Neil Gaiman

For those of you who are regular visitors to this site (giggle - like I'm *that* popular!) my tributes to Neil are now in two parts - the first is under the Comic Geek section concerning Sandman, the rest are here. Sadly though, after Sandman, it is difficult to know which exactly to point you in the direction of, if you're interested. Of course, many people may have heard of "Good Omens" but that's probably more due to the fact that it was co-written with Terry Pratchett (who I don't reccommend as he's had enough publicity already and I don't think his last few books were up to much.). Apart from that there are few other actual novels that spring to mind, except perhaps for "Neverwhere". Gaiman's writing seems to be geared more towards collections of short stories, although the occassional oddity such as the official companion to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" do turn up.

If, however, you loved and miss "Sandman" then I highly recommend "Stardust", a grown-up fairy tale that Gaiman wrote and published in four parts soon after finishing "Sandman". It is a beautiful work, richly illustrated by Charles Vess, and full of the magic and mystery that has attracted mortals to the faerie kingdom since time began. It also contains the death and danger that can hide behind the glamour and that few admit to being there. But this is also for the good because nothing can be totally one thing or the other, and sometimes the darkness is contrast enough to make the light shine that much brighter. Of course you *could* buy the version without the Vess illustrations but that seems to destroy half the pleasure of the work.

Gaiman's most recent work, "Smoke and Mirrors", was released sometime in 1998 after "Stardust" finished, and since then he seems to have gone a bit quiet. However, there are rumours that he is currently penning a new Sandman story to be published later in 1999, and even if this doesn't happen, the stuff he has produced so far has been magnificent. If you want to learn more, I suggest you check out The Dreaming: The Neil Gaiman Page for starters.

(Please note, all pictures displayed here are not mine are used without permission of their owners because I'm recommending that you go out and buy more of their books. However, should they disapprove, please can they mail me and I'll remove them.)