Sandman, The: The Kindly Ones - Book IX

[empressbrooke]

I've rated both this and [b:The Sandman Vol. 7 Brief Lives|25105|The Sandman Vol. 7 Brief Lives|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167577136s/25105.jpg|25855] 5 stars, but I think I liked Brief Lives better, for the sole reason that it contained more scenes with Delerium. Here, Delerium is searching for someone again, this time her talking dog Barnabas, and the scene where they're reunited was charming as all get out.

Practically every other character we've met along the way shows up in the Kindly Ones, and it was just more proof that Gaiman is the master of making everything he writes have a purpose. It was very, very impressive how it all tied together. I know that some people say you can read most of these as stand-alones, but the pay-off for following them in order is not to be missed.

I haven't mentioned Morpheous much in my reviews, despite the series being named after him. I'll take a moment now to say that his evolution as a character is very subtle, but very well done. The scene between him and his big sister Death towards the end were beyond touching.

I'm not sure how I waited so long to read this series (that is a lie, it took me forever to realize that libraries carry comics, and I couldn't afford to buy them all before), but thank goodness I finally did.