The Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

Sandman Series: Preludes and Nocturnes

Title: Preludes & Nocturnes
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 1995 Pages: 235
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 3/5

Preludes & Nocturnes is the first novel in Gaiman's Sandman series. A graphic novel, P&N introduces readers to Morpheus, the Master of Dreams. Imprisoned for decades by a power-hungry man, Morpheus frees himself and attempts to retake various trappings of his profession. Other stories, related directly or indirectly, are interwoven into the narrative.

I was intrigued by the foundation this novel sets up, but I'm not rushing to go out and buy the second. I probably will as I am a bit curious to see where the story goes. I will say this: There is a mini-story in the novel called 24 Hours that is absolutely horrifying. I was so disturbed I read it twice - I like being disturbed; what can I say?

The more I write and think about this novel, the more I find myself feeling kindly towards it if that makes sense. For instance, I just flipped it open and caught this passage:

"People think dreams aren't real because they aren't made of matter, of
particles. Dreams are real but they are made of viewpoints, of images, of
memories and puns and lost hopes."

A wonderful philosophy. So I will go buy the next and see what happens.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

At a Lost for words on just HOW GOOD THIS BOOK IS!

I've been a fan of comic books for years, as well as other areas of literature. However I have never been able to be captivated by fantasy stories...until I read this first volume of Sandman. I still cannot believe just how GREAT THIS BOOK IS! The stories are outstanding, and the ART is beyond Outstanding! I reccomend this book for anyone who was like I was...always being told how good this series was, but for whatever reason kept waiting to read it. Believe me, after reading this first volume YOU WILL want to read more!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of the most interesting

Neil Gaiman is at his best. A MUST BUY

Fantastic Introduction to Graphic Novels.

I just finished my first graphic novel, Preludes and Nocturnes. It is the first volume in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. There are several reasons why I decided to try this book. One of my groups is doing a seasonal challenge where we are asked to read books outside of our normal genres. One of the genres I chose was graphic novels, and since the last few books I have read were not that good, I thought a short one would help get me back into reading. Finally, I have a friend who LOVES graphic novels and she recommended this series as one of the best. Since I like Neil Gaiman's books, I thought I would give it a chance. The reason that I don't usually read graphic novels is because, for some reason, I find the "comic book" style format very hard to read. That still held true for this book, especially since the page flow was not consistent from page to page. At times the pages were configured in columns, some of them in rows, and still others in more creative formats. To me, that interferes with the flow of the story. Another interesting aspect of this book was the different fonts used for each character. At first that took some getting used to, just like the page formats, but in the end, I actually liked this. The separate fonts seemed to give each character their own voice. Negating the above, though, my difficulty with the format was more than overcome by the story. The beginning novel deals with the story of Dream and how he is trying to rebuild his life after being held captive for decades. I found the references to old comic book heroes, mythology and religion, and magic really helped the story develop. In addition, the characters were interesting, and just enough was revealed about them to leave you wanting more. One of the most fun things, too, was the inclusion of all of the Dream/Sandman themed songs from through out the years. What does it say about me that I was familiar with most of them? All in all, I am putting this one in the win column, and plan to continue the series and see how the story develops

Not your average graphic novel.

I had heard of the Sandman comics before, but I had never heard enough of them to go out and buy them. I stumbled across this Volume One when I was surfing the B&N page and thought, since it contains several episodes from the comic, why not buy it and see what all the fuss was about? I didn't know what to think of it at first because the art was strange and felt more than a little old, but it seemed to get better as I read (or I just got used to it). The art work is erratic, at any rate, and always keeps you on edge with its shifting styles. As for the plot, it changes from volume to volume and, though some subjects may be a bit overused, the delivery is always original. There is nudity, violence, sexuality and "drug" use throughout the series -I would rate it at a light 'R'. It may also be offensive to Christians (the fourth volume deals almost exclusively with Lucifer evacuating Hell, Morpheus delegating over a meeting between people who want to buy Hell from him, and God sentencing two good angels to be lords of Hell in place of Lucifer, besides some other handling of Biblical "characters" in other volumes). This first volume is by far my favorite of the series.

Their is none other...

I don't know if anyone can possibly get more inventive than this. The series of the Sand Man is the definition of thinking out side the box. How someone can take the many Gods of myth, along with the Devil and angels of Christianity, and other characters from the bible, 'Cain and Able, were great characters in these stories' mix it all together with deities who were before all of them 'Dream, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Death etc' and create a story that connects them all and runs smoothly till the perfect ending is so amazing to me. Only Gaiman has done this so well and I recommend everyone checking this series out, for this will be a remembered classic in literature for years to come.

wow oh wow

jeez gaiman is a perfect artist. i mean i heard of him when i was reading another book and a goth girl was described by 'typical goth. gaiman obsessed' so i picked one up. he is outstanding

Gaiman Is A Master

When I first forced myself to pick up a copy of Neil Gaiman's work, I was afraid. The feeling of anxiety was there due to the fact that I was not familair with him, I wanted to read something that was compelling and rich, something that was related to mystery and horror with a small grain of fantasy and adventure on the side. And I must say that I was blown away by Gaiman's work, his stories create a feeling of realism, and that builds a very strong personal bridge between the reader of the characters. Gaiman is brilliant at what he does, and he is able to combine individual elements, chilling plot lines, and excellent verbage. I love this book, it is a must read for all book lovers.

Sandman Review

This is easily the best comic I have ever read in my life. I absoulutly love the story and the artwork! Even if you dislike comic books everyone should like SANDMAN.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

neil gainmain virgin

This was the first Gainman book that I read and let me tell you I could not put it down. When i finished it I had to start another one to see what happends next. This is a Great Book and I highly Recommended this book. Trust me I will add more Neil Gainmains books to my new collections of his work.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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