The Sandman: A Game Of You (The Sandman #5) by Neil Gaiman

"The story of Barbie (former wife of Ken and fellow boarder with Rose Walker in Florida) and what her dreams are made of, literally. Though I'm sure it will end up being connected to the series in the grand scheme of things, this volume just felt like filler and just didn't feel necessary."

2 Stars

Pros: The connection between Barbie/Foxglove and previous volumes was interesting but it didn't make it interesting enough to make me fly through this volume.

Cons: It didn't felt connected to the storyline as a whole, it just felt like Dream Country, shoved in the middle of the series for no real reason that I can see.

Full Review:

Lucien announces to Morpheus that a small islet in the Dreaming is dying. It turns out that this islet is "the Land" which has been what Barbie (the former wife of Ken and fellow boarder with Rose Walker earlier in the series) has dreamed her entire life.

After the Vortex was destroyed, Barbie admits to no longer having dreams. And it turns out that the creatures in her dreams, longtime friends such as Martin Tenbones and others, and the evil entity in "the land" the Cuckoo are suffering because she isn't dreaming. The Land is dying, the Cuckoo is determined to flee and take over the dreams of others. The Porpentine, which is a recurring item in Barbie's dream is actually a Dream stone and when Barbie falls asleep the night after seeing Martin Tenbones, in the flesh, in New York, she finds herself trapped in her dreams.

The other boarders in her house, a couple Hazel and Foxglove and a quiet, mysterious woman named Thessaly, travel into Barbie's dream to try and save her. Morpheus shows up at the end, letting "the land" die and fade away into so much sand. And he offers Barbie a boon. She asks that they all be able to return home, safe and sound and for the most part, that's what happens.

The consequences to the waking world are a different matter though.

Though this volume connected to earlier volumes because it dealt with Barbie, for the most part, this just felt like filler. There was no real story, nothing that felt connected to anything else aside from the fact that Barbie knew Rose Walker. In the same vein that Dream Country was just a collection of stories, this too felt kind of out of place and like it was just shoved in there for no real reason.

It wasn't my favorite installment but I have a feeling that it will somehow connect later events, so I'll keep on reading.

Comments

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