128 replies to this topic

[Aurelian]

He's probably my favourite living writer, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere,Good Omens, The Graveyard Books, his biography of Douglas Adams, his graphic novels, the episode of Doctor Who, all brilliant. I cannot rate him highly enough really, American Gods I would say is his masterpiece, a vast story, very original, endless interesting characters and expertly written.

I saw him do a reading last year and have rarely seen people so excited to see a writer.

[Bronson]

Francis Buck, on 27 April 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

I've never read a single one of his books. I've heard tons about him, I remember in high-school a bunch of my reader friends were raving about him, but he's just one of those authors I never remember to read. Well, now I want to check some of his stuff out. But where should I start? What are his best books? I know I've heard a lot about American Gods, but I'm curious about his other stuff as well. What are The Sandman comics like?

NeverWhere
American Gods
Good Omens which he co wrote with Terry Pratchett.

Edited by Bronson, 02 May 2012 - 05:57 PM.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Anyone know when his next novel will be published?

[Ylva]

I think he's currently writing (he posted a blog entry back in February about it), so it might still take a while.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

I read American Gods and can't help thinking it's the most overrated book in fantasy blogosphere. The idea, the promise of the book is stunningly beautiful - at least for someone who isn't familiar with his other work- but while and after reading the book I kept thinking "shame a better writer didn't have this idea, he is trying to bite off more than he can chew".. Not only I was bothered with the story going nowhere meaningful and dragging on and on for a storm that never comes, but also with the lack of ideological / political courage that the story required. Unfortunately I can not express what I really mean by that with my limited English but I will just say this: a guy like Neiman (1.7 million followers on Twitter who-hoo) putting "new gods" in the "evil" side didn't feel sincere. (eventhough, I am an "old gods" guy myself)..hope that made a bit of sense...

Edited by cuthbertallgood, 11 July 2012 - 02:59 PM.

[Errant Bard]

Isn't there some sort of contradiction in invoking having limited English in the same breath as criticizing someone for being a bad writer? Something feels off.

[Kellhus]

Errant Bard, on 11 July 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

Isn't there some sort of contradiction in invoking having limited English in the same breath as criticizing someone for being a bad writer? Something feels off.

Not really, if English isn't your first language.

[Sci-2]

I've been picking through my copy of Fragile Things. It's actually pretty good stuff. Gaiman seems to be really good at short stories, and smaller arcs.

I'd be curious to know how much of Sandman was improv, done over time.

[Racker]

I've read Neverwhere, Stardust and American Gods, and I thought they were all very good books.  Fun, beautifully detailed adventures.  But not quite what I would call amazing, or classics. They had stories to tell, but not much to say beyond that.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

Errant Bard, on 11 July 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

Isn't there some sort of contradiction in invoking having limited English in the same breath as criticizing someone for being a bad writer? Something feels off.

Oh I didn't know one had to be born in English speaking countries to be able to criticize books in English. Most of those books are translated into other languages you know, so lesser beings like us can read them too. ( but we are only allowed to like them it seems)

Back to topic, I want to give Gaiman another try, what would be the best book for another chance, for someone who didn't really enjoy AG and thought it's massively overrated?

[Mikael]

I've liked The Graveyard Book the best of his novels. Read it.

ETA: Liked Anansi Boys and Stardust too, didn't really care for Neverwhere or AG.

Edited by Mikael, 12 July 2012 - 01:43 AM.

[Inkdaub7]

I love Sandman.  It's one of my absolute favorite comics.  I like Neverwhere best of his novels, Stardust I like also if a little less.  American Gods I didn't like.

[Contrarius]

cuthbertallgood, on 12 July 2012 - 01:23 AM, said:

what would be the best book for another chance, for someone who didn't really enjoy AG and thought it's massively overrated?

I love Gaiman, but I was also not terribly thrilled with American Gods.

If you want something similar but imho better, try Anansi Boys.

If you want something completely different, try my two Gaiman favorites -- The Graveyard Book and Good Omens.

Gaiman is also an excellent short story writer, so if you want something with less commitment, try a few of them.

[Vampire Squid]

I think he's generally brilliant, though I agree that

Spoiler

the conclusion to the Nada plotline

is somewhat jarring. And while bits of American Gods dragged somewhat, I think it works as a whole, and I think it might have worked better had it been done more episodically, like how Sandman was able to move from story arcs to short story mini-anthologies while still working as a greater whole.

[Calibandar]

There is some news here, via Publisher's Weekly, about his next 5 books for Harper Collins.

http://www.tor.com/b...ailAttribute2%%

It speaks only of children's books, mid grade novels. I wonder why the sequel to American Gods is not amongst this deal with this publisher.

[Mr. E]

Contrarius, on 12 July 2012 - 03:23 AM, said:

Gaiman is also an excellent short story writer, so if you want something with less commitment, try a few of them.

1000x this. While American Gods and Neverwhere are good, Gaiman's short stories are fantastic. He has two collections of them and both are worth double the price.

Let me take this opportunity to also pimp a collection he worked on, Stories, which is probably the best collection of shorts I've ever read.

[Calibandar]

That is a good collection, and has a nice Gaiman story in it as well.

Amazon has the hardcover downpriced:

http://www.amazon.co...=stories gaiman

[Seli]

Calibandar, on 12 July 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

There is some news here, via Publisher's Weekly, about his next 5 books for Harper Collins.

http://www.tor.com/b...ailAttribute2%%

It speaks only of children's books, mid grade novels. I wonder why the sequel to American Gods is not amongst this deal with this publisher.

And besides these 5 books (some finished some still in planning) there is also another novel that should come out in 2013 and a new Sandman story.

http://journal.neilg...ooks-three.html
http://journal.neilg...ctual-news.html

[Sci-2]

Seli: For all my critiques of Sandman in previous posts, Gaiman must have told a pretty damn good story in those comics given my heart jumped at the idea of a prequel with the boss JH Williams.

Damn, that's some awesome news. Hopefully Time Wave Zero aka Mayan Apocalypse aka Return of Queztacoatl is off by a few years.

[Calibandar]

So, a new Sandman comic in 2013. This one will have great art by the looks of it.

Still, I hope he'll give us some news about AG II. I also wonder when the American Gods tv show will premier.