Neil Gaiman - Books & Stuff

[FotW]

I'm making this thread for people who like Neil Gaiman's (http://www.neilgaiman.com) works. He's the author of such great stories as the Sandman graphic novel/comics series and other fantasy books for adults and young people such as Neverwhere, Stardust and Coraline. He also wrote the screenplay for the Jim Henson company's new film Mirrormask. I haven't read all of his works yet, but I really like Sandman and Coraline. So who else here has read one of his books?

[Welling_is_pretty]

Originally posted by FotW
I'm making this thread for people who like Neil Gaiman's (http://www.neilgaiman.com) works. He's the author of such great stories as the Sandman graphic novel/comics series and other fantasy books for adults and young people such as Neverwhere, Stardust and Coraline. He also wrote the screenplay for the Jim Henson company's new film Mirrormask. I haven't read all of his works yet, but I really like Sandman and Coraline. So who else here has read one of his books?

I love Neil! I've read Sandman (You should check out Daddylion's Sandman thread in the comics and anime section!) and Stardust, also his anthology Smoke and Mirrors. That was good. I also love, love, love his collaboration with Terry Pratchett on Good Omens. That book is great!
I also read his comic series 1602 and look forward to his Miracleman series (if it ever happens!).

[shadowcat20x]

.....I still haven't had the oppurtunity to read his books, but I did read the 1602 series! Twas my favorite mini series!

[FotW]

I really should read 1602, too! I read more of his books than comics. I did read Stardust and Neverwhere as well. And some short stories too. I read one of the Books of Magic volumes and it was funny how much the lead character, who was an aspiring magician, looked like Harry Potter ( of course this was written pre-HP). I'm sure most of you know, but there is a really cool audio theater thing of Snow Glass Apples at the SciFi Channel's site. I love this story. It's very, dark and twisted Snow White. :lol:
http://www.scifi.com/set/playhouse/snowglassapples/ (sorry- adults only listener discretion advised).

[Daddylion]

Wow, that sounds awesome, might have to past cause my connection's been acting all weird though.

As for me,I've only read the Sanman comics, nothing else by Neil Gaimen, I've actually only just started reading last week :p mostly cause FotW got me interested.

[Welling_is_pretty]

Originally posted by FotW
I really should read 1602, too! I read more of his books than comics. I did read Stardust and Neverwhere as well. And some short stories too. I read one of the Books of Magic volumes and it was funny how much the lead character, who was an aspiring magician, looked like Harry Potter ( of course this was written pre-HP). I'm sure most of you know, but there is a really cool audio theater thing of Snow Glass Apples at the SciFi Channel's site. I love this story. It's very, dark and twisted Snow White. :lol:
http://www.scifi.com/set/playhouse/snowglassapples/ (sorry- adults only listener discretion advised).
FoTW I had forgotten about Books of Magic! I love Tim Hunter!
At my local library there is a one disc audiobook CD of short stories by Neil Gaiman (that I honestly can't remember the name of right now!) that is ALWAYS checked out when I go there. *shakes head*
He's very popular.

[FotW]

Tim Hunter, that's the kid, I'd forgotten his name. :lol: Speaking of libraries, I went into the childrens section to check out The Wolves in the Walls. It was a funny story. :lol: I don't know what disc you're referring to, but I'm going to check my library. :)

[Welling_is_pretty]

I really can't remember but it's got something with Goldfish in the title, I think. Something like "Don't eat the Talking Goldfish and other short stories" or something. Darnit! Now that's going to drive me crazy, trying to figure it out. And I won't be getting back to the library this week, either. *growls and shakes head*

[FotW]

Oh, the children's book The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish! My library never has that either. Neil reads it himself, so that's why I think it's popular. :)

[shadowcat20x]

I bought my brother Sandman: King of Dreams for his birthday next week because of your recommendations. :)

[FotW]

Great! :) I've never read that book. Your brother's lucky, I hope he likes it.

[Welling_is_pretty]

Originally posted by FotW
Oh, the children's book The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish! My library never has that either. Neil reads it himself, so that's why I think it's popular. :)
That's it! Thank you, FoTW! I've been wracking my brains since last night and was about to search the internet for it.
Yes, at my library there is a CD with that and I think other stories on it (oddly enough it is the Young Adult section). ONe of these days I should get around to putting a hold on it but I try not to do that as I live 30 miles away from that library and it is sometimes a couple of days before I can get to town. Ok, done with my sob story. :)

[FotW]

I never read that one either. Did you know there's a excerpt of the audio book online?
http://www.mousecircus.com/

[Daddylion]

Hey guys, have any of you seen Mirror Mask? I just watched it today and I love it. Is there any other movies Neil Gaimen was involved in making?

[FotW]

I have to see that movie from what I've seen on the web it looks great! I don't think he's been involved with any studio films, but he did write a miniseries for the BBC called "Neverwhere" which is also a novel. I've never seen that either, but I loved the novel. :)

[LexLuthorMetropolis]

I love Neil's stuff. My favorite book of his is AMERICAN GODS, something that I've wanted to see as a movie forever.

1602 was fantastic! A nice change of pace for the Marvel Universe and it had Neil's unique flavor and appeal to it.

Neverwhere is actually a comic at DC now. I've flipped through it but I'd prefer the actual novel. Still haven't seen the movie yet.

[Daddylion]

Too bad, I don't know if i can get the miniseries though i might try.

[LexLuthorMetropolis]

Seems like the BBC would have released it world wide. I've seen it countless times at my local Best Buy.

D'oh, Neverworld on DVD, I mean.

[Daddylion]

That sucks.

[FotW]

I liked that novel too. I didn't know Neverwhere was made into a comic, that's cool! I think it would be awesome if the Smallville people could get Neil to write an episode. :) I can only dream- they probably couldn't afford it or he doesn't write for TV anyways. :lol: He did once write an episode of Babylon 5 though, so maybe...
Originally posted by LexLuthorMetropolis
I love Neil's stuff. My favorite book of his is AMERICAN GODS, something that I've wanted to see as a movie forever.

1602 was fantastic! A nice change of pace for the Marvel Universe and it had Neil's unique flavor and appeal to it.

Neverwhere is actually a comic at DC now. I've flipped through it but I'd prefer the actual novel. Still haven't seen the movie yet.

[Daddylion]

Yeah, we can only dream a far away dream. It'd be an amazing episode though.

[LexLuthorMetropolis]

I'd rather seen him make his novels into movies.

[Welling_is_pretty]

I don't know how many of you know that Neil is good friends with Alan Moore (the writer of V For Vendetta, Watchman, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc, etc.). Now, Alan is vehemently opposed to his works being put on the big screen (he demanded his name be taken off V For Vendetta). Mostly it looks like Neil is not the same way, which is good. I know he was in talks to bring Stardust to either a big or small screen.
I remember in an interview he talked about having a go at DC's big guns. In the first book of Sandman (Preludes and Nightmares I think it is called), he gets to write some of the bigger names in DC continuity. Unfortunately, no Superman. I know he's talked about perhaps taking a crack at it, especially since his pal Grant Morrison tried his hand at it. But, I seem to recall, he said he was more confortable writing Marvel heroes (and Miracleman, whom he desperately wants to write again!).

[Daddylion]

Hmm I wonder why, I remember he had Martian Manhunter in Preludes and nightmares.

[FotW]

Hey, Neil posted this link in his blog to an article he and Adam Rogers wrote about Superman! :D
http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/

[psycosis]

Big fan of the Sandman novels (love "The Dream Hunters") - and have Coraline signed by the man himself.
He’s very quiet and restrained man - but he reads his work with passion and has strong opinions and keeps to them ~ signs his name and draws a mouse with a trench coat on ~ strange but cool. :D

Neil is far too protective of his characters in the Sandman novels and won't sign away the right to them unless they are written exactly the way they appear in the novels - and the story is kept as close to the original as possible (i know this for a fact as he said so himself) - so the chances of that ever happening are very slim.

Though I’m looking forward to seeing Mirrormask, it looks very bizarre!

[Daddylion]

I LOVE Mirrormask. Was gonna make some art with it but i kept being too busy :(

[Welling_is_pretty]

everybody here knows that Neil is currently writing a new comic book series, right? It's called Eternals and it's from Marvel Comics.
It's about a group of Immortals who live so long they forget they are Immortal and it includes someone who was a member of the Avengers. (I was never an Eternal fan but Neil writing it makes me want to at least take a look!)

[Daddylion]

Ooo interesting. Not avenger fan myself but if Neil's writing it :D Sounds cool

[1.21 gigawatts]

Originally posted by FotW
I'm making this thread for people who like Neil Gaiman's (http://www.neilgaiman.com) works. He's the author of such great stories as the Sandman graphic novel/comics series and other fantasy books for adults and young people such as Neverwhere, Stardust and Coraline. He also wrote the screenplay for the Jim Henson company's new film Mirrormask. I haven't read all of his works yet, but I really like Sandman and Coraline. So who else here has read one of his books?

Sandman... That's the one that Yoshitaka Amano did the art for, right?

[FotW]

Hi,1.21 gigawatts ! Yes. That was the book Sandman: The Dream Hunters.


Originally posted by psycosis
Big fan of the Sandman novels (love "The Dream Hunters") - and have Coraline signed by the man himself.

Cool! :)

[1.21 gigawatts]

I've always thought that Amano was a fantastic artist.

[FotW]

Did you hear about the new tribute CD Where's Neil When You Need Him? The only artist I know on it is Tori, but the songs are about Neil's characters.
This link has more info:

http://thedent.com/more.php?id=3153_0_1_0_C

[Daddylion]

Oh cool, thanks for the info :D

[shadowcat20x]

I just finished "Good Omens" and yes, that book was awesome.

[Welling_is_pretty]

Don't know if everyone knows but Neil has a new book out called Fragile Things. Like Smokes and Mirrors, it's a collection of short stories.
I haven't read it but I read a review of it in Entertainment Weekly where they basically said that if you like Neil's stuff you'll like the stories in there. I hope my library gets it soon!

[Daddylion]

Cool. I'll check if they have it at kino's when i get the time.

[FotW]

I just read it! Loved some of the stories. :) A few of them I had already read. "A Study In Emerald" and the Matrix story were already published online and others were published elsewhere.
In movie news, the Stardust movie is coming out this year. The website is up but not exactly running. http://www.stardustmovie.com/ And I'm excited because I found some promotional movie stills on livejournal. Here are 3 hiqh quality stills for now, if you want to see the others just ask.

http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stardustpromostillsbx2.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11310starhqcb122377loevws5.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11317starhqcb2122581lojxg3.jpg





Originally posted by Welling_is_pretty
Don't know if everyone knows but Neil has a new book out called Fragile Things. Like Smokes and Mirrors, it's a collection of short stories.
I haven't read it but I read a review of it in Entertainment Weekly where they basically said that if you like Neil's stuff you'll like the stories in there. I hope my library gets it soon!

[Daddylion]

I haven't read Stardust yet but that's awesome!!

I saw the Neverwhere series and loved it though, I love Door. NG ROCKS!!

[Welling_is_pretty]

I finally got to read Fragile Things. Some great stuff in there. I did love "A study in Emerald" and the story with Mr. Smith was great too. I also loved the poem/list of instructions of what to do if you find yourself in fairyland (or whatever it was exactly).

Very clever.

But I was particularly interested to read about Neil's new novel he's working on. Sounds good (even if I can't remember the details right now! LOL).


I picked up Eternals at the library the other day and just got done with it.

I was never that fond of the Eternals (from marvel comics) myself but hey, I figured if anyone can make them cool it's Neil, right?

He tried.

It was just too confusing.

There were flashes of greatness but mostly I was confused and disappointed. And my favorite eternal--Sersi--had a much smaller part than anticipated.

I'm glad I read it but that's about it.

[FotW]

Has anyone seen the Stardust movie, yet? I found some HQ promotional pictures at Live Journal.
http://dragonlady981.livejournal.com/56315.html?view=539131#t539131

[Daddylion]

No i haven't, thank you :)

Wow, beautiful!

[MidgardDragon]

The Stardust movie is excellent, I suggest everyone go see it. *Especially* if you like The Princess Bride or comedic fantasy.

[Daddylion]

Ooo, well i haven't seen it advertised in thailand yet but then maybe it's more me not having gotten outside in a while

[MidgardDragon]

Here are all the release dates:

Australia 9/20/07
Bulgaria 9/28/07
Czech Republic 9/27/07
France and Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia 10/24/07
Germany 10/18/07
Italy 10/12/07
Japan 10/31/07
Lithuania 10/26/07
Netherlands 10/4/07
Norway 9/21/07
Romania 10/12/07
Spain 10/26/07
Sweden 10/12/07
Taiwan 10/26/07
United Kingdom and Ireland and Malta 10/19/07

I don't see Thailand listed but my geography sucks so it could be considered a part of one of the other releases?

[Daddylion]

Well thank you anyway :)

[MidgardDragon]

I just started American Gods and I'm hooked.

[Welling_is_pretty]

I just got M is for Magic from the library. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, though.

And I thought this was funny and I wanted to share it with you guys. Yeah, it's Terry Pratchett's author page but it's about Good Omens stuff so...

http://www.harpercollins.com/author/AuthorExtra.aspx?displayType=essay&authorID=7848

it's funny! (even though it is kinda the wrong holiday for it! LOL)

[MidgardDragon]

So since I've posted I've read Coraline, Good Omens, Anansi Boys, and I'm about to start on the novelized version of Neverwhere (I've only read the graphic novel so far).

[Welling_is_pretty]

Originally posted by MidgardDragon
So since I've posted I've read Coraline, Good Omens, Anansi Boys,
Of those which did you like best?

[MidgardDragon]

Of those which did you like best?

Hmm, tough call. Good Omens was easily the funniest. Coraline was easily the creepiest. And Anansi Boys probably had the most interesting plot. I can't call a favorite of those three, as I prefer Stardust and American Gods to all of them, but I think Coraline is probably the one the most people could enjoy, as Good Omens and Anasi Boys both have very particular senses of humor. Coraline is like an even darker version of the dark Alice in Wonderland. It's somewhat of a "kid's book" but it appeals to adults on a much different (and creepier) level.

[Welling_is_pretty]

Good Omens was Awesome! I love, love, love that book. Coraline was pretty cool but I have not read Anansi Boys (or it's sequel). I don't know I just can't get into it.

[FotW]

For the seventh birthday of Neil's blog, because he is so nice, he is going to choose a book to give away for free based on his blog reader's votes. Go here and vote for the book you want him to release! Right now American Gods & Neverwhere are in the lead.
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/02/birthday-thing.html

[Hopefulsuicide]

just starting readin neverwhere and im loving it so far.

mirrormask was a great movie. in my opinion, everything that pan's labyrinth should have been. princess of a strange land... except in this one you actually get to see the strange land

[MidgardDragon]

just starting readin neverwhere and im loving it so far.

mirrormask was a great movie. in my opinion, everything that pan's labyrinth should have been. princess of a strange land... except in this one you actually get to see the strange land

I agree. Mirrormask is everything I wanted Pan's Labyrinth to be. A dark fantasy world with interesting creatures and a fantastic plot. Instead Pan's turned out to be a mildly boring war movie with a girl who imagined a fantasy land.

[FotW]

In case you haven't heard Neil is going to be a guest on The Colbert Report tonight. I don't think I've ever seen Neil do a TV talk show interview before. I'm not sure if that's because I've never seen one, or he's never done one. Either way I'm excited!
The link below is to his journal.
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/03/colbert-and-me.html
(http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/03/colbert-and-me.html)

[Daddylion]

Hey, umm random but, does anyone here read Good Omens and know how to pronounce the name 'Aziraphale'? Cause I'm not sure I'm saying it correctly and I've been wondering about it for a while now.

[Degobunny]

So who is looking forward to Niel Gaiman's involvement in the Dr. Strange movie in 2012?

[Daddylion]

I didn't even hear about it but thanks for telling :) I guess i don't keep up with news much.

[Degobunny]

Yeah I think that is the perfect film for Gaiman to write. I just hope it actually happens and is not put on the backburner. I pretty sure it will happen though as most the current Avengers stuff will have been done.

[Welling_is_pretty]

So who is looking forward to Niel Gaiman's involvement in the Dr. Strange movie in 2012?
I'd heard rumors but hadn't realized it had been finalized! Cool. I think Neil's involvement will be a big help to the movie. Stephen can be hard to handle but Neil's amazing ability to write strange (heh, pun intended) things and characters will be a boon.

[slayer]

i've been meaning to read some Gaiman for a very long time. so i finally ha picked up The Graveyard Book, which was pretty excellent. as a fan of comics, i have never felt the need to read Sandman - but now that i have read something of Gaiman's i might have to look into it. The Graveyard Book was a great book if anyone plans on reading it. it's short and engaging - quick read.

[theloisclone]

I read Coraline which was UH MAZING the movie did the book no justice
and Stardust which I didn't like very much, I enjoyed the movie better because some of the moves the characters made in the books felt very forced