Blurb

Enter the Dreaming again as the blockbuster audio adaptation of “the greatest epic in the history of comic books” continues in The Sandman: Act II. James McAvoy returns to voice Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, in this sequel to the number-one New York Times audio best seller. Journey into a world of myths, imagination, and terror based on the best-selling DC comic books and graphic novels written by Neil Gaiman (returning as the Narrator), and lose yourself in another groundbreaking, immersive drama adapted and directed by the award-winning audio master Dirk Maggs.

In the absolutely packed Act II, the dark fantasy resumes and the Sandman expands into the French Revolution, ancient Rome, 19th-century San Francisco, eighth-century Baghdad, and beyond. New and familiar characters abound, voiced by a bright mix of performers, including Kat Dennings, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Michael Sheen, Kristen Schaal, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Wright, and so many more, including fan-favorite narrators Simon Vance and Ray Porter.

Just close your eyes and listen again as the greatest epic continues.

Act II of the audio series The Sandman adapts collected volumes four (Season of Mists) and five (A Game of You) of the comics in their entirety, and most of volume six (Fables & Reflections).

Review

I really enjoyed the Audible production of The Sandman Act I. The Netflix adaptation of this was also really well done, so I was excited to get to Act II. I should preface, I never read the comics. After listening to this one, I went and read some reviews, which I rarely do before writing my own review, but I wanted to see if I was missing something here.

According to a fair number of the reviews, I was not. Fans of the comics pointed out this is an accurate representation of the source work, which, unfortunately, makes me less likely to read than I was after Act II.

Act II, well, meanders. I wonder if this was a comic series that suffered from its own success. Without being super familiar with the circumstances behind this, it comes across as something people liked quite a bit, so they had to figure out how to stretch it out. Act II is mostly a collection of short stories, some of which feature tangintelly the title character, and some that don’t. I even waded into a couple Facebook groups on this one. Apparently, it sets up characters for later, but it definitely lacks any sort of cohesity.

One comment I saw mentioned the main story arc wraps up a third of the way through the book. When I read that, I couldn’t even remember what the main story arc. It has gone that far off path.

The production, the reading, the main character–they are all still really well done. The story, however, was not something that stands out. And I typically like weaving fiction with nonfiction references, which this book does plenty of. In fact, I think that is the main story arc. “Here is an alternative take on a historical thing.”

I already have Act III downloaded. I’ll probably read it. But I don’t know how much I will be looking forward to it at this point.