The Sandman: Dream Hunters Book

When, in 1996, Neil Gaiman laid his acclaimed Sandman series to rest after seven extraordinarily successful years, the fans lamented. And with good reason: its influence on the comic book industry was immeasurable; the harbinger of a renewed literary acceptance for the medium. Gaiman had expertly fashioned a vivid Gothic fantasy world that mixed the majesty of folklore with the horrors of modern life. The rich tapestry of stories that unfolded focused on a lonely Byronic figure called Morpheus, ruler of the amorphous world of our dreams. With The Dream Hunters, fans can rejoice as Gaiman returns to his signature work with a haunting fable of love, devotion and betrayal set in Ancient Japan. A lone monk spends his days tending to his temple garden, when he meets a Fox, a beautiful woman in human form, who becomes trapped within the monk's dreams. To save her, the monk must travel to the Realm of the Sandman and face a terrible choice between love and death. Meanwhile, a sinister magician makes nefarious plans against the pair to achieve his heart's desire. On this occasion, Gaiman's evocative prose is paired with the ethereally beautiful paintings of Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. And what a pairing it is; this is a prime example of creative symbiosis if ever there was one. True, the story is slight, but Gaiman weaves his own magic of letting simplicity harbour a wondrous complexity that lurks in the background, wonderfully rendered by Amano. Fans will be delighted by this comeback, while others can be captivated by Gaiman's assurance that popular culture cannot displace old-fashioned tales of magic and wonder. --Danny GraydonRead More