The fourth book in The Sandman Chronicles, Season of Mists picks up where the second volume, The Doll's House left off, continuing the story of Dream and his siblings. Unlike the previous books, Season of Mists focuses mostly on immortals (or those close to it) rather than mortals. Only one of the chapters of the book even took place on earth, and that was dealing with the dead, not the living.
Because of this slightly different format, Season of Mists introduced a lot of rather colorful characters. Some were the relatively familiar faces of Norse, Egyptian, and Eastern gods, angels, and demons, while others were new characters, delightful and colorful in their own way. I particularly liked the contrast of Order and Chaos and, of course, the faeries, but that was a given to anyone who knows me at all.
I promise, though, I won't dwell on them here. I love Nuala, but in Season of Mists she really plays a very small roll.
The central plot of Season of Mists is the abandonment of Hell. Lucifer closes it, turning out all the souls, and then gives the key to Dream to do with as he will. This, naturally proves far more complicated than it originally seems.
Most of the story is concerned with the direct repercussions of this, particularly among the (relatively) immortal creatures of mythology. The result was one of the most fun chapters I've read in a long time-the chapter where they all come and present their cases to Dream, trying to win Hell for themselves. The interactions were entertaining, and the different ways that they tried to persuade Dream to give them the key to Hell, along with their reasons for wanting it and plans for it, were as varied and entertaining as they are.
I have to admit, that I was a little disappointed with the ultimate decision, and I wish that I could have known who Dream would have chosen if no one had interceded, but I do admit that the decision that was reached was the only one that could be reached. It did, however, raise an interesting point when Hell was given to its new owners and re-populated. I'm not sure that I agree that it's worse to be tortured to be redeemed and made a better person than it is to be tortured for no reason, but I can see how, with eternal torment, this might be the case. It is, after all, easier to bear unpleasant things if you can be righteously angry about them.
Woven in with the main story of the "battle" for Hell, was a secondary plot line. It was, for a while, seemingly forgotten once the key to Hell was handed over to Dream, but Gaiman did not forget about it, and the conclusion to that was even more satisfying, in my opinion, than the conclusion to the main story. I was glad that Nada was not forgotten in all the distractions.
I know that there is more to Season of Mists than I've gotten out of it, but I've only read it once and, like the other books in The Sandman, it is one that must be read multiple times in order to be fully appreciated. It is also a book I hope to return to sometime in the future.
