Awards
Winner of the 1999 Bram Stoker Award (Illustrated Narrative)
Nominee for the 2000 Hugo Award (Best Related Book)
Synopses & Reviews
One of the most celebrated projects of 1999 arrives in softcover this July: THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS. Reprinting the original graphic novel written by THE SANDMAN's Neil Gaiman and painted by legendary Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano (G-Force, Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy, 1001 Nights), the softcover edition is topped with a brand-new cover by Amano, enhanced with gold foil to suggest the effect of being painted in gold-leaf.
THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS is opulently told in an illustrated text format combining Gaiman's prose with stunning, full-page paintings by Amano. A self-contained story set in ancient Japan, THE DREAM HUNTERS is an exploration of Japanese folklore, following the ill-fated romance between a humble young monk and a magical, shape-changing she-fox who pines for him in secret. When the fox stumbles upon a band of demons discussing a plot to steal the monk's life through a dreamtrap, it will take all the fox's craftiness - and the involvement of the King of All Night's Dreaming (Morpheus) - to save her true love.
Review
"[P]ulls off the difficult balancing act of making a tale equally accessible to new readers and to fans. For Sandman afficionados, The Dream Hunters is a beautiful new take on familiar characters. For first-time readers, [it] is an opportunity to revisit the once-upon-a-time magic of childhood tales, but with adult twists..." Dallas Morning News
Review
"Gaiman's luminous prose is mirrored and amplified spectacularly by the illustrations. Yoshitaka Amano's color plates...resonate magnificently with the story. A fine art approach to comics illustration gets no finer than this." Edward Bryant, Locus
Review
"It begins with a wager between a badger and a fox, the prize being the monk's temple that the winner will use as a den. But the fox falls in love with the monk and later, when she discovers that a lord of a nearby estate means him ill, she goes into the land of dreams and strikes a bargain with the Japanese counterpart of Morpheus to save the monk's life. How it all works out is for you to discover, but I will say that this is one of Gaiman's most exquisite and evocative stories to date. Equal praise must go to Yoshitaka Amano's artwork." Charles de Lint, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Review
"Enormously appealing...clever...A tale of enduring charm...beautifully rendered. Readers who have followed Gaiman's work may be surprised by the turn he takes in The Sandman: The Dream Hunters. They should also be delighted." CNN.com
Synopsis
Gaiman's full-length original graphic novel includes four-color illustrations by legendary Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, designer of Final Fantasy, who adds a new dimension to the Morpheus character in this tale centered on ill-fated love and dream-eating monsters. For mature readers.