[.ca] Sandman, The: World's End - Book VIII (ISBN 1563891719)

From Amazon.com:
When Brant and Charlene wreck their car in a horrible snowstorm in the middle of nowhere, the only place they can find shelter is a mysterious little inn called World's End. Here they wait out the storm and listen to stories from the many travelers also stuck at this tavern. These tales exemplify Neil Gaiman's gift for storytelling--and his love for the very telling of them. This volume has almost nothing to do with the larger story of the Sandman, except for a brief foreshadowing nod. It's a nice companion to the best Sandman short story collection, Dream Country, (and it's much better than the hodgepodge Fables and Reflections). World's End works best as a collection--it's a story about a story about stories--all wrapped up in a structure that's clever without being cute, and which features an ending nothing short of spectacular. --Jim Pascoe

The construct is more important than the tale:
Interesting structure to a series of tales told by travelers stuck at an Inn during a storm. Cantebury Tales was the inspiration and Gaiman employs many levels of stories within stories and even eventually brings the story full circle, which is cheeky. However it seems that the stories were given little precedence and therefore come off very weak. Now part of this is expectation. Fables and Reflections blew me away and may be my fav of the series so I expected this as a series of individual stories to be just as good. So with it being just average I was overly disappointed. There are some good moments and the few appearances of Death and the Endless are captivating. However they are not enough. One note: the end of this book overtly hints at the plot of Kindly One's so if you want to be surprised, read this after that one. I wish Gaiman hadn't done that, myself.

Gaiman does Chaucer:
Like Fables and Recollections and Dream Country, World's End is a collection of individual stories that have little do with the Sandman arc. Unlike its predecessors, however, there is greater continuity between the stories, negating the impressions I had (particularly in Dream Country), that Gaiman just threw together a bunch of cool - but unrelated- ideas and constructed a book. The stories within World's End are all linked to a singular event: travelers gathering 'round and exchanging their weirdest, most interesting tales (admittedly, an almost done-to-death literary device). Gaiman breathes new life into this convention by inserting a dizzying amount of layers into the storytelling function. In a wonderfully witty Introduction, Stephen King compares the collection to "nested Chinese boxes:" stories existing within stories within stories. Gaiman really flexes his writing muscles here, constructing highly imaginative parallel universes that eerily mirror our own world (fans of Gaiman will note that "A Tale of Two Cities" borrows heavily from the essay he wrote for the SIMCITY 2000 game). He also inserts his most shocking plot twist to date at the end of the book, which forms the basis of the last two books on the Sandman collection and is guaranteed to pique the continued interest of the Sandman readership. I really enjoyed the diversity of the art; to note, the visually arresting rectangular and vertically arranged panels done by Alec Stevens in the aforementioned lead story "A Tale of Two Cities;" John Watkiss' crispness and use of clean lines; the tasteful, subdued tones of Michael Zulli and frequent Sandman collaborator Dick Giordano in "Hob's Leviathan." My only wish would have been for the book to be a little longer. Obviously, that's not a critique at all, but a compliment to Gaiman's skills as a writer. But, when you're plunking down $32.95 (Canadian) for a book, it's a little disappointing to get a relatively slim volume.

Eclectic Entertaining and Engaging Short Fiction by a Master:
I guess one would be extremely hard pressed to choose which of the Sandman collections can be considered the best, but I'm going to choose this one. I'm a little biased, because it was these stories which hooked me on the Sandman when the series was still being published in the early 90s. Gaiman is an intensely storyteller with a wide bredth of mythology at his command which he weaves together in the individaul issues reprinted in this collection. The artwork but such luminaries like Mike Allred of later Madman fame (in the mesmerizing story "Prez") enhance the spellbinding words that Gaiman has meticulously crafted for the right affect. The Sandman is best appreciated when read it order the magazine was publihsed, which is difficult to do in the TPB and hardcover editions because some of the stories are reprinted thematically, not sequentially. However, if you are not sure who you will respond to Gaiman, Dream and the rest of the Endless this edition will give you a satisfying glimpse of not just great comic storytelling, but great storytelling. I wouldn't call this fantasy, nor would I dismiss this as "a mere comic book." Gaiman helped elevate the medium with his creation, all fans of the written word and graphic art will enjoy this and all the volumes in the Sandman collection.

Another good one.:
These are good stories. Properly speaking, they are barely 'Sandman' stories: I think the Sandman makes just one cameo appearance. They're still good stories. The format is familiar: strangers wait out a storm at an inn unfamiliar to all of them. They pass the time exchanging stories. OK, it's an old bottle, but Gaiman fills it with new wine. The stories range from the biographical to the fantastic and satiric. The most mythic story, I think, takes place in the politics of a world much like modern America, or maybe 70s America. Mythology isn't about distant times, it's about grand heroes and their quests - I like to be reminded of that occasionally. I usually read comics for the artwork first and writing second. The various artists in this book are all capable enough, but that's not what carries the book. I was quite happy to be pulled along by the story-telling.

Interesting stories:
This is another collection of independent short stories involving dream. Some of them are good, some are bad, but I think the one about the dreams cities have is the most interesting. The artwork changes to an interesting almost art-deco style, and the story is excellent surrealist literature. I would rank this volume above dream country, but below fables and reflections.