Johann (jobis89)'s Reviews > The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House

“For love is no part of the Dreamworld. Love belongs to Desire, and Desire is always cruel.”

Morpheus, the King of the Realm of the Dreams, is back to his full power following the events of Volume 1. Whilst doing a census in his realm, he learns that four of the major players are nowhere in the realm of dreams (which is obviously quite dangerous). And to make matters worse, a Dream Vortex is thrown into the mix!

This volume was a whole lot of fun. I actually struggle to write these reviews, because the whole experience of reading Sandman is very ethereal. It feels like these different strands of storylines are floating around in the air and it’s difficult to really condense and discuss them in a way that makes sense. So bear with me.

Each volume seems to be comprised of contained vignettes that somehow link into the major storyline and further expand upon the Sandman canon. One minute you’re reading about a character who has lived for many, many years and doesn’t want to die, who Dream meets up with every one hundred years in the same tavern. And the next you’re reading about a serial killer convention (this was really the standout part of this Volume for me. Obviously). It’s a bit all over the place at times, and is clearly very philosophical, which can make my brain hurt, but I’m more than willing to give the series the time and patience it deserves.

I really liked the introduction of Rose Walker within this volume. Her search for her brother is very touching and she encounters so many interesting characters throughout her journey that I was always happy to see her pop up. I also appreciate that even though Morpheus is our main protagonist throughout the series, he’s not always “nice”. He’s quite terrifying at times and has to make some tough decisions for the sake of his realm. It’s a little different to the usual set-up and I dig that.

So I’m enjoying my Sandman journey so far but I do worry that I’m missing out on some huge intellectual narrative cos I can be a dumb dumb at times… but we’ll see how that progresses. 4 stars.