This fourth book in the series challenges Dream’s sense of justice for the first time, in a way that I think improves the character. Dream seems more human, more relatable, instead of just being an uber-responsible automaton, and I think we are encouraged to realize that his actions in books 1-3 were guided by his individual desires too, not just his role as guardian of his realm. Also, we’re getting more family drama, and I’m loving that. It’s cool to see how Gaiman’s worldview from American Gods kind of carries over here, with the different pantheons all existing in different degrees of strength at once, and the Norse deities having strong and important personalities. I don’t remember The Endless existing in American Gods, but now I’m wondering if they did.