The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
11 journalers for this copy...
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The first book of the amazing Sandman Series which contains 10 books altogether as well as a kind of unofficial 11th book.
I would like to make the whole series a Ring Spiral. The "rules" are as follows:
- There will be a maximum of 10 participants from as many different EU-countries as possible.
- I will select participants according to their own bc activity. I would prefer people who have hosted or are hosting their own rings and who are active on the forums. This is to prevent the books from being lost on their journey - they were simply too expensive and I love them too much.
- I will send the first book out to the first participant who will then pass it on to Nr. 2 and so on.
- As soon as the first book is released by the 5th participant I will send out the 2nd book.
- As soon as the first book is back with me I will send out book 3 and so on...
So the faster you pass them on the sooner you will get the next one.
- Before I send out the next book in the series I might contact all participants whether they are still interested in the next round.
- Please keep the books for a maximum of three weeks. They are all graphic novels and don't take that long to read. If you are too busy once it is your turn please PM me and I will move you further to the end. I cannot do this too often though as that would mess up the spiral system.
- It kind of goes without saying but please please handle the books with great care. Thank you!
- As this will be a long term commitment if you want to read all 11 books please consider carefully before signing up. If you change your mind along the way please let me know.
- I'm afraid I will have to cancel the spiral though if one book gets lost. I can afford to replace one book but don't want to pay for more.
participants (order will slightly change for each book in the series):
1. SerendipityN (Germany)
2. Xirxe (Germany)
3. Tsjara (Netherlands) please post to Nr. 5: KiwiinEngland!
(4. Esme-Weatherwax (Ireland) only Season of Mists (Book 4), World's End (Book 8) and Endless Nights (Book 11))
5. KiwiinEngland (Ireland/UK) kindly offered to take the books across the UK/Ireland border
6. Nell-Lu (UK)
7. MKtiny (UK)
8. Vekiki (UK)
9. Lunacia (Norway)
10. Appelsiini (Finland)
11. vedranaster (Croatia)
and back to me
Link to The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
In the book store I used to work I was responsible for the manga and comics section. Unfortunately we didn't have the space or the customers to sell comics and/or graphic novels of this kind. Flipping through the catalogues of publishing houses like Panini, Cross Cult or Splitter I discovered a lot of things I found very intriguing, though. The first thing I got was the first part of the adaption of Stephen King's The Stand, but apart from that I hadn't read any graphic novels yet.
So I'd really been looking forward to reading this and I wasn't disappointed. The story's interesting and gripping. It reminded me of how I used to read and love ghost story comics when I was younger. I was surprised at the number of other comic book characters which appear in the Sandman's story. Some I recognized (like John Constantine or Jonathan Crane; in white cause I don't wanna spoil the surprise) but I guess there are some references I didn't get.
Tomorrow I'll send the book on to Xirxe. Luckily I have enough other stuff to read until the next volume begins its journey.
Thank you very much for the ring!
Released 13 yrs ago (8/31/2010 UTC) at Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
26. September 2010
Finally! Here my comment:
Neil Gaiman was known to me first as a children's book author, before I came into contact with his novels through a friend. I was enthusiastic and so came to the Sandman series, which did not disappoint likewise.
A megalomaniacal cult leader tried to capture death, but instead ends up Dream, The Sandman in his captivity. People feel that something strange is going on, but no one is aware why. After a seemingly endless time The Sandman manages to escape and he begins to search for his gear ...
The story is a wonderful melange of reality and mysticism, fantasy at its best, soon you realize how incredibly important for everybody individual dreams are. The accompanying images drawn in a congenial way simply to designate as a comic is a gross understatement. These are incredibly detailed pictures, down to the last tiny precise which exactly reflect the atmosphere and the content of the text. Some of the drawings could almost be described as paintings. I'm looking forward to the next books I will read and view in any case.
With all the enthusiasm, why not the full score? Some of the stories seemed a little too intendendly, the inclusion of all the superheroes, for example. But eventually these are only trifles...:-)
Released 13 yrs ago (9/7/2010 UTC) at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Enjoy reading it!
(Hmm.. and I don't know why, but when I saw the sandman, I thought that was how Neil Gaiman must look like in a cartoon :p) Oh and the last story was my favorite (Death is very funny).
I have KiwiinEngland's address, will mail it out this week.
Released 13 yrs ago (10/8/2010 UTC) at Assendelft, Noord-Holland Netherlands
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Happy reading!
I am looking forward to seeing how the story continues and the author/drawers develop.
I really didn't like the foreword piece (actually, I just didn't understand it. The person was saying Gaiman wanted to create the Sandman series but wasn't allowed too, yet here we have the Sandman series book.) And the piece at the end by Gaiman seemed to be a get out clause.
Released 13 yrs ago (11/5/2010 UTC) at Manchester, Greater Manchester United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Posting to Nell-Lu in Edinburgh on Guy Fawkes day.
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Oh, and I'm excited to finally get the chance to read The Sandman. I've been meaning to for ages. It's next up to be read. Thanks for sharing, LilyKlip.
I liked the final story ("The Sound of her Wings") for the appearance of Death, who is very cool, as I'd been looking forward to that since she was mentioned in the introduction. I also rather enjoyed "A Hope in Hell" for the triumvirate ruling Hell, although I thought Dream's mission was achieved a little too easily. Overall, the format of each of the monthly comics means that story arcs are shorter than I'd prefer, but Gaiman does a good job of keeping the overall arc going throughout.
I don't know the DC world, so references that weren't completely obvious were totally wasted on me. I liked the Batman stand-up comedy routine, though...
Sent off to Vekiki yesterday. Thanks for sharing, LilyKlip
Just to reassure you - book is still in tip top condition, I would never have guessed I was so far down the ray.
I really enjoyed this, and am very much looking forward to more. It;s my first graphic novel that I;ve read all the way through - I have tried others and given up - but thsis was really excellent, very readable, interesting - some excellent images (to my untutored eye) and, whilst not the most earth-breaking overall plot - told with some new idea thrown in
Just a not to previous readers: Please make sure the books don't smell of perfume. :( This does, and I'm reacting to it. :((( (I'm allergic).
Released 13 yrs ago (2/10/2011 UTC) at Valkeakoski, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Yay! The book (well, graphic novel really) arrived this morning!
And it looks wonderfully Gaimanly weird. This'll be a real treat!
Thank you Appelsiini for sending the book over, and a HUUUUUGE thank you to you LilyKlip for letting me join this fabulous ring so late in the game. :)
Finished reading the book this morning.
I didn't want to rush through it, I savoured it all the way through.
I love the narrative parts because I can hear Gaiman's voice in them. If you've ever heard Neil read excerpts from his works you'll know what I mean. He has a very specific way of reading his narratives, making many pauses and stressing certain words, etc. The short and to the point sentences in the narrative of the comic fit perfectly with that voice. So much so that I can actually hear his voice reading it in my head.
This being the beginning of the Sandman story and Gaiman still looking for his voice, for Dream's voice, there were parts which felt "constructed" and which did not flow as much as I expected, but by the end of the book, I could really feel Gaiman growing into the story and the characters. And at the end of Vol. 1 Gaiman actually confirms this, confirms what I felt reading this first book in the series.
So I guess, the best is yet to come. Hooray!
I am now hooked and am seriously looking forward to Sandman books still ahead of me. :)
LilyKlip, thank you so much for sharing this!
Released 13 yrs ago (3/8/2011 UTC) at Zagreb, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Croatia
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
The book is now on its way back home, looking forward to reuniting with LilyKlip. :)
Thank you everyone for treating the book with so much care. It doesn't look any different from when I sent it out!
Vedranaster: thanks again for your message and your concern. The book is fine and was well wrapped ;)
I will send Volume 3 out this week as book 2 has already passed the halfway line.
Hope you keep enjoying them!