Similar to the if you had to buy just one thread...as individual books, how would you rank the Sandman volumes? I've always liked Season of Mist best, then the first 2, then Brief lives. Appreciate any help you can provide. Lets say you couldn't buy them all and just want the top 4 or 5. Feel free to rank all 10 if you're up to it.

i think i'd like seasons of mists best if it wasn't for one thing...
the end of worlds end with death and delirium under the bloody moon... that gets me every time!

I think Season of Mists is a fan fav because that's when the series hits its stride. Not that the previous volumes weren't entertaining

i just treated myself to FABLES AND REFLECTIONS (not Recollections... )...i came across it in a bookstore on Friday and couldn't resist purchasing it. since i don't own any Sandman...i'm a fast reader and i used to read the issues as i was browsing in my favorite comic book store back in the day.

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1. The Doll's House (#2). Top shape Sandman, the one which just gets better and better.
2. Fables and Reflections (#6). It has less to do with the story arc than any other of them, but feels original and fresh to me. Except for the intro, the mediocre Soft Places, and parts of Ramadan.
3. Preludes and Nocturnes (#1). It's got some flaws and isn't as confident as the others, but it's still good.
4. Season of Mists (#4). Solid.
5. Brief Lives (#7). Entertaining, but a little too long, and with too much Endless melodrama.
6. Dream Country (#3). Mediocre, my favorite being A Dream of a Thousand Cats.
7. The Kindly Ones (#9). Drags on to long.
8. Worlds' End (#8). Weirded me out.
9. Endless Nights (#11). Death's story was my favorite.
10. The Wake (#10). Best part was with Hob Gadling, and I didn't like that one much.
11. A Game of You (#5). Not to be sexist, but I guess I'm too "unwomanly" to understand this one.

1. The Kindly Ones.
2. Brief Lives.
3. A Game of You.
4. Seasons of Mists.
5. The Doll's House.
6. Dream Country.
7. World's End.
8. Preludes and Reflections.
9. The Wake.
10. Preludes and Nocturnes.
11. Endless Nights.

I need to re-read the series though. Some of my opinions (especially on the arcs of one-shot stories) will change after that.

Dolls House -the serial killer convention was genius.