Neil Gaiman

[Idril]

Has anyone else here read his books and if so, what do you think of them? I haven't read any of his graphic novels, I've never been that interested in the genre but I love his novels. I think Neverwhere is my favorite although at this point, I haven't read one of his books that I didn't like. Has anyone read Anansi Boys yet? Is it any good?

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Neverwhere isn't bad but the TV adaptation sucked - way too under budget. American Gods is very good, as is his collaberation with Terry Pratchett - Good Omens - I loved the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse in this book - especially when Famine uses fast food with negative nutritional value to achieve his ends!

You really ought to read the Sandman series - it's excellently crafted - I bought the 10 collected books, and it isn't really until book 9 that you realise just how well they have all been stitched together - up until then, they seem to be more-or-less seperate stories with the same characters - best comic series I've ever read (and that includes the Bash Street Kids!!)

Totally funny but poignant at the same time. A darker, more sinister, Pratchett - thoroughly recommended - and I can read a whole novel by Gaiman in a day or two, so there's plenty of time for 'serious' books as well. :nod:

[Idril]

Neverwhere isn't bad but the TV adaptation sucked - way too under budget.

I just watched that and you're right, it was awful. :rolleyes: I was lamenting to a friend that they picked Stardust to make a movie of because while I liked it, I thought Neverwhere would make a better movie and they mentioned this miniseries so I rushed out and ordered it from amazon and was very disappointed. I was so unimpressed with Door and the Angel Islingtion was not even remotely as I imagined him and not the least bit intimidating. As a general rule it was melodramtic and cheesy and the acting was...questionable at times but then again, it was made 10 years ago now so maybe it's just dated. Gaiman was heavily involved in the project too and that somehow makes it even more disappointing.

I love Good Omens! I got that book because I'm a big Discworld fan and wanted to read more Pratchett and in the process, discovered Gaiman. The 4 Horseman were great, as were the 'extra' horsemen they picked up and that kid was a fascinating character! He was both innocent and creepy at the same time.

I like American Gods as well. My brother went through a phase where he was just obsessed with Norse mythology so I got a big kick out of the fact that one of the main characters was Odin. The concept of old gods roaming the world incognito reminded me a bit of Adams' Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul but Gaiman certainly put his own stamp to the idea.

I may have to check the Sandman series out one of these days. I need to break out of my Victorian/Russian Liturature rut I'm in and graphic novels would definately accomplish that. :D

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Neverwhere wasn't just dated - it sucked 10 years ago too. :D

[Idril]

Neverwhere wasn't just dated - it sucked 10 years ago too. :D

:lol: :lol:

Well, I was trying to be gracious, but you're right, it just sucks, there's no getting around it. It would be different if they were trying to make it look cheesy but I don't believe they were, I believe they thought they were making a great peice of work. It reminds me of the 2000 miniseries version of Dune, it had that same melodramtic, questionable acting, cheesy special effects feel to it, although Dune also had some seriously odd costuming choices at least the characters in Neverwhere weren't wearing ridiculously outlandish hats...well...most of them anyway.

[Nightshade]

I liked Good omens and neverwhere havent read American Gods or Anasi Boys yet waiting for a good moment and my order to be filled :rolleyes:

[PeterL]

I read "American Gods" and enjoyed some parts of it. He is a pretty good writer, but American Gods could have been 300 pages shorter without losing anything. After reading the first hundred pages I reflected on it and realized that it was poorly edited and could have been cut to about 80 pages. After reading the whole thing I realized that there is a section that is about 100 pages that could have been reduced to 5 pages. While the writing was good, Gaiman got some of the ancient religion wrong: Czernobog and Bielobog change positions on the Solstices, not on the Equinoxes for example.

[Jarndyce]

Read Neverwhere, and liked it. But Coraline is great. Not only is it just good, but I bought in for my 8-year-old niece, and she loved it, too.

[mir]

i read a bunch of his books - i liked Good Omens best, but then again, Terry Pratchett is my favorite author : ) - but i've stopped reading him lately because i read some of the Sandman and got scared. : )

[BrckBrln]

How is he? I'm thinking about getting InterWorld tomorrow and I want to know if he is any good. I've heard good things about him but I heard good things about Dean Koontz too and I just got done reading The Good Guy and to me it was horrible.

So is Gaiman worth getting?

[Idril]

I love Neil Gaiman. I've never read InterWorld but I've read all his "adult" novels and I think he's definitely worth a try. He's got a great sense of humor, his novels are always a great, smooth read and he writes fantasy in a way that doesn't come off as cliched or unbelievable.

[malwethien]

Neil Gaiman is great! Read Neverwhere first...I'm reading American Gods now..but I think Neverwhere is better. I mean, the idea behind American Gods is really good, but the material could have been handled better....I think Gaiman could have done a better job writing it.

I have 'Good Omens" and "Coraline" which I'll read after American Gods....

[vili]

I must say that while I really like Gaiman's work in the field of graphic novels, I haven't quite enjoyed his prose style that greatly. Not that I would have read everything, or probably even most that he has published in that format.

I would definitely give him a try, though. In fact, I will probably give him another opportunity, myself.

[BrckBrln]

I read some of his short stories today and I loved them. I think I will get InterWorld.

[Bakiryu]

Neil Man is awesome, His funny and witty and his novels are so good you just want to read them over and over. *I think I'm half in love with the guy, lol* Anansi Boys is very good and so is Stardust, I've read Good Omens, you should definetedly get into his work.

[PeterL]

I have read a few things by him, and I liked his style on details, but he didn't seem to have a good sense of proportion between the minor details and the grand structure of a novel. American Gods has about 300 pages that don't really add to the story, but I will admit that it was well written. I kept thinking: 'This is interesting, but what does it have to do with the story?' Those parts didn't have anything to do with the story, so they should have been chopped.

[malwethien]

Peter L I agree with your assessment with American Gods....now that I think about it, that is probably what I find wrong with it. There does seem to have a lot of "extra stuff" that don't really need to be there...

[Scheherazade]

So, Neil Gaiman aye or nay?

[Taliesin]

Scher, Gaiman has written quite a number of children and young adult (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman_bibliography#Juvenile_and_young_adult_ fiction) books, e.g "Coraline" and "The Graveyard Book"; the latter even won the Newbery medal, among other things.

And as for the aye or nay,in my opinion, a huge aye, upon which I unfortunately cannot be bothered to comment further on right now.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I've only read Neverwhere (planning on reading American Gods at some point), and based on just that, I give a definite aye. It isn't flawless, but an excellent and imaginative first book. I didn't see it as a "young adult" novel, but it could work as such.

[Lokasenna]

I think Gaiman is capable of writing for both. Something like American Gods is clearly different in tone from Coraline, though I think even his books for younger readers can be enjoyed by adults. I mean, have a read of Coraline while baring Freud in mind, and you get a very interesting experience.

He's just released an Old Norse inspired childrens' book called Odd and the Frost Giants, which pleases me greatly - I have dispatched a copy to my godson forthwith, and will get round to reading it myself at some point. I understand that, though written for children, it is a fairly faithful introduction to Norse mythology.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Ooooh, I'll have to check that out. Norse mythology is something I've always been curious about.

[Rores28]

I'm still up in the air... American Gods, of which I'd heard rave reviews, I thought was pretty underwhelming.

However, I thought the graphic novel "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" was amazing.

I've god the sandman series on my bookshelf right now waiting to be read...

As far as children's stuff, American Gods, Caped Crusader, and Sandman are in the realm of what people call "inappropriate for children"

[JakWil]

I've been meaning to read something by him. I actually found out about him through being a fan of his girl Amanda Palmer's band The Dresden Dolls.

[PeterL]

I have read American Gods and some short stories by him. The short stories were mediocre. American Gods was fair; it would have been better, if there weren't about 250 pages that were included that had nothing to do with the story.

[LuggageFan]

Neverwhere is one of my favorite books - just perfect. I actually cried at the end, lol. I'm thinking he must have modeled the story on some classic like The Odyssey, because it has that epic feel to it, even though it's just a normal-sized book. The characters are very well-drawn.

I also tried Good Omens, and I had to put it down about halfway through; I'm not entirely sure why, since Terry Pratchett is also one of my favorites. Perhaps Pratchett's humor works best on his own, because I adore Discworld, and Omens had some good laughs, but I don't know - I think I just need to be in the mood for something light, and I haven't been feeling like it lately.

I have American Gods, but people I know who've read that tell me it's not really all that great - solid and good, but flawed.