I enjoyed Preludes and Nocturnes so much that I was pretty sure I would enjoy The Doll’s House, the second volume in The Sandman comics. I am impressed by how Gaiman built on his story and pushed it in a new direction, one that makes me excited to continue the series.
Dream has been restored, but now he must work to protect his kingdom from a dream vortex that threatens to invade others’ dreams and rip his world apart. Simultaneously, Rose Walker and her mother have been reunited with her long-lost grandmother. Just as their reunion occurs, Rose tries to find her lost brother Jed. Her search takes her to a strange house filled with bizarre tenants whose dreams defy even their existences. Rose’s search takes her to a convention that ends up being filled with serial killers, and there, Rose’s path coincides with Dream’s in a confrontation that will shake them both.
What I liked about this sequel is the way that Gaiman explores the contrast between our selves and our dreams. The tenants of the house experience a variety of dreams in a mixture of images and text that give the dreams personality and flair. You feel like you get to experience the dream yourself, which is impossible to imagine in the written word. I think that’s what’s best about the graphic novel–the story has a sense of texture that you miss in a regular text. Gaiman uses his storytelling skills to maximum capacity here, and I am eager to continue the series.
