Reading the volumes of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series quite literally changed my life. That's not an exaggeration; the series is deeply thought-provoking and altered my expectations for writing in general, especially in the graphic form.

The books are brilliantly, cunningly written and gorgeously illustrated. Over the years I have read them more times than I can accurately count, although I confess it has been some time since I last spent time in the Dreaming. Even so, I remember the stories vividly -- and, although rumors of adaptations have teased and tantalized me over the years, I never really thought these stories would work well off the printed page.

I was wrong.

The 10-episode miniseries, released on Netflix in August 2022, tells only a portion of the stories in the Sandman series. But what it tells, it tells well.

And don't listen to the so-called fans out there who complain about the casting -- because one character isn't quite as male as they imagined, or their skin isn't quite as white. The important thing in a Gaiman story is, after all, the story, and anyone who gets hung up on appearance either didn't read the story or, frankly, didn't understand it.

The series primarily adapts stories from the first two volumes of the series: Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll House. In the first book, Dream has been imprisoned by a mage who wanted to capture Death; he spends 100 years in confinement before breaking loose, taking a measure of vengeance against those who harmed him and seeking the stolen tools of his trade, without which he cannot adequately rule his realm of Dreaming. His quests take him on an adventure with Johanna (not John) Constantine, to Hell where he spars (verbally) with the Devil, and to a diner where a madman named John Dee -- a descendant of Dream's original captor -- destroys lives on a whim.

It's deep stuff, well translated to the screen.

It also includes my favorite chapter from the series, "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces Dream's big sister Death. He accompanies her on her rounds for an afternoon, and it's really quite moving to see her interact with the dying. If there is a true personification of Death waiting for us at the end, I always hoped it would be somewhat like Gaiman's version -- and the Netflix series captures that far better than I ever expected.

In the second volume, we meet Rose Walker, Unity Kincaid, Lyta Hall and Fiddler's Green, among others, and follow along as Rose seeks her lost younger brother, Unity reconnects with her family, Lyta dallies in dreamland with her late husband, and Fiddler's Green experiences life as a person ... oh, and Rose turns out to be a dream vortex. Meanwhile, the escaped nightmare known as The Corinthian headlines a convention of serial killers, and Dream seeks to prevent the destruction of his realm by a vortex in human form.

And it's wonderfully adapted to the medium. I can't imagine it any better.

Tom Sturridge leads the cast as Dream, and I honestly can't conjure a character coming to life more fully than he does here. Sturridge is moody and arrogant, outraged and humbled, all on the right beats. Well done.

Death is portrayed by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and although her participation thus far is limited to a single episode, hers is among the most memorable performances. It's truly touching.

The first story arc includes David Thewlis as the psychotic John Dee, Jenna Coleman as the mystical Johanna Constantine, Charles Dance as the arrogant mage Roderick Burgess, Laurie Kynaston (among others) as his conflicted son Alex Burgess, Joely Richardson and Niamh Wilson as the opportunistic Ethel Cripps, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar, Ferdinand Kingsley as the long-lived Hob Gadling, Samuel Blenkin as Will Shakespeare, Asim Chaudhry and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Abel and Cain, and Clare Higgins as Mad Hettie.

Rose Walker's story features Vanesu Samunyai as Rose, Razane Jammal as Rose's friend and confidante Lyta Hall, Sandra James-Young as Rose's long lost grandmother Unity, Eddie Karanja as Rose's missing brother Jed, John Cameron Mitchell as Rose's landlord Hal Carter, Lloyd Everitt as Lyta's deceased husband Hector Hall, Lily Travers and Richard Fleeshman as fellow tenants Barbie and Ken, and Stephen Fry, who is unexpectedly perfect as Gilbert, the human manifestation of Fiddler's Green.

Others in the cast include Boyd Holbrook as the renegade nightmare, the Corinthian; Patton Oswalt as Matthew the Raven; Vivienne Acheampong as the Dreaming's librarian, Lucienne; Mason Alexander Park and Donna Preston as Endless siblings Desire and Despair; and Mark Hamill as the voice of Merv Pumpkinhead.

There are a lot of characters to keep straight, but the story makes it easy. Don't worry, it's unlikely you'll find yourself floundering to keep up.

As an unexpected bonus, an 11th episode dropped a few weeks after the 10-week miniseries. As fans of the comics know, there are episodic tales in The Sandman comic-book series that are tied to the Dreaming but aren't specific to the primary storylines. Two of them are presented here.

The first, "Dream of a Thousand Cats," is animated (probably because voicing over actual cats would be equally silly and difficult to film), but the animation is gorgeous and the voice acting is perfect. Actors involved in this brief feature include James McAvoy, Sandra Oh, David Tennant, Georgia Tennant, Michael Sheen and -- surprise, surprise! -- Neil Gaiman himself. It tells the story of how dreams might reshape the world, and what fate might arise if enough cats share a common thought.

The second, "Calliope," is acted -- extremely well -- by a cast otherwise not involved in the series. Sure, Sturridge makes a few brief appearances as Dream, and the Fates (Nina Wadia, Souad Faress and Dinita Gohil) appear briefly, but the primary story here focuses on Arthur Darvill as Richard Madoc, a floundering writer in need of inspiration, Melissanthi Mahut as the muse Calliope and Derek Jacobi as once-famed author Erasmus Fry. This tale is disturbing in the way it shows how far a seemingly good person might go to achieve his ambitions.

I wasn't expecting this episode, and was thrilled to see it pop up in my Netflix queue. It's a wonderful gift for fans, and it certainly gives me hope for more from The Sandman in weeks/months/years to come!

The series, so far, is not a perfect translation of the comic-book story to the TV screen. But then again, we wouldn't want it to be -- they're different media, and the story requires some adaptation to function as a live-action performance. But don't worry, Gaiman was instrumental in revising and updating the script as needed, and this version of The Sandman works incredibly well.

This is a very good series.