I still think it's the best character name ever :). I refer, of course, to Dream of the Endless. Although I suppose all in all that is the more general name, with The Sandman and Morpheus being the names more specifically used to refer to His Darkness. Although now I'm not so sure about The Sandman... Let's just say that in my mind The Sandman dresses in black, and we'll leave it at that.
When, back in 2017, I finally bought the box set of The Sandman, I started off with the expected rush, ploughing through the first five books in no time. Then, somehow, I imagine partly because I like that book just a little less than the others, but also circumstances (aka a fair bit of hectic international travel where I wasn't willing to carry the books around), I stopped part way through Fables and Reflections. It was only once I finished with Ready Player One and then Odd and the Frost Giants and still didn't have the Malazan Empire novels in hand that I thought this would be the perfect time to rectify this great wrong! (I mean, what kind of a person lets copies of The Sandman sit around at home unread?!)
So for the last three weeks I've been back in the world of Dream. And the Endless. I feel this is a story I could immerse myself in again and again and again. Some of the individual stories, as on the first time of reading, I found less interesting than others. The majority though, I was mesmerised by. But it is the overall arc of the story that I find most irresistible and the thing that draws me in each time.
While I remembered the overall shape of some of the stories, most of the details had not survived the five year gap between the last reading and this one. Which was most excellent :). Rediscovering the little details, stories within stories. Characters I'd thought long lost in some earlier issue resurfacing. Sometimes as central to the present part of the story, but more often merely in passing.
Layers upon layers upon layers. Mist, myth, dream and the thinnest wisps of reality. Or maybe more of reality than one might be willing to readily admit.
The ending was, as before, an emotional roller coaster... What can you say. Dream is Endless. But none can, ultimately, resist change.
I had, when starting to read the hard copies two years ago, thought it would be a great idea to start with Overture, then read the ten collections, Endless Nights and finally, Overture again. But somehow, having finished with Endless Nights yesterday, I figured I'd just stop. For now :).
And thus it is that this morning on the train I had with me Night of Knives. It's only been what? A month and a bit? Since I last set foot (so to speak) onto the Malazan world. But in some ways it felt far away. Weird, I thought :). But there was a definite sense of comforting familiarity welcoming me back. I, for one, would not have expected Edgewalker to be the first familiar character to show up :D.
PS. I should maybe mention here that, in the end, I thought I'd designate Ready Player One a better book than film (minus the yucky Art3mis - Parzival interlude between gate 1 and key 2). I also thought Odd and the Frost Giants was typically Gaiman, and by this I mean brilliant, thoughtful and thought provoking.
