[BOOK REVIEW] The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Sandman: Endless Nights

Author: Neil Gaiman

Artists: Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Barron Storey


Genre: Fantasy / Horror


Year Published: 2003


Year Read: 2013


Series: The Sandman #12


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading almost all of Neil Gaiman’s fantastic run on the “Sandman” series (to the point where I called the year 2012 “The Year of the Sandman” since I had spent the year reading the Sandman comics), I wanted to read Neil Gaiman’s latest story on the “Sandman” series, “The Sandman: Endless Nights,” even though “The Sandman: The Wake” was actually considered the final story arc in the “Sandman” series.  “The Sandman: Endless Nights,” which is also a Bram Stoker Award winner and a Locus Award winner, is a fantastic series for any newcomer who wants to learn more about the Endless characters!

This volume is basically detailing seven chapters that deal with the seven siblings of the Endless and how they meet up with several unsuspecting characters in their stories.  The chapters are as follow:

Chapter 1: Death: Death and Venice – artwork by P. Craig Russell

Chapter 2: Desire: What I’ve Tasted of Desire – artwork by Milo Manara

Chapter 3: Dream: The Heart of a Star – artwork by Miguelanxo Prado

Chapter 4: Despair: Fifteen Portraits of Despair – artwork by Barron Storey with designs by Dave McKean

Chapter 5: Delirium: Going Inside – artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz

Chapter 6: Destruction: On the Peninsula – artwork by Glenn Fabry

Chapter 7: Destiny: Endless Nights – artwork by Frank Quitely

For the past few volumes of the “Sandman” series, we were able to really get deep into the dark and mysterious world of Morpheus, better known as Dream of the Endless.  Now, we finally have a volume that is dedicated to all of the siblings from the Endless, most notably Death, Dream’s older sister, Delirium, the youngest sister and Destruction, the brother who left the Endless family over four hundred years ago.  Neil Gaiman has done a brilliant job at writing this volume as we actually get a closer look at not just Dream, but his siblings and I loved the way that Neil Gaiman explored each Endless character in deep detail.  Probably my favorite stories in this volume were “Death and Venice,” “What I’ve Tasted of Desire,” “The Heart of a Star,” and “On the Peninsula” as these stories had the most interesting storylines and really delved into the minds of the characters being presented. Neil Gaiman’s introduction in this volume was probably the best introduction I had read out of any graphic novel (although, I do not normally read the introductions in graphic novels since I easily get bored reading them). Neil Gaiman clearly explains to the readers about why he wrote this volume after his nine year run on the “Sandman” series and it was interesting that Neil Gaiman wanted to do this volume because he wanted to work with different artists while still telling more stories about the Endless.  The artwork in this volume, as with the previous volumes, are extremely well done as there are many different artists working on this volume and they include Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Barron Storey.  Probably my favorite artworks in this volume were done by P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara and Glenn Fabry.  P. Craig Russell’s artwork in “Death and Venice” was extremely well done as the characters look slightly cartoonish, but still have a realistic touch to the characters’ appearances and I loved the way that the colors are done brightly which makes the artwork pleasing to see.  Milo Manara’s artwork in “What I’ve Tasted of Desire” has a brilliant Renaissance Era vibe as the characters are realistic looking and the paintings flow well with the artwork.  Glenn Fabry’s artwork in “On the Peninsula” is truly beautiful as the characters have realistic facial expressions and the environment of the peninsula is amazing to look at.

The reason why I took off half a star is because some of the stories were a bit confusing to read through.  Probably the stories I had the most problems reading through were Delirium’s story “Going Inside” and Despair’s story “Fifteen Portraits of Despair” as the narratives were too complicated to understand since it seems like the stories were being told from a point of view of a crazed mind (although Delirium’s story makes so much sense based on her character).  Also, for anyone who does not like violence and language, this volume does have some gory violence and strong language, although the violence is not as strong in this volume as it was in previous volumes.

Overall, “The Sandman: Endless Nights” is a fantastic book for fans of the “Sandman” series!  Even though “The Sandman: The Wake” is often considered the final volume in the “Sandman” series, this volume is sometimes considered the final volume of the “Sandman” series, even though any new reader to the “Sandman” series can read this to gain a better understanding of the “Sandman” characters as a whole.

* 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative

* 2004 Locus Award for Best Art Book

* 2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Short Story ("Death"), Best Anthology

[BOOK REVIEW] American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Title:  American Gods

Author:  Neil Gaiman

Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 2001

Number of Pages: 465 pages

Date Read: 11/18/2012

Publisher:  Headline Review

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language, Violence and Murder)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

 “There are many Gods in America.  It is just that many people either do not believe in them or see them anymore.  Are they real or not? Only you could decide on that.”

I have been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s works for many years and some of my favorite works done by Neil Gaiman included “Coraline” and the “Sandman” series.  So, when I heard that Neil Gaiman was writing some books for older teens and adults, I just had to check them out and that is where I found “American Gods!”  “American Gods” has won many awards including the Bram Stoker Award, the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and is a World Fantasy award nominee and it definitely deserved all of those awards! “American Gods” is definitely one of the most intense and creative stories I have ever read from the master of storytelling!

The book starts off with a mild mannered man named Shadow, who spent three years in prison for beating up some people.  One day however, when Shadow mysteriously gets an early release from prison, he decided to go home to his wife Laura.  But, when Shadow discovered that Laura was killed in a car accident, his life turned upside down and he did not know what to do with his life without Laura.  It was not until afterwards that Shadow meets a mysterious old man named Wednesday, who wanted Shadow to work for him and Shadow agreed to work for him.  However, as soon as Shadow starts working for Wednesday, he will soon discover that there are many dark secrets abound, which includes not only the people’s faith in Gods, but the fact that there is an upcoming war between the old Gods and the new Gods!

OH…MY…GODS!

There was just so much about this novel that made this a truly electrifying and awesome experience for me!  Neil Gaiman has definitely created a brilliant story that not only revolves around the mysteries of mythical beings, but also plays on the theme about how people’s beliefs in these Gods affected the Gods themselves.  I really enjoyed the characters in this story, especially Shadow as he is shown to be an extremely mild mannered man who does not seem to know what he has gotten himself into.  Shadow may seem a bit awkward at the beginning since he does not seem fazed by the surreal activities that happen around him, but once you get deep into the book; his character arc becomes full of surprises that really shocked me!  I also loved the way that Neil Gaiman wrapped the mythology about Gods into a more modern day setting that begs the question about whether or not people in current times still believe in the old Gods, which helped gave this book a more creative flair.  I really enjoyed how Neil Gaiman was able to make the famous gods like Odin, Czernobog, Anansi and Easter seem like ordinary people as it made guessing which characters are which Gods the more interesting!  I also loved the theme that this book sort of poses for readers as the war in this book is supposed to be between the old Gods (Odin, Czernobog and Anansi) and the new Gods as the old Gods were afraid of being forgotten once the New Gods, who are more up to date with the modern society, become more believable to the people.  To me, it seems like the book was trying to point out about what happens when a society encounters new things that are interesting, like iPads or cell phones, and whether or not, they would forget the old things that they enjoyed in the past like board games and I wonder if the book was stating that you can have both the old and the new things in life as society changes over the years since they are both important your lifestyles (the old things in society helping people remember where they came from and the new things in society letting people see how society has changed over the years).  Now, since I had already read Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, I am already accustomed to his dark storytelling for adults, so the fact that this was my first adult book by Neil Gaiman, I was not really shocked by the dark content presented in this book and it made me really enjoy the book even further!

For anyone who does not like strong language in a novel, this novel definitely has some strong language such as dropping the “f” bomb several times and using the “s” word several times.  Also, this novel has so much disturbing content which includes dead bodies being revived and characters being murdered in a brutal way.  While I did find most of the dialogue to be interesting and amusing, I cannot help but feel that some of the dialogue in this book is a bit too lengthy and they take up so much space in the book that it feels like the book could have been shorter if the dialogue did not go on forever.

Overall, “American Gods” was dark, disturbing and amazing at the same time!  It may have taken me a long time to read through this book (this book has nearly five hundred pages), but it was definitely worth the experience in reading this unique little masterpiece and I would highly recommend this book to any fan of Neil Gaiman’s works!

* 2001 International Horror Guild Award Nominee for Best Novel
* 2001 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel
* 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novel
* 2002 Nebula Award for Best Novel
* 2002 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
* 2002 World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel
* 2002 SFX Award for Best Novel 
* 2002 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Adult Literature
* 2003 Geffen Award
* 2003 Prix Bob Morane for roman traduit

[BOOK REVIEW] Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War by Clive Barker

Title:  Abarat:  Days of Magic Nights of War

Author: Clive Barker

Genre: Fantasy / Supernatural

Year Published: 2004


Year Read: 2012


Series: Abarat #2

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Death and Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Scary, exciting, weird, adventurous, awesome and so many things that describe just how brilliant and horrifying this book really is!

After I had finished reading Clive Barker’s first “Abarat” book, I was just dying to read more of this fantastic and scary world that our heroine, Candy Quackenbush has gotten herself into!  So, I finally got around to reading the sequel “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” and I was just so impressed with what I have just finished reading!  “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is definitely one sequel that you just have to check out!

Candy Quackenbush still continues her adventures at Abarat along with her new friend, a geshrat named Malingo and they traveled among the islands of Abarat together.  Unfortunately, the Lord of Midnight, Christopher Carrion wanted to capture Candy for he senses something unusual about Candy’s presence in the Abarat and he sends the Criss-Cross Man, Houlihan after them.  Now Candy and Malingo are on the run from the Criss-Cross Man but further in the story, Candy soon discovers that Abarat feels familiar to her since she could call out magic spells that she has never learned before and seems to escape danger wherever she is.  The more Candy starts to discover more about herself and her connections with Abarat, the more that she starts to realize the intentions of Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight and those realizations could change Candy’s life forever.

Can I just say that I think that this sequel of the classic “Abarat” series is WAY better than the first book?  I loved the first “Abarat” book just as much, but the second book in the series “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” really got me hanging on the edge of my seat as it was full of action and pure shock value that really got me invested in this book.  Clive Barker has done a fantastic job at making this story extremely exciting and scary at the same time and I really enjoyed the adventures that Candy had when she was on the run from Christopher Carrion and meets new people on her journeys.  Candy Quackenbush has always been a great heroine to me as she is shown to be kind-hearted and brave and I loved the way that she cares so much for her friends and is willing to put her own life on the line in order to save the people she cares about.  I also loved the way that Clive Barker started to unfold Candy’s backstory and how she is connected to the wonderful and strange world of Abarat since I was curious in the first book about how Candy suddenly felt like she belonged in Abarat.  I was pleasantly surprised when the mystery of Candy’s backstory was revealed and now I am more determined than ever to see how Candy handles the new revelations she discovers about herself.  I have mentioned so many times now that this book was a bit scary and that is all thanks to one of the big villains in this story, Christopher Carrion!  I loved the way that Clive Barker really made the readers feel frightened whenever Christopher Carrion comes up in the story and in this book, Christopher Carrion was beyond scary as he tortured many innocent people and the whole idea about living nightmares swimming around his face and eating off of people’s fears whenever they are free was just as disturbing.  I was also interested in learning more about Mater Motley, Christopher Carrion’s grandmother, who seems to be more evil than Christopher Carrion himself, which is saying something because in the first book, she seemed more like a background character, but Clive Barker further developed her character in this book and the results were amazing!  Clive Barker’s illustrations are just as wonderful and surreal in this book as they were in the first book and I loved how all the characters look like from the Abarat as you have images of some characters being a mixture of animals and human beings and the illustrations are wonderfully colorful.  I especially loved the images of Christopher Carrion himself as he looks truly frightening as his face looks like a skeleton and he has worm like creatures swimming in a container he has attached to his face.

This book might be a tad bit more disturbing than the first book since there is more nightmarish imagery and many characters are killed off in this book.  The images of Christopher Carrion are a bit too disturbing especially the images of Christopher Carrion getting angry and his skeletal face is a bit scary for anyone who does not like seeing skeletons in books.  Also, the biggest shock factor for me in this book was the fact that many characters are killed off and that might be unsettling for people who do not like reading about death.

Overall, “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is easily one of the best sequels I have read from any book and now I am definitely looking forward to reading the third book, “Absolute Midnight” just to see how everything goes for Candy after all this!

* 2004 Bram Stoker Award for Young Readers