Kevin's Watch

Read Stardust today (long day at the mechanic's). I enjoyed it. A fairy tale all ages can enjoy kind of thing with a lot of Pratchett-like humor (no wonder Good Omens felt so seamless).

The only thing of his I've ever read is his <B>amazing</B> <I>Sandman</I> comic books. One of the very best things ever produced in the comic book field.

i have a nearly complete set of the sandman trading cards from around '95. also have Book of Dreams, though I never finished all of it (only edited by Gaiman and most of the stories lag, I thought).

I didn't have a good feeling about that book, so never bothered with it. I didn't miss much, eh?

Nope. mine's just been collecting dust on the bookshelf since about a week after I... appropriated it from a previous employer (c'mon, why else would i work for an online bookseller? ok, so most books i payed for or were given to me, but i thought $14 was a little high). The main reason I picked it up is because it had shorts by Tad Williams and, amazingly enough, Tori Amos (wife's a huge fan).

Yeah, I was surprised to see Amos' name in there. (And I forgot until you just mentioned it.)

*tag* You're it!

Have you guys read Gaiman's kids book? Coraline? That one was pretty good. Nice and creepy!

not yet, but i'm planning on it

I never even heard of it. Anybody know if he wrote books before his run on the <I>Sandman</I> comic book? Or did they all come after? Just curious.

this bio makes him out to be somewhere between god and shakespeare.

www.neilgaiman.com/about/bio.asp

Sylvanus wrote:this bio makes him out to be somewhere between god and shakespeare.

www.neilgaiman.com/about/bio.asp

I read his bio. there. We are truly blessed to be here at the same time as him on this pale blue orb.

Don't know why it took me so long, as I love Coraline, American Gods, Good Omens, and the Sandman comics, but this morning I started reading Stardust, and I am really enjoying it!

A great fairy tale with some really funny parts.

Coraline was creepy. Admittedly, I'm chicken-hearted when it comes to horror, but I've gotten much better over the years, and can handle pretty much anything now except dolls and clowns. The button eyes of the Other family in Coraline just plain freaked me out.

I loved Neverwhere though. I keep meaning to pick up some more Gaiman; maybe this will inspire me.

Well the loose sequel to American Gods should be out later this year, The Anansi Boys, just a heads up. My opinion of Stardust? Another novel that does nothing to detract from Gaiman's reputation as one of the very elite writers in fantasy. Neverwhere, American Gods, Good Omens (with Pratchett), Coraline, not to mentioned his awesome Sandman run, and Death: The High Cost of Living in comics.

IMHO easily one of fantasy's best 10 writers.


EDIT

Also look out for his movies, Mirrormask soon, and the series Neverwhere is on DVD and is pretty damn good.

Stardust was a great little book! Inventive, funny, and something you can read in a few hours.

I never even heard of it. Anybody know if he wrote books before his run on the Sandman comic book? Or did they all come after? Just curious.

I'm pretty sure he started in comics before making the jump to novels of the non-illustrated sort. Sandman was perhaps not his first, though. I think he did some work in the U.K., perhaps for 2000 a.d., before making the jump to DC Comics in the U.S.

He actually just returned to comics, briefly, for a limited series from Marvel entitled 1602, which was an alternate reality take on the Marvel Universe. It was quite good but perhaps of small interest to those not aware of the comic book continuity behind the work.

VERY excited to hear of the sequel to American Gods, just an utterly wonderful novel. Can't wait.

I never even heard of it. Anybody know if he wrote books before his run on the Sandman comic book? Or did they all come after? Just curious

Gaiman's landmark Sandman run was prior to his writing his first solo novel which was NeverWhere.

Cover of the heavily anticipated Anansi Boys: