Fantasy Aficionados discussion

Gaiman, as we all know, writes mostly urban fantasy. He is an awesome writer who cracks me up. My favorites by him are American Gods, Neverwhere, and Anansi Boys

I have several of his in my tbr pile. I need to read them!

Yes, he is awesome. I got to see him speak at a convention a couple months ago. He is a pretty funny guy even in real life. Though, I wouldn't say that his fiction is strictly comedic. He can be quite serious too.

I bet he was cool to listen to in real life.

He was! I was in the first row, so I could see his nose hairs...lol. It was awesome.

Wow! That's really cool.

I have Anansi Boys and American Gods, as well as Good Omens (if I can ever pry it away from my mother). I've only read Good Omens, but if that is any indication of his writing and Terry Pratchett's writing, I already know I am a fan of both.

Gaiman's got a very witty style. I laughed me arse off reading Anansi Boys. American Gods isn't quite as funny, but it isn't meant to be. It's an adventure of epic proportions. An excellent read.

I usually don't care much for Urban fantasy but Gaiman has been the exception to that. I've only read a couple of his books but I thoroughly enjoyed them, I love his humor. Good Omens was hilarious. I have a few more of his in my TBR pile that I've decided I'm going to read after I finish a long series before starting a new one.

My favorite quote from Good Omens was from the Nanny playing with the baby "antichrist" and saying

"This little piggy went to Hades
This little piggy stayed home
This little piggy ate raw and steaming human flesh
This little piggy violated virgins
And this little piggy clambered over a heap of dead bodies to get to the top"

Oh god, he is my favorite of all time.
I think I've read all of his books except for Odd and the Frost Giants, but that's the only one I know of that hasn't been conquered.

My favorite is Stardust, personally.

I've only read (listened to) The Graveyard Book, but I liked it. I have Stardust on audio as well, I plan to start it soon. Gaiman does a wonderful job reading his own books...

I've read Good Omens, American Gods (my favorite of his so far - I love the mythology interwoven in it), Anansi Boys (audio), The Graveyard Book (audio), & Neverwhere, and I've liked all of them.

I never really considered the genre though. I'm such an odd duck like that, I don't really think about categorizing what I read. *sigh* I read books. Good ones, hopefully. ;)

I do own Smoke & Mirrors and Stardust and Fragile Things, so I hope to get those all done soonish rather than laterer. Oh, and also I have an ARC of Stories which has a Gaiman story in it. :)

I enjoyed Anasi Boys very much, and I'm hoping to get around to American Gods sometime this year.

Dawn wrote: "I've only read (listed to) The Graveyard Book, but I liked it. I have Stardust on audio as well, I plan to start it soon. Gaiman does a wonderful job reading his own books..."

I love listening to Gaiman reading his own work. His reading of Neverwhere was brilliant!

Haha.. I said I "listed to" it. Darn typos!

We're full of typos here. :)

Wait Gaiman actually reads most of his audio? I didn't know that! I'll have to buy or borrow some to check out his reading voice :)

He's an awesome reader, imo, Amanda. Although he does read a lot of his own work, there are those he doesn't, like American Gods.

Amanda wrote: "Wait Gaiman actually reads most of his audio? I didn't know that! I'll have to buy or borrow some to check out his reading voice :)"

I'm listening to Fragile Things right now, which he reads and it's fantastic. I'm loving it. :D

Jason wrote: "He's an awesome reader, imo, Amanda. Although he does read a lot of his own work, there are those he doesn't, like American Gods."

Right. Anansi Boys as well. That was read by Lenny Henry, who did a great job. :)

Yes, Lenny Henry nailed Anansi Boys, IMO!

I've had the once-in-a-lifetime pleasure of being to a Neil Gaiman reading/signing, and I have to say, the man is stupidly cool! I love that fantasy has a literary rock star. He's the David Bowie for books!

He drew caricatures in every book he signed, (the signing went to 2 am), regaled us with stories about bee keeping, and generally made us all feel like we were sitting next to him in a booth at a local pub, sharing a drink with a friend. Dude was amazing!

If you ever get a chance, go to a Gaiman reading. You'll never forget it!

Laurel wrote: "I've had the once-in-a-lifetime pleasure of being to a Neil Gaiman reading/signing, and I have to say, the man is stupidly cool! I love that fantasy has a literary rock star. He's the David Bowie..."

Duly noted! I've been a fan since I started his Sandman comics in the late 90s.

I've liked a lot of Neil Gaiman's stuff, especially Neverwhere...but for some reason I didn;t like American Gods... I didn't hate it, maybe i need to re-read it because I loved everything else. He lives here in Minnesota, but is away a lot more than he is here!

I read Stardust and listened to Anansi Boys and thought both were extremely average. I actually enjoyed Stardust as a movie more than the book. I didn't get the hype around Gaiman for a while. But recently I started American Gods and I get it. That book is brilliant and I'm only an 8th of the way in.

Felina - have you read The Graveyard Book yet? I think you'd like that one a lot.

Not yet but I do own it.

Felina wrote: "I read Stardust and listened to Anansi Boys and thought both were extremely average. I actually enjoyed Stardust as a movie more than the book. I didn't get the hype around Gaiman for a while. But ..."

I have Stardust to read. I LOVED American Gods, and I liked Anansi Boys but I didn't think that it was quite on the same level.

I'm loving Fragile Things right now. It's so good. :)

I'll have to look into Fragile Things.

Becky wrote: "I have Stardust to read. I LOVED American Gods, and I liked Anansi Boys but I didn't think that it was quite on the same level.

I'm loving Fragile Things right now. It's so good. :)..."

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. And ditto, with a recently past tense.

Amanda wrote: "I've been a fan since I started his Sandman comics in the late 90s. "

I only read Sandman around 1999, but I absolutely loved it. Really must do it all again some time. Amanda, have you seen the The Sandman Companion: A Dreamer's Guide to the Award-winning Comics Series? There were loads of references I wouldn't have got without it.

I've also enjoyed his novels, especially American Gods and Anansi Boys. Neverwhere was fun; I found Stardust a bit fluffy. Oh, and some of the stories in Smoke and Mirrors have haunted me ever since I read them.

I've read all of Gaiman's books, but I have yet to read any of the Sandman series. I want to, though.

Jason wrote: "I've read all of Gaiman's books, but I have yet to read any of the Sandman series. I want to, though."

I would definitely recommend it. The Sandman series is just such an epic masterpiece, it just makes anything else feel so limited and pedestrian by comparison. Plus, some of the art is pure beauty in its own right.

Ok, now I *really* want to re-read them...

Thanks, Rachel! I will check them out. Hopefully sooner than later, too. LOL

Sandman is amazing.

Rachel wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I've been a fan since I started his Sandman comics in the late 90s. "

I only read Sandman around 1999, but I absolutely loved it. Really must do it all again some time. Amanda, have..."

No I haven't read that one and now I'll have to lol. Sorry for the delay in response I was without the net for about a week.

Rachel wrote: "Jason wrote: "I've read all of Gaiman's books, but I have yet to read any of the Sandman series. I want to, though."

I would definitely recommend it. The Sandman series is just such an epic master..."

Hehe I have most of the series on my shelf so I could do that actually. I really should finish it. I also have the Merv Pumpkinhead and Death graphic novels.

I am about to start American Gods in a week or so. I'm very excited to read it.

I loved the Sandman graphic novels. It was wonderful and is the standard i hold all other graphic novels to.

I'm glad you all posted about him reading his own work I will have to look into that as I was unaware of that. I think that would be great to hear.

Dave wrote: "I am about to start American Gods in a week or so. I'm very excited to read it.

I loved the Sandman graphic novels. It was wonderful and is the standard i hold all other graphic novels to.

..."

If you liked Sandman make sure and look for his other graphic novel series Books of Magic! You may also like Fables by Bill Willingham and Preacher by Garth Ennis.There are also tons of side story comics in the same world.

Hey Amanda!
Thank you for the suggestions. I had not heard about Books of Magic i'll have to look into it.

I got the first graphic novel of Fables for christmas and i'm looking forward to getting around to it.. it has just found its way to the back burner for now.

The Preacher is a great suggestion as I loved it! Loved the humor in it. Outside of the Sandman and some of Alan Moore's work The Preacher is one of my favs.

Dave wrote: "Hey Amanda!
Thank you for the suggestions. I had not heard about Books of Magic i'll have to look into it.

I got the first graphic novel of Fables for christmas and i'm looking forward to gett..."

I love Preacher too :) and I'm glad to have let you know about Books of Magic!

This is weird and amusing.

Ha...that's rather humorous. Not surprising though. Politicians are morons by definition.

I read Stardust earlier in the year and really wasn't impressed. I enjoyed the movie a lot more (which doesn't happen that often for me). However I'm currently in the middle of Neverwhere and am loving it. It strikes the perfect balance between dark and whimsical.

American Gods is one my all-time favorites, but I haven't read anything by Gaiman that I didn't really enjoy. (I'll be honest, the first thing I read was Stardust because Claire Danes was in the movie haha)

Neverwhere was also amazing, I need to find the BBC series so that I can see that.

I heard the series was...well...interesting at least. I haven't seen it.

Ken, You can rent Neverwhere from Netflix. :)

That article was funny! Thanks for sharing, Scott!

Really?! Holy flibbets, I had never even thought to look. Thanks Becky!