Influences - Neil Gaiman’s Sandman
One of the challenges of highlighting the work of other writers I admire is it’s easy to be intimidated by their talent and legacy. It feels almost presumptuous to say which of their ideas I liked and how they’ve influenced my own stories. Yet it’s always been like this, with famous authors leading the way and shaping their favoured genre. Their body of work and the legacy this leaves behind is what inspires those generations of writers who follow in their footsteps.
Neil Gaiman’s name is frequently mentioned in such a context. I first came across his writing when I picked up a copy of Good Omens, his well-known collaboration with Terry Pratchett. I’ve fond memories of reading that novel in the spring of 1995, when I really should have been studying harder for my law exams. More recently I’ve enjoyed books such as American Gods and his retelling of Norse Mythology. Whilst you might expect it was the latter that provided inspiration for my own series it was actually Sandman which had a more powerful impact.
The Sandman comic book series, which ran from 1988 to 1996, is the work Gaiman’s name is most frequently cited alongside. However, I was very late in discovering what all the fuss was about. Although I’d heard of it and knew about the central character it wasn’t until 2016 that I finally got round to picking up a copy of Preludes & Nocturnes, a collection of issues #1-8. At this stage, I’d already finished writing the novel Hall of Bones, which I’d visualised as a straight fantasy story, drawing on elements of Viking culture. There was magic in there too but it was still emerging in that first book. Sandman fired my imagination to bring magic to the fore in the sequel, Sundered Souls, when I wrote the first draft during 2016-2017.
Previously I’d only dabbled in comics but in the case of Sandman I eagerly read the whole series over the next few years. This was like nothing else I’d read before and it was through these works that I properly understood the term graphic novel for the first time. Neil was refreshingly honest in his own assessment of those early issues in Preludes and Nocturnes:
“Rereading these stories today I must confess I find many of them awkward and ungainly, although even the clumsiest of them has something – a phrase, perhaps, or an idea or an image I’m still proud of. But they’re where the story starts, and the seeds of much that has to come after – and much that is still to come – were sown in the tales in this book.” – Neil Gaiman, June 1991
I think Gaiman is being rather harsh on himself, perhaps because he was looking at the series from the point of view of how it could be improved as it developed. It’s true that Sandman begins as a simplistic quest story, as Dream, also known as Morpheus, seeks to regain his lost powers following his magical imprisonment. Gaiman certainly expanded the story far beyond those simple foundations, although I’d argue by the time Death makes her appearance in #8, The Sound of Her Wings, it was obvious this series was going to be something very special.
In the successive issues of Sandman, Gaiman started to flex his creative muscles, bringing together a range of ideas, drawing on history and legend, borrowing from various tales and different genres whilst writing something new, memorable and distinctively his own. From modest beginnings, Sandman grew in the telling, a fantastic tale that was as unpredictable as it was brilliant. Whilst Morpheus was the central character there were times when he only made a fleeting appearance. It all depended on the story Gaiman was trying to tell and which character provided the best vantage point for that tale. Fundamentally, Gaiman understands story and narrative and demonstrated this perfectly in issue after inventive issue. The original Sandman script for Calliope (#17), found in the Dream Country collection, is a fascinating insight into the creative process of bringing these stories to life.
Gaiman’s work has its own distinctive style and the magic he creates on the page has proved difficult to translate into other mediums. The recent announcement that the TV adaptation of American Gods has been cancelled after three uneven seasons is one example. I think this reflects a unique talent with a singular voice, which can be lost when the words on the page are swapped for a script. However, in Sandman, that voice was given free rein and space to grow and explore new ideas over several years. In many ways, the medium of the graphic novel perfectly suited Gaiman as a storyteller.
One of the things that really resonated with me throughout the series was the concept of the Dreaming, the realm Morpheus rules and which is inhabited both by his own creations and anyone who is currently dreaming. I found myself coming back to the premise that another world could be built beyond normal reality, fashioned from our own dreams into something tangible – something other people could interact with. Whilst I never sat down and deliberately said to myself ‘That’s something I can use’, I think the idea was subconsciously seeping into my writing as I read Sandman. That is, of course, rather appropriate given the subject matter.
I suppose Sandman showed me it was acceptable to borrow from other stories and build upon them. What’s much harder is take those ideas and fashion something fresh and new. In the Sandman graphic novels, Gaiman demonstrated exactly how to do this. It’s no surprise the series has garnered multiple awards in recognition of his talent.
It’s not difficult to find out more about Neil Gaiman and his work – probably the best place to start is his own website at www.neilgaiman.com. You could also do worse than pick up any of his books and start to explore some of the wonderful worlds he’s created. And of course, if you haven’t read Sandman yet, you’re in for a treat.
