Comments | bookfails: A Fail by Gaiman? Why?

archangelremiel in bookfails

A Fail by Gaiman? Why?

Jan 06, 2010 18:15

I love Neil Gaiman's work, I can't help it. He has this way of blending the supernatural with the natural in a way that makes it almost believable. He's a genius at world building (As evidenced by Neverwhere, which I recommend to anyone who will listen) which is why I was so surprised when I found something by him that made me think "WTF were you ( Read more... )

so called horror, author last names g-l, it's literature dammit, i love this author but what in the world

Comments 22

valentinedivine January 7 2010, 05:22:41 UTC

This short story was written for the book "Shadows Over Baker Street" in which many writers wrote a piece and mixed the world of Sherlock Holmes against the backdrop of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

This story was very poor. But you should definately check out the rest. It's nice to see different styles and stories. I was even going to write a bookwin on it.

archangelremiel January 7 2010, 06:01:00 UTC

That sounds cool, I'd like to see some of the others, then. If they were better than this, I'll be very happy. I guess I'll be checking the library for it. Thank you.

lillongdogwuvr January 7 2010, 07:05:25 UTC

I absolutely loved Stardust. <3. I was wondering about what else to read from him so thanks for the warning! haha.

archangelremiel January 7 2010, 15:44:55 UTC

Definitely read Neverwhere and Good Omens. American Gods (what I've read of it) is also decent. In fact, this story itself isn't bad, it just isn't really Gaiman's story.

lillongdogwuvr January 7 2010, 20:16:21 UTC

I will check it out! thanks!

hashishinahooka January 15 2010, 00:53:02 UTC

I loved Anansi Boys, which is the only book I've read by him so far. My friend bugged me to read him for so long, so I picked it up at the library. It made me an instant Gaiman fan. I am "reading"* Stardust now.

*I just started classes Monday, so I am still on page 4. I am going to have to make the effort to read it this weekend.

spooky_miss January 7 2010, 21:00:39 UTC

i was quite disappointed by Fragile Things - I'd heard good things about his writing, but all the stories just seemed slightly disappointing to me - I think it might be because they just started to get going, and then ended! obviously they're all short stories, but it was almost like he thought he was writing too much and had to all of a sudden end the story.

it has put me off him though, so I don't know what, if anything, of his writing to try next!

archangelremiel January 7 2010, 21:31:20 UTC

His novels are considerably better than his short stories. I always recommend Neverwhere and Good Omens. They're both quite amazing. American Gods I haven't finished, but it started out really slow. (Both GO and Neverwhere hooked me from the first page)

margaretmoony January 11 2010, 02:36:54 UTC

Eh,I didn't really have any strong feeling about the plot but I did like the world building and the little newspaper snippets.

archangelremiel January 11 2010, 03:00:34 UTC

The newspaper snippets were amazing. They made it worth reading.

Driveby comment night_axe January 14 2010, 16:05:29 UTC

It turns out the main character and the narrator weren't Holmes and Watson, they just acted, sounded, and had the same quirks as them

Which...was a problem in itself. A clever plot twist where the character who talks and acts like Holmes turns out to be Professor Moriarty? That's some hefty characterization fail right there. I'll buy Colonel Moran as the Watson-ish narrator since Moran never got a personality in canon, but Moriarty and Holmes aren't interchangeable.

Re: Driveby comment archangelremiel January 14 2010, 17:02:08 UTC

Yes! See, you I can get behind. (The bit you just quoted was a bit of extreme sarcasm. ) But the fact that Holmes and Watson were the 'villains' was just a small touch of saving grace.