The Sandman Vol 6: Fables & Reflections (1993) Neil Gaiman This may be my favorite Sandman collection. There are several different tales told, some in the past, some in the far past, and all excellent. It starts with “Fear of Falling,” a story of a man who is afraid to succeed. It’s a short story […]
Powers of Detection (2004) edited Dana Stabenow I like fantasies. I like mysteries. So… “Stories of Mystery and Fantasy” sounds like a good thing. Plus Charlaine Harris has a Sookie Stackhouse short story, and that had to be a good thing. Well, it was an okay thing. The Charlaine Harris story was good. In “Fairy […]
Rising Stars: Born in Fire (2001) Power (2002) Fire and Ash (2005) J. Michael Straczynski Wow. When I asked for comic recommendations, Tom gave me several suggestions. The one I found locally was Rising Stars. Initially I only picked up the first volume, however I saw that all three volumes were there, so I figure […]
Maiden, Matron, Crone (2005) Kerrie Hughes and Martin H. Greenberg I try to pick up fantasy anthologies when I see them, since chances are they won’t be there the next time I look. I picked up Maiden, Matron, Crone while ago, but saved it to read during the school year, because short story collections are […]
Death: The Time of Your Life (1997) Neil Gaiman This may be one of favorite Neil Gaiman graphic novels. Foxglove is on tour and Hazel is home with Alvie, the child she was pregnant with in The High Cost of Living. Foxglove is falling apart at the seems, and Hazel has made a deal whose […]
Death: The High Cost of Living (1994) Neil Gaiman It’s hardly a surprise that Neil Gaiman would write a comic about Death. In Sandman she was usually far more likable than her brother, Dream, the hero of the series. In one of the early Sandman episodes we learn that once a century, Death takes corporeal […]
The Sandman Vol 5: A Game of You (1992) Neil Gaiman Barbie, who we first met in The Doll’s House, has moved to New York City after her break-up with Ken. She hasn’t dreamed for two years, when she was pulled into the dream vortex created by Rose Walker, but Barbie’s Dreamworld is not content […]
The Sandman Vol 4: Season of Mists (1991) Neil Gaiman Season of Mists is the story of Dream’s journey to Hell to free Nada, after he is confronted by the fact that he unjustly sent her there ten thousand years before. All the stories in Seasons of Mists are part of a single tale, of […]
The Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country (1990) Neil Gaiman Dream Country is the third book in the Sandman series. In this collection of short stories, Dream is peripheral character for the most part, though in “Facade” Death appears instead. I’m particularly fond of “A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” We have two cats, and I’m […]
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 […]
The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (1989) Neil Gaiman The first volume in the Sandman series, Preludes and Nocturnes tells of Dreams capture by Roderick Burgess, his eventual escape, and his recovery of his bag of sand, his mask, and his ruby. This collection especially makes me feel as if there’s stuff I’m missing, […]
Shakespeare’s Counselor (2001) Charlaine Harris My complaint about this book is that it was too engrossing. I laid down just to read a couple of chapters, and two hours later I found myself two-thirds of the way into the book, and not going to sleep early as I’d planned. Here I felt bad and wanted […]
Assassin Fantastic (2001) edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Alexander Potter I know that Martin Greenberg puts together good anthologies, however there’s something about the “Fantastic” that gets tacked onto the end of each anthology theme title that puts me off for some reason. However, I’ve always been fond of Assassin characters, so I picked […]
Fables Vol 3: Storybook Love (2004) Bill Willingham So apparently I lied. I must pay at least some attention to the artwork in graphic novels, because I really hate the way that Bigby looks in the middle stories here. The way he looks as a wolf is great. I quite like it. But as a […]
Silver’s Edge (2004) Anne Kelleher This book really pissed me off. And the stupid thing is that there was a simple solution that would have made everything okay. That solution? MARK SOMEWHERE ON THE DAMNED BOOK THAT IT IS PART OF A TRILOGY. Up until the last twenty or so pages I loved this book. […]
Shadows of Myth (2005) Rachel Lee A woman awakens amidst carnage, with no memory of what has happened or who she is. Elsewhere, in her father’s inn Sara remembers her lost mother as she helps to prepare for the fall harvest, despite the fact that the harvest was bad and winter seems to have came […]
A Conspiracy of Paper (2000) David Liss It’s 1719. Benjamin Weaver is a Jew and a thief-taker and an ex-boxer, all of which set him apart from the rest of London society, but it is his work as a thief-taker which leads him to the intrigues of the 18th century stock market, as well as […]