Finally, the end of the journey. This is where it all culminates, all small plot strings join into the grand finale. This is probably the best book of the series... or a close second! ( )

I haven't written a review of the previous books in this series, because I was mentally treating them all as one bigger story. After reading this one, though, I needed to get my thoughts down.

I've enjoyed the stories so far - interesting, slightly disturbing, and yet entrancing. It is really interesting to see the different artists and their portrayals of the characters across the different books and stories.

I have to say that this was my favourite book so far (only two left to go). I knew what was coming, and it made the journey sad to read. The part that really struck me was that even though there were characters that had full faces and eyes and details and emotions (I'm thinking of Lyta, here), the artists did a phenomenal job of portraying the sadness and despair and strength of Dream without having to use details like eyes, etc. Very impressive, and beautiful.

I'll miss him when I'm finished reading, but he is already entrenched in my psyche. After a night of bad dreams in my house, the first thought I had was that the Sandman was upset about something. It's great when a character has that kind of effect on your thoughts. ( )

First, a warning: Don't read the introduction of this book if you haven't read the book yet. Here there be spoilers.

What an incredible denouement to the Sandman story arc. Characters long since forgotten appear again with new significance. Elements from every preceding volume suddenly tie together in unforeseen ways. It's exciting and inevitable yet nonetheless surprising.

The art took me aback at first. I didn't quite like it. I didn't hate it, but it definitely didn't appeal. However, as I sank deeper and deeper into the story, it grew on me, and in the end, I can't imagine this book drawn any other way. ( )

I wasn't as delighted with this volume of Sandman as I was with the others. It was long. It was confusing (I seem to be undereducated when it comes to folklore and mythology). The art was primitive.

I did like the characters. They were interesting. They acted in ways that were more than stereotypes. But the story jumped around too much between the parallel plots (often only 1 or 2 pages per plotline, sometimes more, sometimes even less). That made it hard to settle in with anyone and really understand what was going on.

Here's hoping the final volume puts a four-star cap on the experience. ( )

This is the second time I have read The Kindly Ones, and realized how much I missed the first time I read it. (In fairness, the last time I read it was when the comics were being printed, so it took over a year for me to read it.)

It was such a satisfying conclusion to everything, bring all the loose threads together. (Though there might be a few more to wrap up in the next and final book.) ( )