4.1.06

Neil Gaiman

Gaiman is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. I first encountered his work via one of my other favourite writers, Terry Pratchett, with whom Gaiman collaborated on the excellent Good Omens, a typically Pratchettesque - which pretty much just means funny and irreverent - novel about the apocalypse.

From there, I bought Neverwhere, an absolute must-read for anyone who's spent any time traveling on the Tube. American Gods was borrowed from my local library, and I just purchased Smoke And Mirrors with a gift card that the exquisite Mrs Doombreed gave me for Christmas.

He's worth checking out, if mindbending weirdness and challenging, intelligent fiction is your cup of tea.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I thought I was the only who read 'Good Omens' (funniest book I've ever read) in 2005! I only managed to buy 'American Gods' & 'Neverwhere'... PLanning to get Anansi Boys because it's supposed to be the sequel to AG I think... How's 'Smoke & Mirrors'?

Doombreed said...

"Smoke & Mirrors" is everything we've come to expect of Gaiman, which is to say that it's nothing you'd expect, and everything you could wish for.

Seriously, Gaiman's world is just ever so slightly twisted in comparison to the one inhabited by the rest of us. I've got as far as "Only The End of the World Again", but "Nicholas Was..." is my favourite so far, and "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" is probably one of the funniest pieces of fiction I've ever read, whilst "Changes" is probably one of the most disturbing.

"Anansi Boys" is next on my list.