nice cashflow from working 20 hours a week at Subway, I didn’t think to finish the series.
Fables & Reflections was an interesting journey through the pages of history. It didn’t really advance Dream’s story at all, but it was filled with gorgeous imagery and interesting characters and scenarios. I especially enjoyed seeing all of the Endless in one place for the first time; I believe in the main narrative that I’ve yet to see Destruction.
One of my favorite things about Dream is that he’s flawed, he often lets his stupid pride get in the way of acting as he should. I relate to that, despite my mortal limitations. I also enjoy seeing him as envisioned by different artists, or by different characters with different religious views and so he fits differently into each of their pantheons. I think it’s a fine metaphor for the way each of us looks different and is something different to each of the people we interact with.
That said, Merry Christmas Eve. Happy writing and reading!
Lukas Rowland 