[Eventine]

neologik?
Sorry I thought it was Qin posting for a second
;)

J/K - wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[neologik]

I know it's a difficult concept, so I'll spell it out.

Gaiman writes fantasy novels. Forgotten Realms tie-ins (bless their poorly-written souls) are also fantasy novels.

Therefore, "not to be pigeonholed" as a reader of both Gaiman and FR books is kind of a no-brainer.

"Would it be a crime if I broke all of neologik's fingers and cut out his tongue?"

Maybe not. Good luck to you. It'd be a shame if you didn't catch me while I was sleeping.

"Sorry I thought it was Qin posting for a second"

Oh. Ohhh! Oh, man, you wound me to the core. I mean, that's just plain old *mean*! rassum frassum fraggin....

--gabe chouinard
http://hypermode.blogspot.com
http://pub44.ezboard.com/bdeadcitiesver3o19082

[ChrisW]

Huh?

oooh neologik is a tough guy!

:eek: :rolleyes: :p

[Eventine]

Sorry mate, it was more a joke about Qin's habit of naming non fantasy /classic / little read authors.
Of course, it seemed he thought this made him a better person, and more intelligent than everyone here.
But enough has been said of that already...

[kegasaurus]

Originally posted by Eventine
Sorry mate, it was more a joke about Qin's habit of naming non fantasy /classic / little read authors.
Of course, it seemed he thought this made him a better person, and more intelligent than everyone here.
But enough has been said of that already...


Qin was better, smarterprettier than the rest of us. When weill we accept this as truth.

[estranghero]

Originally posted by kegasaurus



Qin was better, smarterprettier than the rest of us. When weill we accept this as truth.

What? Oh, for a moment there, I thought you were joking. :D

Let's play devil's advocate, neologik. Wouldn't you say that Stover (God save the King! :p ) also writes fantasy? (Higher-tier fantasy if you use Eventine's structure but still fantasy based on your description of Gaiman's work. Unless you consider Stover better than Gaiman?)

And what's Bulgakov's first name? :)

[neologik]

estranghero:

Mikhail Bulgakov, author of the seminal THE MASTER AND THE MARGARITA, which is undeniably fantasy.

I would certainly say that Stover writes fantasy. What exactly does this have to do with anything though?

And as for what I think of Gaiman, here's a post directly from my blog:

"Which is pretty funny, because I and another of my co-workers were recently discussing this same oddball fact. For bizarro reasons, we also received a crapload of the Intermediate versions of Coraline, but only two of the Limited Edition... which immediately sold out.

I'm not at all surprised that they sold out, either. So far, our store has sold over 500 copies of American Gods alone. That's an incredible amount, rivalled only by the combined sales of Harry Potter books. Not even John Grisham or Dr. Phil McGraw does that well in our store. Go Neil!

Neil Gaiman is an intriguing phenomenon, actually. I grew up reading his comics, and like everyone else, was absolutely wow-ed by his work on Sandman. I stumbled upon Sandman at the age of fourteen, and at the time I had no idea that comics could produce works even remotely like what Gaiman was doing. I saw Dream and thought "Oh yeah, now this guy is COOL!". I saw Death and thought "I want this girl to be my GIRLFRIEND!". Heady stuff for a fourteen year old that had grown up reading superheroes and SF.

Gaiman's real magic has always been in his ability to weave magical tales that borrow and appropriate from all kinds of mythologies, and yet produce startlingly human tales. His characters were what mattered. In my opinion, he's drifted away from that depth of characterization in his recent novels, which are written ostensibly for adults. His novel characters tend toward the archetypal, which actually detracts from his writing ability.

And yet, Gaiman shines when it comes to writing for children. I always recommend Gaiman as an anti-Potter. Whereas Rowling's Harry Potter series is almost a rote Boy's Own Adventure, Gaiman brings depth and humanity and touching insight to his works like The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish or his collaboration with Charles Vess, Stardust... and now with Coraline.

With Coraline, Gaiman perfects his storytelling voice. This is a book that is meant to be read aloud, and I've already bought my own copy to save, preserved, for when Ania and Ava are old enough to comprehend it. Just the right amount of strangeness is mingled with just the right amount of Truth, with the same sort of wry sense of humor displayed by other childrens' authors like Roald Dahl, or even that master of madness, Shel Silverstein. The cadence of the prose is like finely measured poetry. Beautiful and accomplished work, restoring my faith in Neil Gaiman as an author that deserves to be ranked high on the list of True Fantasists.

Finally, what really thrills me about Gaiman is not so much that he is a fantasist that has been accepted by the mainstream. No, Stephen King did it long before Neil Gaiman did. But where Neil stands out is in his obvious love for genre writing, and his overwhelming willingness to TALK ABOUT IT. Any time a mainstream author talks about good genre authors, it can mean only good things for the entire industry, and it's refreshing to find writers that aren't so wrapped up within themselves that they're able to recommend and direct readers to other worthy authors."


--gabe chouinard
http://hypermode.blogspot.com

[estranghero]

Well, was really asking what's the difference between Bulgakov and Gaiman considering both writers write within the genre.

Now you said that Gaiman and FR novels would pigeon-hole you as a 'fantasist' but Bulgakov and FR novels won't. But you also admitted that Bulgakov wrote fantasy (which Gaiman also did). You see my confusion?

Thus the equation:

Gaiman = fantasy
Bulgakov = fantasy
Gaiman + FR (pigeonholed) fantasy reader
Bulgakov + FR (not pigeonholed) fantasy reader
Gaiman (?=?) Bulgakov

Actually, yes, have read that one, being a regular for hypermode blog and disloc fictions. :) Easier for us readers to catch up on your latest writings, yes?

[neal66]

Sometimes I read horror and psychological thrillers for a change but my first love will always be:sf/fantasy.

[Orica]

I go straight for the magical realists when I'm tired of "regular" fantasy. Marquez, of course, and others. Then Peake, to re-energize my brain.