[matthewajg]

Who has read any of Neil Gaiman's work? I am a huge fan, and have grown to love his quirky, imaginative and often dark modern fantasy. His voice is quite unique in the genre. Which of his works have you read and what do you think of his writing?

MOD NOTE: moved to fantasy, this really isn't a writing topic.




[This message has been edited by FitzFlagg (edited December 05, 2001).]

[SusF]

I just finished Neverwhere and I've read Good Omens a collaboration with Terry Pratchett.

I enjoyed Neverwhere. It reminded me of Charles deLint a bit. I like the idea of an alternate London.

Reminds me of a line from an ee cummings poem. "Hey, there's a great universe right next door, let's go."

Good Omens read a lot like Terry Pratchett's work, though that isn't a bad thing.

I intend to find more books by him. What have you read?

Susan

Grrr. UUB codes! What are UUB codes? 'swrong with good ole HTML?

[This message has been edited by SusF (edited December 05, 2001).]

[estranghero]

(de-lurks)

Well, I've read most of his stuff: American Gods, Stardust, Neverwhere, most of his short stories collection, his team-up work with Terry Pratchett (which I forget the name of the title), and most of his Sandman comic books.

As you can see, I like the guy's work. Did you ever read this one story, "We do wholesale for free" or something like that? Fantastic!

Why? I think he accessses the deepest part of our psyche, combines it with aspects of myth that haven't been modernized and cleaned (i.e. the blood and grimness), adds a dash of excellent writing, and a flair of the unexpected to make a really good story.

Stories like his make me think why did I ever aspire to be a writer...

(steps back into the shadows)

[mundanemies]

Gaiman is GREAT storyteller, as a writer and especially on stage. He has a great voice and ability to lure you into that fantastical world...

But as much as I love his work; short stories, Sandman & other scripts, I must confess that I have never been overtly enthusiastic about his novels. I liked Good Omens, it was fun. I liked Stardust, it was enchanting. I liked American Gods, it was like the perfect manuscript for a graphic novel, with lots of great characters and subplots.
But he has yet to write a solid novel. He has an almost mystical eye for details and stories, but none of his books (so far) have managed to give me the same sense of fulfillment as the majority of his short stories or comic books. He has mastered the short form but to me he is still a step or two lacking with his novels.

[Alucard]

I'm a big Gaiman fan. Neverwhere, stardust, and american were all amazing. As far as writing goes, I love his metaphors, some really creative stuff. For example, in American gods, he described one of Shadow's prison mates as the size and shape of a coke machine......rather odd, but it still gets the point across and creates an interesting mental picture. And the man is certainly creative. His stories and settings are very memorbale, and all of them feel very unique and original. For these reasons, he's made it onto my "top five" authors list.

[Keyoke]

God. Simply put, Neil Gaiman is one of the best authors out there in my eyes. I have yet to read "Stardust", but, I am holding that off for a rainy day..

Other than that, I've loved every piece of work he has put out. American Gods is his latest..

Keyoke

[Shadowen]

I just finished American Gods last night, and I have to say I loved it! Theres a great line in there 'he talked like a fox chewing **** off a barbed wire fence' I love that! Great twist too. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Eventine]

All,
I am thinking of picking up one of Gaimain's books to give him a try. Could someone recommend which is best to start with?

[Alucard]

I'd start with neverwhere. This is a great introduction to his style and an all around great book. My only complaint with the story is that i would have wished for more character development. This didn't hurt the story, but more of it would have made the book that much better (i really liked his characters...and the villians in this story are great).

After neverwhere, I'd move on to stardust and american gods. I've heard that good omens, the project he did with pratchett is a really funny and entertaining story, But i have yet to get ahold of it so I can't offer an opinion.

[Llama]

I agree with Mundanemies, Gaiman's work in comics, in particular Sandman and Signal to Noise, is superlative but it hasn't worked as well in the novel form. Neverwhere, e.g., was reasonably entertaining, but I thought the writing was somewhat pedestrian and if it had been written by someone else I doubt it would have received the praise it did. Then again, I've heard good things about American Gods, which is on my list, so we'll see how that goes.