The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables & Reflections

This volume really dragged. The stories were completely random and lacked any depth. It jumped around to various pieces of history with little reason. I got the impression that Gaiman's editor said “We need another comic NOW!” to which Gaiman replied “damn. idk yet how I want to procede with the story. Let me open this history book to a random page, pick a character's name (or event), summarize the character and/or the event, then briefly add in some of the main characters in the last 2 pages of each issue.”

I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the rest. It went back down to probably even lower than the first volume. Like volume 3, this volume is a series of short stories, about 8 of them, with the Orpheus arc being the longest. I didn't pick up sort of cohesive theme that ties these together so they're probably just standalone short stories.

The Orpheus arc was interesting in that it shows more of Dream's relationships in a different era (ancient Greece), featuring for the first time the seventh sibling (who wasn't properly named with any “D” word).

There was also a Marco Polo short story that ties back to the very first volume.

Other than that, there's nothing much that stands out to me. Each story is interesting by itself but I guess I was looking for more along the veins of previous volumes. One special mention though, is that I found the artwork to be slightly poorer this time around.

This volume was more of a compilation of short stories. I particularly enjoyed the Ramadan story at the end and Three Septembers and a January. Definitely a must read if you're into Sandman! Now onto Volume 7 (I need to catch up before the prequel comes out in October)!