The Sandman. Volume 7 : Brief lives / illustrated by Jill Thompson, Vince Locke ; afterword by Peter Straub (original 1994; edition 2011)

by Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson (Kuv.), Vince Locke (Kuv.), Peter Straub

Series: The Sandman (07 (Issues 41-49)), The Sandman {1989-1996} (TPB, issues 41-49)

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Older and more powerful than the gods themselves, the Endless are a dysfunctional family of cosmic beings that have ruled over the realms of dream, desire, despair, destiny, destruction, death and delirium since the beginning of time. But three hundred years ago, one of the mythical beings gave up his duties and left his realm, never to be seen again. BRIEF LIVES tells the tales of Delirium and older brother Dream on a mission to find their missing sibling, as they encounter immortal humans and various deities while trying to locate the prodigal Destruction. But as their adventure draws Dream into a final, tragic confrontation with his son Orpheus, the eternal being learns the true meaning of fate and consequences.… (more)

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Member:	ShanM816
Title:	The Sandman. Volume 7 : Brief lives / illustrated by Jill Thompson, Vince Locke ; afterword by Peter Straub
Authors:	Neil Gaiman
Other authors:	Jill Thompson (Kuv.), Vince Locke (Kuv.), Peter Straub
Info:	New York : DC Comics, 2011.
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

The Sandman: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman (Author) (1994)

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Showing 1-5 of 63 (next | show all)

My favorite collection so far, maybe because it was pretty much focused on the Endless.

#41 - 8
#42 - 9
#43 - 10
#44 - 9
#45 - 9
#46 - 8
#47 - 9
#48 - 10
#49 - 10 (

)

aljosa95 | Aug 23, 2024 |

The next chapter of Sandman. Sadly, it's a "missing person" storyline, and those usually annoy me. Dream and Delirium set out to find Destruction, who decided to leave the Endless 300 years ago. It's annoying that Delirium feels the need to ask most of her siblings for help, and most of them say no anyway, not really doing much for the story other than involving them. The theme here is change, mortality, the length of a life. There were some good nuggets here. Not my favorite Sandman but still pretty great. Mervyn Pumpkinhead though! (Only because he somewhat reminds me of my fave -- Return to Oz... but that is because I feel most of Gaiman's stuff is heavily influenced by Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.) Can't believe I only have #8, 9 & 10 left to go! (

)

booklove2 | Apr 13, 2024 |

This is one of my favorite volumes in the series – in it, Dream and Delirium go on a journey to find their long-lost brother... (

)

adastra | Jan 15, 2024 |

Neil Gaiman changes things up again, giving us one long quest in this volume. It is still made up of several intertwining stories. As usual, there are rich characters and deep thoughts about life, death, change, that sort of thing. The art ranges from sketchy to artistic and Peter Straub's afterword wraps it all in a neat bow. (

)

zot79 | Aug 20, 2023 |

Continuing with this great series, in this issue, Dream and Delirium (my favorite endless character) go on a mission to find their brother, Destruction. Strange things happen along the way and a price is to be paid in order for them to find their brother. Wonderful sad story and the graphics were ok but the story outshines the graphics in this one. (

)

booklover3258 | Jan 18, 2023 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Gaiman, Neil	Author	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Giordano, Dick	Inker	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Klein, Todd	Letterer	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Locke, Vince	Inker	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
McKean, Dave	Cover artist	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Straub, Peter	Afterword	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thompson, Jill	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Vozzo, Danny	Colorist	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

The Sandman (07 (Issues 41-49))

The Sandman {1989-1996} (TPB, issues 41-49)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Vertigo

Is contained in

The Sandman: Slipcase Box Set, Vol. 1-10 by Neil Gaiman

Contains

The Sandman #41 (Brief Lives 1) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #42 (Brief Lives 2) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #43 (Brief Lives 3) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #44 (Brief Lives 4) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #45 (Brief Lives 5) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #46 (Brief Lives 6) by Neil Gaiman

(show 3 more)

The Sandman #47 (Brief Lives 7) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #48 (Brief Lives 8) by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman #49 (Brief Lives 9) by Neil Gaiman

Has as a reference guide/companion

The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender

Has as a supplement

Dust Covers: The Collected Sandman Covers by Neil Gaiman

▾Awards and Honors

Notable Lists

1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Sandman: Brief Lives

Original title

Alternative titles

The Sandman Vol. 07: Brief Lives

The Sandman: Brief Lives, Volume Seven

The Sandman: Brief Lives, Vol. 7

Original publication date

1994-06-28

People/Characters

Etain of the second look

Ishtar (deity)

Orpheus

Delirium of the Endless

Desire of the Endless

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

As he laye unravelling in the agonie of death, the Standers-by could hear him say softly, I have seen the Glories of the world.
john aubrey
the minutes of lives

Dedication

for Bob and Allison on the occasion of their engagement
Pete and Dana on the occasion of their wedding.
Beth and Chris, on the occasion of my dedicating a book to them.
Neil

for Basil
jill t.

to Mom and Dad for their encouragement and support
and to Khrysta for helping me through the rough times.
vince

First words

It is, of course, a miracle.

Quotations

The priests of Orpheus have had thousands of years to learn the art of misdirection.

I know how gods begin, Roger. We start as dreams. Then we walk out of dreams into the land. We are worshipped and loved, and take power to ourselves. And then one day there's no one left to worship us.
And in the end, each little god and goddess takes its last journey back into dreams...and what comes after, not even we knows.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Berger, Karen

Blurbers

Original language

English US

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Older and more powerful than the gods themselves, the Endless are a dysfunctional family of cosmic beings that have ruled over the realms of dream, desire, despair, destiny, destruction, death and delirium since the beginning of time. But three hundred years ago, one of the mythical beings gave up his duties and left his realm, never to be seen again. BRIEF LIVES tells the tales of Delirium and older brother Dream on a mission to find their missing sibling, as they encounter immortal humans and various deities while trying to locate the prodigal Destruction. But as their adventure draws Dream into a final, tragic confrontation with his son Orpheus, the eternal being learns the true meaning of fate and consequences.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Collects "Brief Lives" parts 1-9, originally published in The Sandman #41-49.

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