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I was underwhelmed with this collection. It was, at least in part, a matter of timing. Instead of reading it when it first came out, when I would have been eager for brand new Sandman stories, I read it immediately after rereading the entire ten volume Sandman cycle and its excellent prequel. It suffers by comparison.

Death and Venice (Death’s tale) was both brooding and charming, with pleasant, accessible art by P. Craig Russell that nicely matched the story.
4 stars

Milo Manara, creator of brilliantly erotic illustrations, appropriately did the art for Desire’s story, What I’ve tasted of Desire. Loved the sexy artwork, and it was my favorite of these tales.
5 stars

Dream’s tale, The Heart of a Star, is a story from the dawn of Everything, with interesting correspondence with the story in Sandman Overture. The art, by Miguelanxo Prado wasn’t bad, but wasn’t my taste either.
3 stars

Fifteen Portraits of Despair was a mess. The art, by Barry Storey was hideous, (appropriate, I guess, for Despair’s story) and the design, by Dave McKean was so close to unreadable that I skipped this tale.
1 star

Going Inside, Delirium’s tale, was marginally more readable than Despair’s chapter, but I still find Delirium the most tedious of the Endless. The game just isn’t worth the candle, trying to read through Gaiman’s attempt at creating a tale about madness � too much work for too little payoff. Bill Sienkiewicz’s art, at least, is interesting.
2 stars

Destruction gets a story, even though he’s abandoned his post. On The Peninsula is an intriguing idea, told well, with straightforward art by Glenn Fabry that enhances the story. Delirium appears with big brother Destruction in this story, and illustrates once again that she works best as a side character rather than a focus.
4 stars

Speaking of side characters, how do you craft a story focused on Destiny? I mean, he knows everything, kinda IS everything, so where do you get a story? And that’s the problem with his tale, Endless Nights. As Gertrude Stein would say, “there’s no there there.� The art, by Frank Quitely, was more interesting than the story.
2 stars