Gaiman: Great author?

Yes, he’s a great author! I love.. basically everything he’s written.

Edited to add: What did you put down??

Stardust didn’t really do much for me although I loved Vess’s artwork. I stopped halfway through Anansi Boys. Did you like it?

I love him.

Anansi boys was awesome. I must admit Stardust was rather bland for him. The movie was better then the book and you can almost never say that.

American Gods was my favorite. You might also try Bad Omens. They are both pretty good.

Sounds good. I guess I’ll try and finish out Anansi Boys. I already have American Gods and hoping to get to that one shortly. Glad you liked it because I’ve been hearing great things about that one.

Anyone know which “Matrix” story he wrote or what book of short stories it is in? I heard that he had written one about a guy that was going to run out of oxygen and wanted to go back into the matrix till he died.

Matrix Comics

Stick with him. He’s pretty good.

Smoke and Mirrors is a great short story book by him. I’d check it out if you haven’t already.

Great author indeed!

I recommend Good Omens though there SHOULD be a sequel called Bad Omens :). He wrote it with Terry Pratchett, another awesome author. It’s a great book, I always come back and read it every few years, in fact it’s what I’m reading now!

I haven’t been able to get far enough into a book to tell, so my answer would be no. OTOH, lots of people I know and respect think yes. Just shows that he’s not for everyone.

I’ve only read Anansi Boys…but i did finish it…it was quirky and interesting but i don’t think i would read anything else by him off the back of that…although…..now i’m thinking….i might if i came across something that took my fancy…anyway i thought anansi boys was a bit wishy washy (technical eh!)

@lynne: his writings are often so different that if you don’t like one, you can always try picking up another.

Yes he’s a good author. Just because you didn’t enjoy all his books doesn’t change that and is probably to be expected because his work is very varied.

Well, I read a lot and I have never heard of the guy. That doesn’t mean anything, I know.

I’ve loved everything Gaiman has written so I have no clue what you’re talking about.

@Empress oh cool…i might have another bash!!! encouragement is what we need!! ta muchly :) You don’t often find that do you…different styles of writings…same author etc… will def have another go x

American gods first. Anansi boys second. They should go I’m order.

My favourite is the short story “Study in Emerald” which is a Sherlock Holmes story set in an H P Lovecraft/Cthulu story. You can download it free here

The first of his that I read was Good Omens which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, It’s a bit dated not but still a good read.

I think he’s a fantastic short story author, I like his novels but I think his short stories are better.

I enjoyed both Anansi Boys and American Gods. I got to Gaiman via science fiction.

Gaiman wrote a juvenile novel, too. Coraline. I read it. Not sure if my kids did. They were not turned on by the idea of elements of scary stuff.

I first picked up American Gods. Based on that I then read Anansi Boys, then Coraline, then Smoke and Mirrors, then Stardust. Of those I liked Coraline the least I guess because it is aimed at younger readers and I didn’t expect that. I have Fragile Things still to read (that’s the collection that contains the story set in the world of the Matrix) and Good Omens.

I did enjoy Stardust – it wasn’t scary but it was a nice fairy tale with a twist.

I love Neil Gaiman as a writer. Although he is sometimes not to my taste, in general I would rank him with someone like Ray Bradbury with a touch of Larry Niven. At his best, his prose is almost poetic. At his worst his images are inventive.

Oddly enough, I got to him because I needed something to read and American Gods was on the paperback rack at Walgreens.

I think he’s a great storyteller, but probably not a great novelist, if that makes sense. I think Coraline is a spectacular read.

@finkelitis: That’s an interesting distinction. Based on the little that I’ve read, I agree with you.

Anansi Boys is my least favorite Gaiman work. I definitely don’t recommend it as a starting point for his stuuff. Start with anything else, seriously. Also, as delirium said, read American Gods before Anansi Boys.

Gaiman + Pratchett = best combination ever. Good Omens = epic win.

Macbean…. again… we apparently have the exact same taste in books. This scares me.

Gaiman is awesome… nuff said!

@Gail: I’m about to be beaten up here, but you probably never heard of him because I’m guessing you’re not a fan of comic books graphic novels.
@all: Yes, I’m aware he’s written much in the way of novel fiction.

I aspire to be half as great as he.
(That means I adore him. If I were still in high school, I would etch his name into my forehead.)

Gaiman is a crossover writer. Yes, he started with graphic novels, and those of us who would never look at such a thing would miss him if he stayed there. But he didn’t. He crossed over into the science fiction and fantasy novel-writing genre, and so us sf fans could discover him, albeit being introduced by reviewers who were fans of both genres.

I really love Gaiman, but I feel like he falls into the same category as Chuck Palahniuk and Quentin Tarantino…when they’re on, they’re on, but when they’re off…it’s real bad.

I’m going to step in and say two things, both of which might be ridiculous:

If you want to get a feel for his writing style (not his storytelling, necessarily, but just random quick writing) he does keep a blog almost daily on his website. There is an RSS feed of it on LiveJournal or a few other similar sites. Free and fun to read.

The second is that I absolutely love him as an author, but also as a “famous person”. My fannish interactions with him have been nothing short of impressive—I’ve seen him stay twice as long as he was scheduled to be in a place just to make sure everyone who was there on time got an autograph. He also lends his fame regularly to important issues—specifically to defend the first amendment. And he does so in numerous ways. Plus, if you read his blog, you can see his dedication to his family. So all together I think that he seems like a pretty great guy, so I’m happy to support his novels by both reading and enjoying them and encouraging others to do the same. It’s just nice to have a celebrity that really seems to live…right.

That last bit is important to me because I’m about to try and get my little neighbor to read some of his books and I don’t want to get her hooked on the next big scandal, you know?

I agree with EP’s assessment of Neil as a really nice guy. I’ve had a few one-on-one conversations with him, and I’ve observed him interacting with other fans, too, and he has always been absolutely wonderful. He seems so humble and modest, and I seriously love how much he loves his kids.

Great author, no. Marvelously entertaining, and, yes, a great storyteller. (I appreciate the distinction, @finkelitis.) He has also written some total duds. Look in his short story collections if you want to see the spectrum. He obviously terrifically enjoys doing what he does, and I admire that. And he has a spectacular imagination, richly infused with myth and folklore and Jungian symbolism. Neverwhere is practically textbook Jung. But he is writing popular literature, not the stuff of great novels.

A couple of years ago I heard him give a reading at a nearby university. He read several pieces, including a chapter from what is now The Graveyard Book; he said he thought it might be chapter 4 of a yet unwritten novel, and he was just trying it out. (The audience gave it a big thumbs up.) When asked what came before and after that portion, he said he had no idea yet.

He also said that he and Terry Pratchett occasionally ask one another, “What do you suppose Aziraphale and Crowley are up to these days?” and agree that maybe one of these days they should put their heads together again and find out.

Apologies to all. I discovered today that I have read a book of his short stories (Fragile Things) and enjoyed most of them