I love Neal because he's not a writer, he's storyteller.

His first book I read was Neverwhere. It was quaint and strange and lovely, deliciously enchanting. Then there were Mirror & Smoke (which contains some of his best work), Stardust, Sandman, American Gods (my favourite because I'm a mythology geek), Coraline (the other best), Anansi's Boys, Mirrormask, all wonderful. I don't think he ever writes the best plots, characters, or universe. He doesn't shine for originality or the depth of his theme. But he writes stories, which is something mysterious and more unique, more magical, and he does so with an unequalled gift which I see nowhere else except with Rebecca Sean Borgstrom's stories.

I haven't actually watched Mirrormask yet...is it cold? Really? They might have tried too hard to accomplish the look...

As for me, my first exposure was Sandman. By the time Morpheus went to hell, I was in love.

Neil is great and I've seen him a few times. I saw him the first time I went to Comic Con for the bed time story reading he sometimes does, and I saw him in Berkely where he read all of Coraline. And Neil is a storyteller not a writer, he conveys stories so very well in nearly ever medium he touches from graphic novles to the movies.

I really enjoyed Mirrormask, but I think one of my favorite thing he ever did was Neverwhere, not just the novel but the miniseries. That was great.

Whee~ Gaiman~

My first exposure was the first volume of Sandman. A friend lent me the first three volumes. I read the first one, liked it well enough, but not enough to get around to reading the other two he had lent me. Months later I gave them back, and moved in with some roommates, one of whom happened to own the whole series. I went on an 'expanding my horizons' kick, and gave it another shot and I just sped though it like mad. I love how they have all these different artists and styles. Daniel =

Then it was American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Stardust. That's about it. The 'problem' I have is that if I have a day in which I don't have much to do, I can polish off a book in a day. ;; And, to be honest, though I've never read any of his short stories, I feel like his style is more suited to them. There's something about his novels....I love them, but...

I really liked Mirrormask. *shrug* It wasn't what I expected, (I read about it in a little article in some scifi/fantasy movie magazine thing, forgot about it, and when it came out again and I saw the promo images went: Oooooh, I remember you!) but I liked it. the soundtrack.

Something about all this makes me feel like a poser >>;

How did I forget about Good Omens?! That was awesome, and as I think it, the first Neil Gaiman book that I read. ...And somehow I forgot about reading Neverwhere too. ...Probably because I lent it to someone just after I read it, and I don't think I got it back. Months ago. :/ Also watched the BBC miniseries which was okay, but not half as good as the book. (Which is more amusing because so far as I know, the miniseries came first.)

I love about Gaiman his approach to reality, where the gods all exist and walk among us. Lucifer drinks armagnac but it's not pandering to the devilish snob stereotype, it's just sensible he'd be that way while Thor wants a beer. There's something of that in SKU, not so much specifically about the gods, but a similarity in how the world is presented. Gaiman seems more romantic to me than SKU was, though, SKU has a happy ending but there's no silver lining in the dark world it creates.

I can't quite put my finger on it.

I'm about halfway through Fragile Things, and so far the stories have been either "really effin' good" or just kinda "... eh." If you're like me (Neil stalker), you've already read many of these stories in other collections, but it's nice to have them all in one nice volume. Favories of mine so far are "October in the Chair" (very melancholy tale of boy meets/becomes friends with a ghost. Reminded me a bit of Rowland and Paine from Sandman), "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire" (This story is so worth it just for the title. You'll love this if you've ever read gothic horror fiction), and "The Problem of Susan" (redeems all that time I wasted reading the Narnia books in middle school). A lot of gems in there, and everyone you ask will have a different favorite. There's also a sequel to American Gods in here somewhere, which I've yet to read.

EDIT: Oh, and his Sherlocke Holmes story rocked. It's basically a crossover with H.P. Lovecraft. (OH THE INSANITY)

Last edited by Soup Goblin (11-16-2006 04:55:57 PM)

I've just started reading Gaiman recently: Neverwhere, Stardust, and I'm currently reading American Gods.  I think he's a pretty good storyteller, and he, like someone once said about Robin McKinley , has a keen instinct for building the landscape of the fairy tale.  I think that's the parallel between Gaiman and SKU--the feeling of "magic" that pervades the setting. 

I've thought his characters, especially the females, are pretty shallow, though.  I didn't think Neverwhere or Stardust were particularly character-driven, however, so I don't consider it a detraction...simply an observation.  I'm wondering if American Gods will give me evidence of versatility in his narratives...

rhyaniwyn wrote:

I've thought his characters, especially the females, are pretty shallow, though.

I think he tends to let you flesh out the characters based on their behavior and the circumstances they're in. He also tends to use gods and such, and assume in some degree you know their personality enough for him not to have to explain it much. Overall, though, he does seem to focus more on the idea of the story than the characters, and at times I do get the impression they're there to fuel that story and that's all. Sandman was the best for characterization, I think, the medium lent itself to his style.

I think, though, that since he started writing novels more, he's really started to even that out. The characterization improves with each one, IMO.

Yes, Coraline is great. It was scary and cool at the same time. (For some reason I really get into children's books.) It only gets better, so enjoy the rest of it.

Upon seeing this, I needed to share. In the page before chapter two of "The Wake", the last Sandman graphic novel, there is a picture of a chick (almost dead looking) around a broken egg shell. I went crazy when I saw this, and I'm wondering...has he read Demain? And another question, has he seen Utena? As soon as I have an actual block of free time, I will write him. And I will ask him those things. My questions to everyone are:
1) Do you guys want to see a scan of the picture?
2) Should I write a letter on behalf of the Gaiman fans here?

Let me know!!

Thread Necro!

I'm sure many of you know that Stardust was recently made. Well, apparantly there are trailers for it in Russia. Somone on ONTD kindly posted it. Looks freaking awesome, but I'm not so sure about the POTC music, or how faithful it's going to be. :/



http://community.livejournal.com/ohnoth … 29778.html <--- for your enjoyment.

Not sure where all of those scenes are from, either. Hrm.