Neil Gaiman works

Oh man, Sandman. I have volumes 1-7, waiting patiently like a good girl (I.E. Not Pirating) to have the money to buy the rest. I am pretty much in agreement about it being his best work that I've read as yet though. So good. SOOOOO good.

Funnily enough, that's the first one I got.

edited 1st Jun '12 9:24:24 PM by PulpFreeBookworm

I've just got volume III. It gets bonus points for the only instance of a story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story I've ever seen.

I got all of them from the library system in Renfrewshire, the county where I live.

I liked Good Omens. Neverwhere was fun, if a bit derivative. I wish I'd read Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader first before buying it - it was interesting, but not really a re-read. Coraline was a lot of fun, and a good kid's book. American Gods...it was an interesting take on Americana from an outsider's pov. I'm not so sure I agreed with all of it, but it was good.

Has anyone read Black Orchid? I've contemplated picking it up just because Gaiman wrote for it, but I dunno if it'd be my cup of tea.

It sounds interesting at the very least. Pre-Sandman Gaiman is a bit rougher around the edges, at least in his short stories—more satirical and grotesque, less refined and subtle—but still really, really good.

(Note: Gaiman at his broadest is still subtler than most writers can manage, so fret not on that front.)

edited 7th Jun '12 7:38:31 PM by JHM

You see, I have no real problems with American Gods as a book. I think it all worked beautifully, and that all the components mesh really well to make a great story.

The ONLY problem I had with it was the fact that Shadow was really unrelatable and made stupid decisions at some points. At first I let it slide that he would just readily join Mr. Wednesday. With just getting out of prison, the whole thing with his wife and best friend dying, and him not really having anything to go back to, I could see why he would take Mr. Wednesday up on his offer. But if I were in that situation, and a strange man offered me a job that he didn't explain anything about before hand, I probably would have thought twice about taking it, lest I be thrown in jail for a second time.

And not to mention the fact that sometimes Shadow is just really unemotional or really uninterested in the world around him at the worst times. He doesn't flinch or ask questions about really important stuff, like the first limo ride he takes with the first American God he meets. I would ask so many questions.

That's sometimes the worst problem a book can have. You can have a beautiful set up with amazing characters and plot points, but if your main focus doesn't work, the whole thing can come crumbling down with it.

Thankfully, I loved the book despite not liking Shadow that much, so American Gods wasn't really a catastrophe for me.

Welp, I saw Neil read his unpublished just finished short story last night.

Ask me anything.

Did he decide what's the name he's giving for the story? Or is it still changing?

As of last night , he was calling it "The Sleeper's Spindle" but it may not be the final title.

I was there too, it was a fun time, and a pretty good story.

He said the second draft will probably look quite different. But yes, it was called the Sleeper's Spindle. It was basically a bunch of twists on your standard fairy tale princesses / queens / witches. Quite entertaining.

Very mild spoilers - which fairy tales he riffs on: Snow White and Sleeping Beauty mostly.

I've just started reading The Sandman (began with the second book, The Doll's House, because the first one has an endless number of holds at the library), and it's very good.

Have fun with it. Personally I think Sandman is his best work and it's one of my all time favorites.

Let us know what you think along the way!

x Ah, thanks for the info. Last time I checked it was called Bard.

Guess because he was going to read it at Bard University?

That would make sense. What an odd campus that was.

Anyways, I quite liked the story.

Free audiobook from Neil Gaiman, lasts till halloween. For every download the site donates money to charity. Link is here http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B009VHTR5C&qid=1351446375&sr=1-1

I've only read Stardust; I enjoyed it quite a bit. Sandman #1 is on my shelf waiting to be opened however, and Good Omens is on my list.

I didn't like Stardust very much. I saw the movie first and I absolutely loved it, and the ending of the book was just...disappointing in comparison. It was a pointless downer. I don't care that it's more "realistic", our world sucks and we need fairy tales and happy endings to paint the silver linings on the clouds we have to deal with every day.

edited 27th Jan '13 8:33:34 PM by Zendervai

I can't wait until The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Fortunately, the Milk are released. The latter has wonderful lines like "You're a stegosaurus" and "Spoons are great. They're like forks, except less stabby". The previews of both have whetted my appetite something terrible.

I loved the film of Stardust, but I have never read the book. I loved Good Omens and the Sandman and his Doctor Who stuff, but my softest spot for Neil's work is his depiction of Goth!Death. For far too many and personal reasons to share.

I had no idea that there was a Stardust film before looking at this thread.

It's basically supposed to be a spiritual successor to the Princess Bride. Opinions are divided on whether or not it succeeded. The best way to put it is that Stardust isn't the greatest adaptation, but it's a pretty good movie in its own right.

Plus it has Robert De Niro as a pirate lord who loves to do hairdressing. And he is good at it too.

I re-read American Gods a while ago. One thing that I noticed - and once I noticed it once I couldn't stop noticing it - is that Neil Gaiman mentions pee or peeing a lot in that book. It seemed like there was a reference to urine every second chapter. People were always peeing, talking to people while peeing, waiting for other people to finish peeing so that they could talk to them, etc. Sometimes it served a purpose in setting the scene or whatever, but sometimes it just came up out of the blue.

I guess maybe it's kind of a lesson - as much as I might sometimes complain that fiction never takes bodily functions into account, going out of your way to tell the reader every time the character does something mundane like use the bathroom or clean their teeth is pointless and weird.

edited 31st Jan '13 10:46:25 PM by LoniJay