The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes in Pick-a-Shelf

Feb 12, 2016 Carrie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, dreams, dream-nightmares, library, comic, superheroes

Fantastic

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Mar 14, 2011 Lyn (Readinghearts) rated it really liked it

Shelves: borrowed, 2011-read, ccclib, fantasy, graphic-novel

I just finished my first graphic novel, Preludes and Nocturnes. It is the first volume in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. There are several reasons why I decided to try this book. One of my groups is doing a seasonal challenge where we are asked to read books outside of our normal genres. One of the genres I chose was graphic novels, and since the last few books I have read were not that good, I thought a short one would help get me back into reading. Finally, I have a friend who LOVES graphi I just finished my first graphic novel, Preludes and Nocturnes. It is the first volume in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. There are several reasons why I decided to try this book. One of my groups is doing a seasonal challenge where we are asked to read books outside of our normal genres. One of the genres I chose was graphic novels, and since the last few books I have read were not that good, I thought a short one would help get me back into reading. Finally, I have a friend who LOVES graphic novels and she recommended this series as one of the best. Since I like Neil Gaiman's books, I thought I would give it a chance.

The reason that I don't usually read graphic novels is because, for some reason, I find the "comic book" style format very hard to read. That still held true for this book, especially since the page flow was not consistent from page to page. At times the pages were configured in columns, some of them in rows, and still others in more creative formats. To me, that interferes with the flow of the story.

Another interesting aspect of this book was the different fonts used for each character. At first that took some getting used to, just like the page formats, but in the end, I actually liked this. The separate fonts seemed to give each character their own voice.

Negating the above, though, my difficulty with the format was more than overcome by the story. The beginning novel deals with the story of Dream and how he is trying to rebuild his life after being held captive for decades. I found the references to old comic book heroes, mythology and religion, and magic really helped the story develop. In addition, the characters were interesting, and just enough was revealed about them to leave you wanting more. One of the most fun things, too, was the inclusion of all of the Dream/Sandman themed songs from through out the years. What does it say about me that I was familiar with most of them?

All in all, I am putting this one in the win column, and plan to continue the series and see how the story develops. ...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Sam rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, fantasy, gothic, proper-books

This is the first of the eight Sandman Volumes and introduces many of the characters that we meet later. The story is not the strongest however the illustrations are superbly detailed and really bring the story to life.

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Jan 05, 2011 Slayermel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library, paranormal, series, horror, 20th-century, fantasy, graphic-novels, favorites, witches-wizards, suspense

This is the first in the Sandman series and I have to say I just loved it. I was very surprised to see cross over’s from other favourite characters, such as Batman and Jonathan Crane. That was very exciting for me. It is also very refreshing to read such an adult Graphic novel. Neil Gaiman’s imagination never ceases to amaze me.

This is the story of Dream aka the Sandman, he is captured and enclosed in a glass prison by a wizard looking to prolong his life, and you see the wizard was actually hop ...more

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Feb 11, 2010 BJ Rose added it

Shelves: fantasy, loaned-to-me, sci-fi

What I learned from this book is that graphic novels are not for me. I read it because I made the commitment to do so, but I don't think it's fair for me to rate it; i'll leave that to those who know how to compare this to other graphic novels. ...more

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Feb 25, 2018 Chris C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Excellent start to the series. Thought I hadn't read it but realized as I was going through it that I definitely had but no regrets. Might as well do another read through it. ...more

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Nov 20, 2014 Bea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels-manga-read

Did not expect to like this graphic novel. I am not sure why, but I was pleasantly surprised to fall in love with the story. Like all Neil Gaiman books, the story grew on me. I definitely will pursue the series.

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