The Sandman Presents: The Furies is one of the follow-up books that DC Comics has been producing related to Neil Gaiman's hit 1990s series, The Sandman. This one, concerning Lyta Hall and the Furies, was released as a 96 page hardcover, rather than in standard comics form.
Spoilers for The Furies are kept minimal in this review. There are some small hints at events in The Sandman.
The Story
The Furies is the well-told story of a woman, Lyta Hall, who has lost everything, and how she tries to recover her life afterward. It a story of modern magic realism, where the ancient gods of Greece, from Cronus to Hermes, still have an impact upon the modern-day.
As the plot comes together, three major elements interweave: Lyta Hall--the earthly embodiment of the Furies, who punish familial murderers--seeks life; Cronus, the ancient titan who slew his own father, seeks vengeance; and The Goatsong Players, a group of dramatists which Lyta joins, seek to put on a Greek play in Greece.
To say more would be spoiling, but the characters all very well described, and the plot, which is a hero's journey for Lyta, is well outlined. In many ways this volume is an excellent coda to Lyta's story in The Sandman.
The Art
The art in The Furies, by John Bolton, is absolutely beautiful. It's all superbly painted, and nearly photo-realistic. The people look like real people, and the occasional truly supernatural event is that much more majestic against this realistic landscape.
The Continuity
Without a doubt, The Furies is a sequel to The Sandman. It doesn't just pick up a character from the earlier series, as other books in The Sandman Presents series have, but rather continues straight on with the plotline regarding Lyta's loss. I expect that if a reader picks this up without having read The Sandman (in particular, The Kindly Ones, and perhaps Brief Lives), he'll be lost.
On the flipside if you're familiar with The Sandman you'll see closure here for a character's plotline that never really got its closure in the series proper.
Usage in RPGs
The Furies' prime usage to roleplayers is in its inclusion of Greek mythology. Unlike The Sandman proper, which tended to be more about mythtelling in general, The Furies has a very solid basis in Greek mythology throughout its length. The story mainly concentrates on two persons--Cronus and the Furies--so you won't get any type of broad overview, but if you're telling a game with a Greek-like mythology this is probably worthwhile, just as something to soak in and get you to think.
Conclusion
I'm not very fond of comic books sold as hard cover, as it frequently seems to me like nothing more than a quick price gouge. However the artwork in The Furies is so beautiful that it deserves this format.
If you enjoyed The Sandman and want to know what happens to Lyta Hall afterward, I highly suggest you pick this book up. It's by one of the best writers today writing in the fantasy comic genre and it's a very true conclusion to Lyta's story.
If you haven't read the original Sandman series ... well, that's a review for another day, but I think it's probably the best mythological comic that was done in the 1990s.
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