Neil Gaiman: short stories?

[I, Brian]

I've not read any of Neil Gaiman's actual novels - but I bought most of his Sandman series when it came out, and was generally good quality, though it seemed to slip towards the end.

Point is, he seemed to have much more of a talent for writing shorter stories within the Sandman series itself - preludes and noctures, a Midsummer Night's Dream, and various other Sandman shorts were pretty excellent stories - and often were much more interesting than his longer Sandman stories themselves.

I would therefore be much more inclined to read an anthology of Gaiman short stories than a novel by him. However, does any such short story anthology by Neil Gaiman exist as yet?

[Kraken]

Smoke and Mirrors is a short story collection by Neil Gaiman. It contains a nice range of stories and a couple of poems, and there are some interesting notes in the prologue, where he briefly comments on the fiction.

I think Angels and Visitations is a collection too, but I haven't found a copy yet.

[I, Brian]

Thanks for that - I'll definitely have to watch out for Smike and Mirrors then.

If you don't mind my asking, how do you rate Neil as a writer, as compared to the general market? It's just that being mostly familiar with his work via comics, I often wondered how much of a leap it would be moving to just the printed word to tell a story.

[tonic]

Read American Gods Brian, I have a good feeling that you'd like it. You know most things about history, well this has a lot of historical/mythological references. Also I just finished Good Omens which is his collaboration with Terry Pratchett and I really liked it. Especially if you know a lot about the antichrist then it would be a good satire for you. Though I'm jewish lol and had no idea what I was reading but it made me laugh nonetheless.

[Devillishgirl]

I haven't read any of his short stories but I stumbled upon a children's book by him last night when I took my son for his weekly trip to the library. I didn't realize he did any children's stuff so it was a surprise. It's pretty cute, very nicely illustrated and it's called The Wolves in the Wall.

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by Devillishgirl

I didn't realize he did any children's stuff so it was a surprise. It's pretty cute, very nicely illustrated and it's called The Wolves in the Wall.

It is cute, isn't it .
He's written at least one other illustrated story, The Day I swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. Haven't actually read that one, but it sounds good!
And Coraline is aimed at slightly older children; I admit I found that one a bit creepy (yes, I'm a wuss)

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

how do you rate Neil as a writer, as compared to the general market? It's just that being mostly familiar with his work via comics, I often wondered how much of a leap it would be moving to just the printed word to tell a story

I'm not sure how useful this will be to you since our opinions on Sandman differ, but I'd recommend American Gods.
Even his collaboration with Pratchett has as much depth than Neverwhere - don't get me wrong, I like both of those novels, but Neverwhere doesn't have the amount of meaning I expected, coming to it from Sandman.
It's too long since I read Stardust's, but my vagure impression is that the illustrated version felt more like a comic than a novel: where that was purely because it was illustrated or not I can't say.
American Gods is more complex, less optimistic, and has the same rich mythic background that underpinned Sandman. I have to say it took me longer to get enthusiastic about it than anything of Neil's that I've ever read, but it was worth persevering.

And having thought about it, if you're going for a lighter read, I might pick Good Omens over Neverwhere, purely because of the ending. I think it has one of the best codas I've ever seen.

[I, Brian]

I think I'll keep an eye out for American Gods.

Read Good Omens - and to be perfectly honest, it completely bored me.

[McMurphy]

I would suggest reading Smoke and Mirrors. Not all of the short stories (and a handful of poems) are good, but it is certainly worth your time to check out.

If you wish to give the collection only a limited span of attention, please read "Murder Mysteries" first. I enjoyed that story the most, and it best illustrates his preferred subject matter: reworking of mythologies.

[Winters_Sorrow]

I've just bought Smoke & Mirrors and busy working my way enjoyably through it.

The thing that strikes me is the different genres and styles which Gaiman seems very comfortable using. I'm used to his brilliant quirky outlook and characters but I was impressed at how broad his body of work was.

I seem to have under-estimated Mr Gaiman.

[Green]

I think he's a great writer of myths and mythology. I'm not that interested in short stories as a whole, so I've not bothered with his short story collections.

But, I can wholeheartedly reccomend American Gods to all and sundry. Great book, with interesting takes on established ideas of gods and the idea of how worship can shape the god itself.

Neverwhere and Anansi boys are much lighter reads, but still engaging nonetheless. Sandman is still his magnum opus, though.

[Winters_Sorrow]

Which Sandman is the original?
I've kind of steered clear of that as it seems to either be a sprawling collection about about 15 graphic novels - are they self-contained stories (like traditional comics) or one long story seperated into component parts.

Is there some kind of collected works or a starting point I can get my teeth into?

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by Winters_Sorrow

Which Sandman is the original?
I've kind of steered clear of that as it seems to either be a sprawling collection about about 15 graphic novels - are they self-contained stories (like traditional comics) or one long story seperated into component parts.

They're all basically from the Sandman comic, which run to around 80 or so issues.

Although there is a basic underlying connection to each of the story arcs, you should be able to pick up most of them without worrying too much about missing anything.

Seasons of Mists is one of my favourites of the longer story arcs, but I personally think his shorter single-issue stories were some of his most powerful. Watch out for Preludes and Nocturne on that point.

Hope that helps.

[wonko]

@ Winters Sorrow
I totally share your opinion in "Smoke and Mirrors", Gaiman just changes style as he walks along, and I think it's great! But... with what of the short stories can you compare his style or wrighting books? I think of buying one, but I just can't decide, which... allthough I like "amarican gods" cover most...

[Hile Troy]

I think all of his novels are top notch. Anansi Boys is pretty lightweight, but still fun. Neverwhere and Stardust are great reads....Also, the Lucifer/angel story in smoke and Mirrors is chilling.