The second tale "Calliope" is much better, but is still missing that Gaiman magic. It does however, introduce us to one of Sandman's great loves and mother of his only child. It's a good story, but it's unoriginal.

The third tale is the real treat. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes off from a chapter in "Doll's House" where Dream tells William Shakespeare to write 2 plays for him. Shakespeare and his troop of actors perform Midsummer Night's Dream on a grassy hill in the English Countryside for the actual fairies that are represented in the play. It's a wonderful story and the art is just breathtaking.

The last one, "Facade", doesn't include Dream. Instead it focuses on an obscure super-heroine of the 60's and how she longs for a normal life which is granted by Death. It's a moving story, the kind of super-hero tale that only Neil could write. Super powers may be great, but being a normal person would be much more appealing sometimes.

All in all, Dream Country is not the best collection of Sandman stories, but "Midsummer Night's Dream" is the single best Sandman issue and actually won a slew of awards. It's worth checking out for that tale alone.


Great introduction to the series...   July 3, 2002
 17 out of 18 found this review helpful

Yeah, I know it's not the first volume in the series. But I don't think Neil Gaiman really hit his stride until Dream Country. As this collection is a bunch of stand alone short stories, I think it makes an excellent book get people hooked on the Sandman.

There's Calliope, a one-hit novelist's muse really is one of the muses. He rapes and abuses his muse -- bad news when her ex comes to the rescue. Creepy, creepy story. Best of all, the collection includes the script to this story.

A Dream of A Thousand Cats... A charming tale that shows what cats dream of, and why those dreams will never be reality.

A Midsummer Night's Dream .. The real Oberon, Titania and Puck (and other fairies) attend the first performance of Shakespeare's classic play. Simply magical with superb art by Charles Vess.

Facades ... The life of a has-been superheroine. It takes a silly and forgotten character and makes her painfully human.

All of these stories are must-reads -- each told with different styles. What a wonderful way to sample what comics can be.


Work in the Reader's Head   October 5, 1996
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This collection contains two of Gaiman's best short stories. "Dream of a Thousand Cats," with its gorgeous artwork by Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III, is one of the great ironic cat stories. And "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which actually won a World Fantasy Award. The Award committee was so chagrined by the notion of a comic book winning the prize that they changed the rules to prevent such an abomination from ever happening again. Ah, what fools these mortals be. The collection also includes, as a bonus, a copy of Gaiman's script for another story, "Calliope," in which the magician shows us how the illusion is created. In one of his panel descriptions we see the key to his method: "NOW I WANT TO GET ACROSS THE RAPE, AND THE HORROR AND THE DOMINANCE, FAIRLY SUBTLY, DOING ALL THE WORK IN THE READER'S HEAD." Yes, indeed. That's where Gaiman always does his best work. In the reader's head


stories.   September 19, 1999
 6 out of 10 found this review helpful

A collection of four unrelated stories, dream country was just neil taking a break from the big involving storylines and telling a few simple tales. The first story is amusing, and the idea of looking into where writers get their ideas was cool. It ended up a little too much like an episode of twilight zone, but neil seems to like the horror stuff. Dream of a Thousand Cats was...it was unique. I'm not really sure what the point of this story was, so I'll reserve comment. Like a previous reviewer said "the thing about the cats....whatever." The third story "A midsummer night's dream" was the one that everyone seemed to like so much. I thought it was alright,but once you get past the fantastic premise of shakespeares actors performing in front of the faeries and creatures they are portraying, the story doesn't offer much after that, although it was still beautifully written. The final story "facade" about a suicidal ex superheroine. hmm...once again, not sure what the point of this was, but beautfully written, and the ending seemed kinda absurd. Actually, my favorite part of the whole book was the script that neil added for the first story. Being an aspiring comic writer, I found it interesting to see how neil writes his comics. all in all, i suppose its worth the money. but if you are reading the sandman books sequentially, and think that you need to pick up this third volume, don't worry. the short stories contained in here are pretty irrelevant to the rest of the series.


Must-read Sandman short stories   December 29, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

The earliest two Sandman collections are good but the third, Dream Country, is great. The book features four single-issue stories in which the saga's title character, the mystical king of dreams, moves to the background (he is not even in one tale). His preeminence will not be missed, however because one cannot read stories this smart, imaginative, creepy and all around superb and feel that anything is lacking.

The first story is "Calliope," in which a one-hit novelist enslaves an actual muse and becomes as productive and popular as Stephen King. The author is not a cruel person, but he cannot set her free if he wants his flow of ideas to continue. Gaiman provides a thoroughly creepy dissertation on the madness of writers and Kelly Jones' darkly astounding drawings of attics, faces and shadows perfectly complements the tale.

The second is "Dream of a Thousand Cats," in which a feline prophetess shares her vision of a cat-ruled world; one that is open to her brethren if they only believe. Gaiman creates a religious outlook perfect for these slinky, self-satisfied animals and, just as in "Calliope," Jones' art is a major asset. Personality and mystique are translated wonderfully in his cat eyes and cat body language. This is Dream Country's best story and one of the best issues of a comic book series I have ever read.

The third, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," famously won the World Fantasy Award for best short story, the first and only time a comic book has done so. In that tale, Shakespeare and his troupe perform the title play in front of the fairy creatures it is based upon. It is a wonderful parody/tribute to the renowned playwright.

The fourth, "Facade," is one of two times the use of a superhero in a Sandman story works (The other is the story acrh The Kindly Ones, which practically stars Lyta Hall, formerly The Fury). The hero is Element Girl, a sidekick to Metamorpho who vanished in the late 1960s without much notice. "Facade" tells of how her super-powers turned on her, how she became a tormented agoraphobe and how she finally found release.

Dream Country is Sandman at its best; an intelligent and unique series that not only represents comic books at their best, but speculative fiction in general. I cannot recommend this volume more highly.