What Is It About Neil Gaiman?

[Andonagio]

I've never read Neil Gaiman's work, and I had never even heard about the guy until about a year or so ago. But suddenly his name seems to be everywhere, especially among anybody with even a passing interest in sci-fi/fantasy. I finally looked up his biography, and he's written a number of award-winning books over the years. But there are lots of award-winning authors out there who are not nearly as well-known as Neil Gaiman.

Which leads me to this question: what makes Neil Gaiman so well-known and popular compared to so many other award-winning sci-fi/fantasy writers, and why has his name suddenly come into the mainstream consciousness over the past year?

 

[SinglePurpose]

If he's gotten more attention recently it's probably because he's been involved in a few movies from the past few years: Stardust and Coraline were both based off his books and he co-wrote the recent Beowulf movie. And by the way if you're going to read anything by Gaiman start with The Sandman. It's still the best thing he's done.

 

[docclan1]

yes, data prob does have at least 9 inches packed away

 

[Broccoli]

Some of his stuff is pretty out there, but it's good, imaginative, and very unique. American Gods and it's quasi follow-up, Anasazi Boys are very worth checking out.

yes, data prob does have at least 9 inches packed away

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I read American Gods and eh, I dunno what all the fuss is about. Readable but not compelling.

yes, data prob does have at least 9 inches packed away

Delightfully random! Is TrekBBS acting up again and scrambling replies all over the board?

 

[TemporalFlux]

yes, data prob does have at least 9 inches packed away

Where's the spoiler text on this? Gaiman hadn't revealed the title of his next book yet.

 

[Candlelight]

But suddenly his name seems to be everywhere, especially among anybody with even a passing interest in sci-fi/fantasy.

This one's easy:

Neil Gaiman wrote the Babylon 5 episode 'Day of the Dead'.

Babylon 5 threads make up 34% of this BBS.

Therefore, Neil Gaiman is everywhere.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

He also wrote MirrorMask, but it's not as well known (unfortunately) as Stardust or Coraline (or Babylon 5).

 

[auntiehill]

He also co-wrote "Good Omens," one of my all-time favorite novels.

I've read "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys" and preferred the latter. I just liked the characters better and story was less muddled. "Neverwhere" was also a fun read but less engrossing.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

D'oh! How could I forget about Good Omens?! I love that novel.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

You know, you could always just read his work.

Anyways, it started with The Sandman, generally thought of as one of the finest comic series ever made, very literary world-building style series.

The shorter answer, people who dont like a lot of fantasy/scifi like his work. i'm not really a big fan of his prose though, i never was able to finish American Gods or Neverwhere or Good Omens.

The Sandman though, I still think is phenomenal.

 

[D Man]

I haven't read any of his books, but I thought Stardust was an awesome movie, filled with great scenes, funny and loveable characters, and a really fun plot. I don't know how much of that is taken from the novel, but as a stand-alone movie it's terrific.

 

[Shurik]

I've read American Gods, Neverwhere, Stardust and Good Omens and liked all of them.

 

[Lindley]

The only book of his I'm familiar with so far is Anasazi Boys, which I listened to on audiobook a while back. I found it very enjoyable----some of the humor was reminiscent of Dave Barry.

I've got American Gods on my shelf. I'll read it eventually.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I love most of Neil Gaiman's comics, but I haven't been totally convinced by his prose work yet, "The Graveyard Book" being the notable exception.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Until recently I had the same problem with Neil Gaiman as Terry Prattchet, loved his ideas, loved the plots but couldn't get in to the books. But I've read more and I can say I like both of them now... I don't think either would be at the top of my favourites list but I like them enough that I will blind buy their books and expect to enjoy them.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

I stumbled upon Gaiman by accident in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section at Barnes and Noble.
I picked up a copy of Stardust.
It was after I had read his novels that I made the B5 connection.
I liked Neverwhere....Have you seen the mini or whatever that was supposed to be? How dreadful. The only person I remotely liked was Islington.
I find Gaiman can write one thing I love and then one I hate.
I never got the fuss over American Gods. I did not even finish it.

 

[Tomato]

Sandman for me. that is what did it. Such an incredible comic. I wanted to do a book report on it in high school but the teacher said it was a comic and couldn't.

 

[coolghoul]

He's also written "Whatever happened to the caped crusader" which is a similar bookend to Alan Moore's "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow" which was written as an end to the Superman series of stories in the old continuity before John Byrne rebooted Superman with a new continuity.

It's been recently released and I read it. It's good and has a neat circular thing. But I'm off to the other thread to talk about that.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Which leads me to this question: what makes Neil Gaiman so well-known and popular compared to so many other award-winning sci-fi/fantasy writers, and why has his name suddenly come into the mainstream consciousness over the past year?

Like many creators, Gaiman goes through his periods in which he is all-the-rage, and this just happens to be one of them. As others have said, a few recent movies have brought him to the fore as well as the major comic project of Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? which appears to wrapping up (yet another) EPIC EVENT IN DC COMICS (*snore*).

Oops, sorry for that editorial...

Gaiman made an intial splash with the Vertigo comic Sandman, a complete reimagining of an old DC character, ultimately related only by name and one small bit in one small story. While a bit uneven in quality over its 75 original issues, Sandman created a set of meta-gods and wove together history, literature and mythology in a set of compelling interlocking stories about Dream, the elemental force of nature that is nightmare and imagination, personified as a skinny Goth guy - and while that sounds lame, it's not. At all. Sandman may be the best high fantasy written since The Lord of the Rings. It also has the charm of being thoroughly post-modern the way that LotR is thoroughly modern, so it kind of captures an era while being emminently readable.

Gaiman has done a variety of multi-media projects, from novels (already mentioned - Good Omens, Stardust, American Gods, Anazi Boys, etc), collections of short stories (Smoke and Mirrors - recommended), children's books (The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Golfish, Coraline), original movies (MirrorMask - with the great advantage of animation by the fantastic Dave McKean), other comics (including spin offs of Sandman that are charming), tv episodes and adaptations of his work to film.

Gaiman has a very particular style and brand of slightly horrific, slightly hilarious fantasy that makes him a lot of fun. He is very much about character, tends to have pretty rambling plots, and is highly imaginative in terms of his fantasy worlds. None of them have typical swords and sorcery magic, and most involve world mythology in inventive ways. He is the furthest thing from preachy and what themes and allegories may emerge from his work appear to be totally unconscious.

In short, he is simply a damn good storyteller, which is honestly a rare thing these days.

Occasionally, I really love his work.