‘The Sandman’ Meets ‘Inception’ in Ojisan Hunter’s ‘Cities of Sand’

In Hunter's "Cities of Sand," the cunning industrialist and dream-interloper Mr. Saito finds himself lost in a sleeping world, as seen in the film, but the nature of that world is revealed to be the Dreaming of Gaiman's classic stories. There, Saito meets Daniel, the new master of the realm he and the characters of "Inception" have trudged through so recklessly.

That "Inception's" Cobb and Saito jump to and from people's dreams with as much care and sensitivity as they would from one neighborhood taco truck to another is what compelled Hunter to imagine this story (which, interestingly, is one of just a small number of Daniel-Dream tales to be read since his introduction in the climactic chapters of "The Sandman" nearly fifteen years ago). In accompanying commentary, Hunter suggests that Daniel would deal with Saito and Cobb very differently than his predecessor would.