The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll’s House

The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll’s House (1990) Neil Gaiman

There is a vortex in the Dreaming, that Dream must control before it destroys the Dreaming. He must also find four of the major arcana that have wandered from the Dreaming: Brute and Glob, the Corinthian, and Fiddler’s Green. Meanwhile, Rose Walker searches for her younger brother, and discovered that she has a before unknown grandmother–Unity Kinkaid.

I particularly like two stories, neither of which was part of the current story line: “Men of Good Fortune” tells of Hob Gadling, who decides not to die, and “Tales in the Sand” is the story of Nada, who we saw very briefly when Dream went to Hell in Preludes and Nocturnes.

In both “Tales in the Sand” and “Playing House” Dream is a jerk to Nada and to Lyta, taking actions that will come back to haunt him later. I find that interesting, because I tended to forget that Dream could be so unpleasant to those who were not necessarily deserving of his wrath. Possibly because similar actions that he took in Preludes and Nocturnes were justified, and because he showed more mercy to John Dee than Dee deserved.

“Collectors” I mostly skipped this time. I know the Corinthian is scary. I don’t really want to be reminded of it, especially since I’m a big wimp.

But mostly Dolls House sets the stage for the later events, and explains why things happen the way they do. Interestingly, I’d forgotten how many scary/gruesome stories were in this series. “The Collectors” “24 Hours” and I know there are more later on. It’s odd that those parts weren’t what stuck in my mind, despite the fact that such stories usually bother me, and linger for days or even weeks, in the back of mind.
Rating: 7/10

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