Bookish Thoughts

The third volume of the Sandman  series isn't an overarching arc at all. Rather it collects four individual stories into a single collection. Given that, I'm going to take each story separately. Calliope:  Initially, this was one of my favorite stories in Sandman . When I was first collecting the series (a process that took me years), I revisited this story again and again. In later years it lost it's shine somewhat, and I became hugely critical of it. Now I think I've landed somewhere in the middle. This is a story of exploitation. Calliope is a muse who has been captured. She's held hostage by an author who literally rapes her as a way of getting new ideas. When he sells her to another author rather than setting her free, as he'd promised, she loses her last shred of hope and asks Dream to help her. My issue with this story basically comes down to Calliope and her treatment, both by the fictional authors who hold her hostage (Erasmus Fry and Richard Mado...

I love a good fairy tale. One of my favorites is Stardust , which I've read and seen several times. My favorite version is the illustrated novel, which includes 175 paintings done by Charles Vess. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous are really add to the fairy tale quality of the book. It's like being a little kid and reading a picture book again, except for the occasionally adult content. Stardust  follows young Tristran Thorn as he goes searching for his heart's desire. Unlike Dorothy, he discovers that it's a lot farther away than his own back yard. Tristran goes off in search of a fallen star, in the hopes that he can present it to young Victoria and secure her hand in marriage. Tristran isn't the only one searching for the star though. A witch is seeking her heart which will grant her additional youth. A trio of brothers are racing to find her; the first one who does will secure the Lordship of Stormwal. And poor Ditchwater Sal would be l...