The Kindly Ones (Sandman, Books 9) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

In Frank McConnell's introduction to this particular corner of the Sandman Library, he lets us non-literary critic types in on a little deal called "post-modernism". He defines it as "letting the reader know you're conscious of what you're doing at the very time you do it." And you guessed it, these little ins-and-outs of Neil Gaiman's thought process run rampant through this volume, thanks mostly to an aspect of the three-in-one goddess, the fates. The seamstresses of lives, and the writers of destiny. The ladies are there to comment at the beginning, and the end of this story, and all throughout, as well. As are another aspect of the three (but not exactly them, of course. You and I are not a hand, or tooth or eye, but we have all of those IN us), the Furies/Kindly Ones.

When her infant child Daniel goes missing and is apparently killed, Lyta Hall blames Dream, and, in a waking dream-journey of insane and mythic proportions, (aided in no small part by that conniving little former lover of Dream's, Larissa,) Lyta happens across the Kindly Ones, and sets them on Morpheus. Not because of responsibility for Daniel's disappearance, but for mercy-killing Orpheus (spilling of family blood and all that.).

Meanwhile, Loki & Robin Goodfellow, who are actually behind the child's disappearance, are being tracked down by the reformed (in more than one way) serial-killer nightmare The Corinthian, and Dream's raven sidekick, Matthew.

Drawing some lightness into this otherwise dark tale are Rose Walker & Delirium's quests for things lost along their travels. For Rose, it's her heart, in a journey that leads her into a rather embarrassing moment at an airport, an unusual game of draughts, and that dank basement in Fawney Rig where our story began, meeting with her Grandparent, Desire.

Delirium, on the other hand, makes her way around the worlds looking for her dog, Barnabas. Her chit-chat with Dream about some of those things she's said all along that she know that no one else knows, is one of my fave bits. And, thankfully, bumps into Lucifer at his new nightclub, where has a nicely human chat with the young lady about his past encounters with her brother. And he refuses to play a selection from "Cats", for one of his patrons, even when offered a bribe. The walking incarnation of evil, maybe, but at least he's got taste.

The Furies, by the by, are attacking the Dreaming, killing its residents. As long as Dream doesn't leave, though, no true harm can come to the land. Better take the phone off the hook, there, Lord Shaper. In the end, though, events take place so that there's only one option left to the Dream King: Taking his sister's hand. And the grand plans he's had for Daniel Hall finally come to fruition.

At first, this book came as a minor disappointment to me. Neil's in top form, of course, taking fantasy, humanity, and soap opera and mish-mashing them together seamlessly. Marc Hempel & Teddy Kristiansen's art, while an unusual choice, works great, and is among some of the best and most expressive in the series. The surprising amount of detail in facial expressions comes in handy in the final couple of chapters. Kevin Nowlan's terrfic-looking prologue introduces the characters well. But the disappointment came, in part, because I chose to read this before most of the earlier books and I was a wee confused. Nickel's free advice: DON'T DO THIS. Lots of the plot points went over my head, as well as the conspiracy surrounding Loki & Puck. Gaiman explains in his afterword that he didn't explain this on purpose, and neither will I, though I'm pretty sure I know it. So, yes, now I have a greater appreciation for this book.

And in the end, what does that leave you with? A handful of yarn, of course. Same old story.

Now, here's a more analyzing, less gushing side to why I love this so much. Let's start with the art. The art is amazing. It's a big change from the basic comic style of the other Sandman novels. This one is very expressionistic and the lines are very simple and nearly abstract. It makes a few characters hard to recognize until they're called by name, but it adds wonderfully to the drama, and a few characters look better than ever before(Delirium especially, not to mention ole Murphy and Death). The overlying drama is in the form of a towering tragedy, and it is in The Kindly Ones where we finally see the developments of everything that came before match up to drive home a truly powerful feeling. And the elusive, "is it good" criteria? This one went off the charts for me. And the end...oh, what an end. I _don't_ cry(Not because I'm some overly macho guy. I wish I could, but I'm so dead inside...thank you Neil for making me FEEL.), but I felt those tear ducts on the verge of pouring out years of unshed tears of pain and joy and affirmation and...didn't I already list those off?

In short, though short will never do justice to it, The Kindly Ones is the best story from the best series by my favorite author: no mean feat at ALL to be all of those. Please, pick this up after the first 8 Sandman graphic novels. Comics aren't just for kids anymore, and this one is too achingly beautiful to go unshared. Neil Gaiman is truly a god in his field and must be worshiped accordingly :). Enjoy!

Enough about me. "The Kindly Ones" is the climax of this vast saga about the imagination. It's incredible that a story that was basically written on the fly could be brought to such a grandly symphonic and yet intensely moving end - even though it's not really an end. I mean, I write plays for a living, and wild horses with voluptuous succubi on their backs couldn't persuade me to try and come up with a new and brilliant episode per month. And yet, Gaiman did it.

If you haven't read the previous episodes it's not going to make a hell of a lot of sense, but basically what we're talking about here is a story about a man who's also a sort of god (Dream) and his realisation that he's not really able to change. The previous stories, written as the mood and the necessities of the plot came to Gaiman, are brought together here with fantastic skill and generosity. It's funny (Lucifer plays cocktail piano in a bar in LA), violent (a perfectly innocent minor character is burned to death for no better reason than a Norse god's caprice) and immensely sad; the recurring leitmotif is "All good things must come to an end", and you can sense that Gaiman is slowly and inexorably winding up this huge, sprawling, vastly entertaining and wonderfully intelligent story. And it's here, in The Kindly Ones, that the Sandman comics achieve story-hood; so many other comics glow and blaze and fade and disappear (or more frequently, fail to disappear - why did Doom Patrol need to continue after Grant Morrison gave it up?), but the Sandman is one of the few true modern epics. I can't think of a single "serious" novel published between 1989 and 2000 that aimed so high and hit so sure.

I sympathise with a previous reviewer who said that it came as close to making him cry as anything has done in his adult life (well, I've cried since I've passed 18, but not over a fiction.) The fact that it was followed by the marvellously mellow, bittersweet "The Wake" is an extra bonus. Fantastic stuff. It got me reading comics again for the first time in ages.