The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You [Paperback]

Neil Gaiman (Illustrator), Samuel R. Delany (Illustrator), Shawn MacManus (Introduction), Colleen Doran (Illustrator), Bryan Talbot (Illustrator), George Pratt (Illustrator), Stan Woch (Illustrator), Dick Giordano (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Sandman Collected Library | Publication Date: September 3, 1993

You may have heard somewhere that Neil Gaiman's Sandman series consistedof cool, hip, edgy, smart comic books. And you may have thought, "What the helldoes that mean?" Enter A Game of You to confound the issue even more, while at the same time standing as a fine example of such a description. This is not an easy book. The characters are dense and unique, while their observations are, as always with Gaiman, refreshingly familiar. Then there's the plot, which grinds along like a coffee mill, in the process breaking down the two worlds of this series, that of the dream and that of the dreamer. Gaiman pushes these worlds to their very extremes--one is a fantasy world with talking animals, a missing princess, and a mysterious villain called the Cuckoo; the other is an urban microcosm inhabited by a drag queen, a punk lesbian couple, and a New York doll named Barbie. In almost every way this book sits at 180 degrees from the earlier four volumes of the Sandman series--although the less it seems to belong to the series, the more it shows its heart. --Jim Pascoe

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You may have heard somewhere that Neil Gaiman's Sandman series consisted of cool, hip, edgy, smart comic books. And you may have thought, "What the hell does that mean?" Enter A Game of You to confound the issue even more, while at the same time standing as a fine example of such a description. This is not an easy book. The characters are dense and unique, while their observations are, as always with Gaiman, refreshingly familiar. Then there's the plot, which grinds along like a coffee mill, in the process breaking down the two worlds of this series, that of the dream and that of the dreamer. Gaiman pushes these worlds to their very extremes--one is a fantasy world with talking animals, a missing princess, and a mysterious villain called the Cuckoo; the other is an urban microcosm inhabited by a drag queen, a punk lesbian couple, and a New York doll named Barbie. In almost every way this book sits at 180 degrees from the earlier four volumes of the Sandman series--although the less it seems to belong to the series, the more it shows its heart. --Jim Pascoe

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (September 3, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563890895
• ISBN-13: 978-1563890895
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where, oh where, has that little girl gone?, July 14, 2000

By 

J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Game of You (Sandman, Book 5) (Hardcover)

I have always found this to be an underappreciated chapter in the Sandman series. I don't think people realize what Gaiman has pulled off here. Besides coming up with a fascinating adventure story and a dizzying sideline into how we categorize ourselves (profession, gender, dreams, affinities, relations), he has done something few men have ever done -- written intelligently about what it is like to be a woman and a little girl.

At first this may not seem like much, but the whole tale of Barbie's quest is inherently feminine. The dream world she inhabits is not a boys world. The questors are female (well, most of them and the last one is trying hard), and the ending turns around the whole notion of being a girl (even more than merely a child) that one of my female friends was convinced that someone TOLD Gaiman what to write!

This is also a tale of loyalty. When it all comes down, each of the characters has to make a decision based one what has happened, a decision that could ultimately change each of their lives. Surprising decisions are made, but they are understandable if you stop and think about them.

I love this volume, as I love the Sandman series in general. I only wish (as many did) that Gaiman had written some more. Like any good story, we hate to see it come to an end.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great story of identity and finding your inner child, August 13, 1999

By 

M. Salvati (Neshanic, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You (Paperback)

Neil Gaiman does it again! He takes Barbie, a marginal character in the "Doll's House" storyline and makes her into a 3 dimensional character. He also introduces some other great characters like Hazel, Foxglove, Clarissa, and my personal favorite in this volume, Wanda. After reading this tale, I was struck by how the characters matter so much in Sandman stories. How Neil cares about them so much that they keep popping up again and again in unlikely places. Even when someone mentions another person, I can tell that Neil has a character description written up for that person and they will appear in another story. Clarissa will appear again in "Kindly Ones", while Hazel and Foxglove are in both "Death" mini-series. (Also Foxglove is mentioned by another character in the "24 Hours" chapter in "Preludes and Nocturnes.")

That aside, "A Game of You" is probably the most personal story of the entire Sandman oeuvre. It's primarily the story of Barbie and her childhood dreams that become very real. The heart of the story is Barbie's relationship with Wanda which is both funny and touching. Dream doesn't appear much in this one, but the story is so good and the main characters so interesting that you won't mind at all.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I like it a lot, but I'm not sure I get it, February 20, 2006

By 

R.K.M. "RKM" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You (Paperback)

I did like this book. I really have enjoyed all the Sandman books so far. But as much as it galls me to admit it, I'm not sure I understand quite what the big deal is. I keep hearing about and reading about how fabulous they are. And yeah, they're interesting. It's an interesting world that Gaiman has created and I think the character of the Sandman is intriguing/fascinating. And the Sandman is good-looking in some of the panels. But I don't understand what about these novels/comics draws people in so much. I don't understand why the Midsummer Night's Dream one won that prestigious award which ticked the other authors off so they had to change the rules to specifically exclude a graphic novel from being entered ever again. I don't understand why this series is supposed to grab women readers in a way that other comic/graphic novel offerings haven't. It's a bit like David Bowie music, to me. I like it a lot. But partly, that's because I Want to like it. I think it (the music, or the graphic novel) is really weird and I don't understand why everybody else, with no inner urging, likes it so much. And then I read the preface to this book and the guy talks about all these layers and all this depth that I guess I'm really just not getting at all. Which also bugs me because I like to think that I'm smart. But, granted, I've only read it one time and that kind of stuff does usually become more apparent with multiple readings.