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| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/5/2007 2:41 PM | |
has anyone read this?
or any of other gaiman's novels?
i just finished american gods, and i'd
have to say it is one of the most original
stories i've read in a long time.
this, after reading two other very strong
books, the golden compass and the goose girl.
(both YA and done well.)
gaiman takes risks (he can, i think, being
an established writer) and writes with strong
prose along with fantastic storytelling.
i recommend this book to everyone.
i can't even call it "fantasy" as we know it.
but it def is fantastic in its elements.
i'd be interested to hear from others who have
read him or any of his other novels. i think i'll
pick up stardust next, which was his debut novel
and a fairtytale, i believe?
gaiman's range is so broad, it's pretty amazing.
cindy p.a little sweet, a little sour.
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| Posted By : nathan - 7/5/2007 3:22 PM | | If you really liked American Gods then run, don't walk, to get NeverWhere, Cindy.
I've read that book 4 times and my paperback is in tatters it is so great. Because of Neverwhere being so reat I personally was disappointed with Gods--by way of comparison I mean.
Neverwhere, Neverwhere, Neverwhere!
You'll love it.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : UnclePete - 7/5/2007 3:34 PM | I liked both quite a bit, and Stardust is good too. though i haven't yet read the sequel to American Gods. Anansi Brothers?
____________
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." --Thomas Jefferson
http://www.creativeguypublishing.com |
| Posted By : Frank - 7/5/2007 5:36 PM | | I've read Good Omens, which Gaiman did in collaboration with Terry Pratchett, and it was superbly funny. I haven't read any more of his novels but I did read one of his short story collections, Smoke & Mirrors, which had many excellent stories in it. |
| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/5/2007 6:28 PM | well, i had the intention of getting stardust--
all fairytale goodness--but it wasn't at my local
bookstore. so i by chance, picked up neverwhere.
any story set in london gets bonus points
from me. so hey nathan, i got your much
recommended book without realizing! =)
i skipped picking up on anasi boys, his latest,
because it was more of the gods stuff, and i
wanted something different.
i think the sign of a GOOD author is when
the person feels compelled to pick up another
of your books immediately after finishing one.
i haven't done that with an author since
le guin's earthsea series.
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : Camille Alexa - 7/5/2007 11:07 PM |
nathan said...If you really liked American Gods then run, don't walk, to get NeverWhere, Cindy.
Nathan's right; Neverwhere rocks, but I couldn't get through American Gods (though the writing, as always, was fantastic). HOWEVER, Anansi Boys and Fragile Things are two of my favorite books ever, ever, ever.
Ever.
If you're into vintage BBC productions, you can check out the Neverwhere series:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115288/ |
| Posted By : Daniel Ausema - 7/6/2007 12:11 AM | I think American Gods has been my favorite of Gaiman's books so far. I've not read Anansi Boys or his collection(s?) of short fiction yet...or most of the Sandman comics, for that matter, though I have the second volume out from the library now. I enjoyed both Stardust and Neverwhere. I always seem to go into a Gaiman book with very high expectations, and it seems like most of the times I end up mildly disappointed--not that I've disliked anything of his I've read by any means, but I think I just put too high of expectations on it and feel like it falls a little short.
But anyway, we can save that self-analysis for another time.  I'll just say that American Gods is very good.
Twigs and Brambles (my writing blog) |
| Posted By : tchernabyelo - 7/6/2007 4:38 AM | "Stardust" may be hard to find on the shelves at the moment, but it'll be out in all-new movie tie-in edtiions later in the year, you can bet on that. My original copies have just been destroyed by flood (along with the second "Death" mini-series), which is irksome.
I found "American Gods" disappointing - enjoyable in some ways, but flawed in others. Shadow is such a passive MC, right up until the very end, and the pacing and structure really didn't work for me (it was as if two different stories - the Mr Wednesday scam and the winter in small-town Minnesota - were forced to live together when they didn't want to). But even at his worst, Gaiman remains eminently readable.
"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3
"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #19
"What The Sea Refuses" - Black Gate (forthcoming)
"When Winter Came" - ASIM (forthcoming) |
| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/6/2007 11:47 AM | it's interesting how tastes vary!
i agree that shadow seemed a rather passive
hero, at the same time, the storyline and what
gaiman was attempting, with all his interludes
and different voices, made the novel ... different.
so i didn't mind shadow. i liked him a lot.
i knew how he was even tho he did seem so
closed, simply through his actions.
i'm looking foward to reading neverwhere.
it doesn't sound like a book i usually read at all,
so kudos to gaiman for getting me to run
out and get another of his books!
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : cussedness - 7/6/2007 1:23 PM | The concept of the fading gods has been around since the Golden Age of the Pulps, However, I did feel that Gaiman gave it an excellent twist.
Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.
Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa’necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.
Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm
website
www.janraefrank.com
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ |
| Posted By : PaulMc - 7/6/2007 3:57 PM | xiaotien said...
has anyone read this?
i just finished american gods, and i'd
have to say it is one of the most original
stories i've read in a long time.
I enjoyed it. My nephew recommended it - he's a big Gaiman fan.
I haven't read much else from him. I have Smoke & Mirrors but I haven't gotten to it, yet.
-- Paul McNamee
My Writings
The Tales of Doran Coyle |
| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/6/2007 4:03 PM |
cussedness said...The concept of the fading gods has been around since the Golden Age of the Pulps, However, I did feel that Gaiman gave it an excellent twist.
i didn't realize this.
another friend pointed it out as
he's come across it from his own reading.
i'm sort of sheltered in many ways. ha!
still, i did enjoy the tale, and i really
liked shadow.
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 7/13/2007 9:45 AM |
cussedness said...
The concept of the fading gods has been around ...
Yup - I've even tried my hand at it.
I've not read any Gaiman (outside a few comics), but he keeps getting recommended to me, especially the Sandman stuff. I'll have to check out this Neverwhere book, though, since Nathan can't stop shouting about it. 
~~~~~~~~~~ Jason M. Waltz Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs & Starships Magazine~~~~~~~~~~ Ever waltz with the Devil? Or devil with a Waltz? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts to find out (and read a review or two). |
| Posted By : von Darkmoor - 7/13/2007 9:48 AM |
tchernabyelo said...
My original copies have just been destroyed by flood (along with the second "Death" mini-series), which is irksome. Sorry to hear about that, tchernabyelo - that is quite irksome. I had that happen in 2003 to a section of the bottom shelf of books. Pain in the butt, too. 
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs & Starships Magazine
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Or devil with a Waltz? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts to find out (and read a review or two). |
| Posted By : cussedness - 7/13/2007 10:04 AM | HAH! I finally remembered the writer I was trying to remember that included some of the same concepts as Gaiman back in the golden age. H. Warner Munn.
Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.
Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa’necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.
Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm
website
www.janraefrank.com
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ |
| Posted By : Thirdy Lopez - 7/17/2007 1:37 AM | Smoke and Mirrors is a wonderful collection, filled with poetry and stories.
Neverwhere was the first Gaiman novel I read, so if you spot this puppy in a bookstore, do yourself a favor and buy it. It's tons of fun.
|
| Posted By : Keralen - 7/17/2007 8:49 AM | American Gods was good, though I agree Shadow was passive, and at the end I kind of couldn't figure out what just happened. It was also grosser than I normally like. Anansi Boys, which I read first, I liked better - Fat Charlie actually changed and grew. Is Neil Gaiman lightening up??
Cindy, read the later Terry Pratchett - especially Small Gods - or any of his Night Watch Discworld novels for another take on fading gods. Knowing both authors, now, I can really tell which parts of Good Omens Pratchett wrote (the funny bits), and which part is Gaiman (the maggots). |
| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/17/2007 10:52 AM |
cussedness said...HAH! I finally remembered the writer I was trying to remember that included some of the same concepts as Gaiman back in the golden age. H. Warner Munn.
hehe! i bet it felt great to remember! 8)
well, i finished neverwhere.
this was written during the time
of london that i know and love--
mid-1990's--before diana died,
before the terrorists, before there
was a starbucks at every corner.
so i was predisposed to it.
having said that, and i'm in the minority
here, most likely, i liked american gods
better than neverwhere.
the two books are very different.
tho i wonder if i like american gods better
simply because i read it first?
it could be.
[spoilers]
i felt that i was being manipulated
somewhat with the angel islington actually
being a baddie.
only because i liked the "twist" in american
gods, and then, here it is, a twist again.
i couldn't help but feel that i had already
seen that coming. but hey, gaiman wrote
neverwhere first, not AG.
neverwhere was like alice in wonderland
in modern london gone darker and more mental.
AG was completely orginal and fresh to me,
not having read the sandman or anything else
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : xiaotien - 7/17/2007 10:54 AM | and i'll have to say it again,
i really liked shadow. i found
him to be the strong stoic type.
i didn't see him as passive, i saw
him as put into a situation beyond
his control and doing as best he
could with it.
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : peadarog - 9/28/2007 5:28 AM | I also much preferred American Gods to Neverwhere. I liked Stardust and Anansi Boys. I loved Smoke and Mirrors.
Peadar O Guilin
Available now:
"Twig" From Adventures of Sword and Sorcery #7
"The Bag" in Reckless abandon
"The Mourning Trees" in Black Gate #5
"Fairy Fort" in A Walk on the Darkside
"Hair" in www.feralfiction.com
"Hurdy-Gurdy" in Dark Arts
Coming Soon:
"The Drain" in Weird Tales
"Where Beauty Lies in Wait" in Black Gate
The Inferior from David Fickling Books. Coming 6 September 2007. |
| Posted By : xiaotien - 9/30/2007 11:09 PM | i enjoyed stardust, but it didn't wow me
as american gods did.
i may pick up anansi boys in the future.
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
|
| Posted By : bleacheddecay - 9/30/2007 11:44 PM | I've read Anansi Boys. I wanted so much more from that book.
bleacheddecay |
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