The Sandman by Dirk Maggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times Magazine as “the greatest epic in the history of comic books”, The Sandman changed the game with its dark, literary world of fantasy and horror – creating a global, cultural phenomenon in the process. At long last, Audible and DC present the first-ever audio production of the New York Times best-selling series written by acclaimed storyteller Neil Gaiman (who also serves as co-executive producer). Adapted and directed by multi-award-winner (and frequent Gaiman collaborator) Dirk Maggs, and performed by an ensemble cast with James McAvoy (It, Parts One and Two, X-Men: First Class, Split) in the title role, this first installment of a multi-part original audio series will transport you to a world that re-writes the rules of audio entertainment the way that The Sandmanoriginally re-defined the graphic novel.
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When The Sandman, also known as Lord Morpheus – the immortal king of dreams, stories and the imagination – is pulled from his realm and imprisoned on Earth by a nefarious cult, he languishes for decades before finally escaping. Once free, he must retrieve the three “tools” that will restore his power and help him to rebuild his dominion, which has deteriorated in his absence. As the multi-threaded story unspools, The Sandman descends into Hell to confront Lucifer (Michael Sheen), chases rogue nightmares who have escaped his realm, and crosses paths with an array of characters from DC comic books, ancient myths, and real-world history, including: Inmates of Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum, Doctor Destiny, the muse Calliope, the three Fates, William Shakespeare (Arthur Darvill), and many more.
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A powerhouse supporting cast helps translate this masterwork into a sonic experience worthy of its legacy, including Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis, and more. Setting the stage for their performance is an unprecedented cinematic soundscape featuring an original musical score by British Academy Award winner James Hannigan. Fans will especially revel in a new twist for the audio adaptation: Neil Gaiman himself serves as the narrator. Follow him as he leads listeners along a winding path of myths, imagination and, often, terror. Even in your wildest dreams, you’ve never heard anything like this.
The Sandman
Awesome Full Cast Audiobook Adaptation of the DC Comic Series!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏
Character development: 😤😥😊🤩😘
This was a full cast audiobook, including sound effects, background music and various famous actors and actresses as the cast of characters. It was written by Neil Gaimon and adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs. The Sandman is based on the DC Comic books and is soon to be a Netflix series. It definitely had the dark eeriness that exists in a lot of the DC comics, especially Batman and contained a lot of DC characters such as John Constantine, Dr. Destiny and more.
The number of characters in this one was huge and each was (or at least seemed to be voiced by different people), most notably James McAvoy as Dream (a.k.a Lord Morpheus; a.k.a. The Sandman), Kat Dennings as Death, Michael Sheen as Lucifer Morningstar, Riz Ahmed as The Corinthian, John Lithgow as Emporer Joshua Norton, David Tennant as Loki and so many more. It was definitely the most enjoyable audiobook I have listened to. If only all audiobooks were full cast audiobooks with music and background noise, they might just be worth the price charged for them.
There were characters from myth and legend (like Morpheus, Orpheus, Thessaly), Norse Gods (like Thor, Odin, Loki), Angels and Demons (including Death, Lucifer, Azazel), the DC comic world and many others including William Shakespeare. Of course I liked some of the characters much more than others, Dream, Death, John Constantine and Loki were my favorites as well as a few others.
The story started with a cult that wanted to summon and control Death so that they could change the world they mistakenly summon Dream instead and they imprison him for something like 70 years. They take the tools of his trade (source of his powers) including a ruby which holds parts of himself, a pouch of dreaming sand, the helmet of dreams which was crafted from the bones and spine of old gods.
The tools were lost and stolen over the years Morpheus was imprisoned and when he finally escapes he has to go and collect them to get his power back and restore his realm, which has been withering during his years away. The plot goes further as the book goes on and we see Morpheus throughout time. I don’t want to say more about the plot but to say it is interesting and the characters (and voices) make it an awesome listen. I can’t wait to see the first season on Netflix and compare. I did purchase the next audiobook, though I may wait to listen to it until just before the next season of the show on Netflix.
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