Short stories and poetry by one of fantasy´s biggest prodigies
A great overview of how a young Gaiman wrote With varying quality and the general questiShort stories and poetry by one of fantasy´s biggest prodigies
A great overview of how a young Gaiman wrote With varying quality and the general question if one likes poems or not. But just as with the weaker stories, there is always the option to skim, scan, or just not read it. The really good stuff shows how Gaiman
Probably constructed his novels from somewhat always disturbing, weird perspectives. It often has a touch of psychological, body, and cosmic horror, generally tending far more toward dark fantasy than stereotypical high fantasy. And, for the really big fans, it might be interesting to see how his writing evolved, what differs nowadays, and how
His talent creates universes within pages Even if the idea isn´t that great in some cases, the sheer execution is what still makes it entertaining. And hey, which author should care that much about the stuff he sells to magazines and story collections when he is young, hungry, and secretly writing his really big, next thing. And boy, how Gaiman did this several times.
Because the past can be freaking cool too I didn´t ever think of taking my favorite Marvel superheroes aOne doesn´t always has to look into the future
Because the past can be freaking cool too I didn´t ever think of taking my favorite Marvel superheroes and simply putting them back in time. It doesn´t matter if it´s the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, Ancient times, Stone Age, or, as in this case, the
16th/17th-century Elizabethan science fantasy era All superheroes are more or less pure science or fantasy with some rare hybrids. The cultural and technological evolution doesn´t really matter for Spider Man, Daredevil, the X Men, the Fantastic Four, and so on. Their abilities and superpowers are adapted to the necessities of the time and storytelling structure, opening endless options for
Big history uchronia nerdgasms Take any superhero and go back and forth in time forever. With protective gear, you´ll have an ape with wooden armor in the past and a god like being protected by an aura of fourth, fifth, alternative, or quantum dimensional impenetrability, because nothing exists in our 3 dimensions that could enter the zone she/he/it exists in. And that are just the legions of heroes themselves alone, how they could interact, fight, and what the villains might look like, is an even bigger potential dimension of unleashed creative and forever evolving comic and graphic novel universes.
While nightmares become real This switching between the dream world and the real world is what makes the series unique. In Dreams´ suffering continues
While nightmares become real This switching between the dream world and the real world is what makes the series unique. In other fantasy and science fantasy, it may be other, optional parallel, universes, realities, and dimensions, here it is
The permanent question of what is real and what is a dream That lets the reader hypnotized and fascinated by the potential of the idea. Combine this with Gaiman's morbidity, black humor, and dark fantasy attitude and what comes out is an outstanding series that´s getting better and more complex. The graphic novel routine Gaiman earned that way subjectively can
Also be seen in his novels They´re fast paced, reduced to the necessary minimum, and always perfectly timed. Just as the episodes of the groundbreaking Sandman series united into longer pieces and to best read before going to sleep to help Dream do his work. That´s also including
Opening up many questions That are a good basis for existential crises. Because it´s not just about the characters dealing with everything between sad and deadly, it´s also about the reader introspecting to better philosophize very hard.
What a hell of a ride, although gods are just bystanders
Because Sandman aka Dream and his gang rock even more With their sheer power, they dominate evWhat a hell of a ride, although gods are just bystanders
Because Sandman aka Dream and his gang rock even more With their sheer power, they dominate every aspect of human lives, are more than literal gods, because they exist forever without the need for sanctimonious sentient beings. They´re manifested in ways that are essential to the universe itself and human features too. But they're not immune to
The trouble caused by naked apes Arrogance is part of the game, because if your pals are named destruction, desire, death, despair, delirium, and destiny, one tends to go full megalomania. From there, the already amazing story erupts to even more complexity, because the main protagonist begins questioning himself. Helping with that is the
Inclusion of gods, timelines from ancient times to the present time, and real life innuendos with historical figures This extra free, maybe a bit speculative and alternative, history course is the icing on the prodigy work cake that makes this series a milestone of the genre and one of the many reasons for Gaiman's iconic megastar status.
Gaiman's preferred writing style is similar to Sanderson's Laws of Magic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon... But instead of, mainly but not just, implementing magic like Sanderson, Gaiman uses very big pictures, kind of metaphilosophical and metaphysical concepts that are manifested as magic creatures, that are more gods than wizards. They don´t have a magic forest or a tower, they live in their own kind of magic, I hope I got that right, realms that are somewhat physically not that easily explainable, like Asgard, Hell, Dreaming, and Faerie. With such a concept one
Can just grow big and extremely complex Because the downcycling capacity is incredible, not to speak of the plot and trope options. Something mightier than a god influences parallel universes and reality, while modified and manipulated humans do what they should. Or not, because, as small and unimportant as we are in comparison, one of us can still create pretty much trouble for an entity as old as time and the universe.
Like rarely someone except Gaiman could His talent is incredible and extra fueled by his love for theRetelling and thereby pimping the original stuff
Like rarely someone except Gaiman could His talent is incredible and extra fueled by his love for the material, so there´s simply no alternative if one is a mythology nerd. It´s also an example of the fact that
Ancient storytelling often fails in comparison with reboots That´s kind of unfair too, because they invented storytelling and each nowadays author has several advantages. The millennia that passed and the works that have since been created to get inspiration from and steal everything that isn´t approved Loki safe standard, but especially the fact that creative writing can be learned, not to mention the importance of tvtropes. Or maybe modern writers just thereby subconsciously compensate for the fact that most stories have already been told and that there just can be
New interpretations of the gold standards Let´s face it, we´re kind of always reading the same fantasy, sci fi, and horror tropes in different constellations, but it´s still always a hell of a ride. Especially if someone like Gaiman is so nice to tell us stories we should already be bored of. But instead of repeating one more round until boredom kicks in, he raises the level of how rousing a story can be and burns clearer pictures in our collective memory.
And there are still hidden mythology treasures from all around the world to be explored Just as with the famous, mostly European, tales, their extra layer of ancient storytelling stylistics could be polished to make them more attractive to modern audiences. The sheer potential is immense and could lead to a similar avalanche of fictional stories inspired by them.
Hunger birds, heart problems, and invasive worms The reminiscences are a combination of escalating traumaticThe ocean is as deep as one believes it is
Hunger birds, heart problems, and invasive worms The reminiscences are a combination of escalating traumatic events that start with normal everyday terror and escalate to more and more paranormal dark fantasy, until finally nearly reaching cataclysmic, very angry birds, levels.
Lettie giving PTSD and protection The childhood memories and fantasies are combined with the grim reality with Lettie being a safe haven for the struggled, unnamed protagonist. Gaiman shows the idealistic, fantasy fueled version of reality from the past and childhood and how it´s been dimmed and modified by the perception of a grown up, middle aged man. One possible interpretation is the message to
Never lose childhood idealism and fantasy Because without that, everything gets dull, familiar, and indifferent. Dying from the inside has never been that easy by simply letting time cannibalize one's mental palaces of imagination and dreams. This could have been an amazing and outstanding journey, but sadly it´s
Not Gaimans´deepest ocean He can do much better and I felt kind of unsatisfied after reading it, because I was used to getting the best and not just the good stuff. But there are problems with the whole flow of this thing, it isn´t as absorbing as Gaiman's work should be. I lost track and interest at some moments and that´s no good omen. The reason might be that
The gap between childhood, teenage years, and adulthood was too big In other works like Coraline or The Graveyard Book, there is just one short period of time or the years from childhood until young adulthood, not such a huge hole in between. Maybe Gaiman had problems connecting the past and present time and didn´t really know where to go with his deep, philosophical messages. Since then I´m kind of waiting for the real, next big thing Gaiman will hopefully someday unleash. Maybe something not written and thereby auto censored for his second wife who „doesn´t really like fantasy“, but for his fans.
Antichrists, angels, DEATHs (ok, there just can only be one and the Antichrists were a lie too), demons, apocalyptic riders, prophecies, and unreachedAntichrists, angels, DEATHs (ok, there just can only be one and the Antichrists were a lie too), demons, apocalyptic riders, prophecies, and unreached levels of comedic fantasy brilliance by 2 of the biggest gods of the genre
Witchhunting Once a great and honorable job, modern times are hard for the fighters against sin, black magic, and eco social matriarchy. Because of the sheer immense ridiculousness of their ideology, nothing needs to be added to make them seem like pathetic, bigoted idiots. Although one of them is connected to
The modern witching style including the prophecies That´s the second most important plotline, deciphering the hilarious hidden hints and thereby trying to prevent the apocalypse. Although good old
Philosophy, morality, and religion All of this and more is vivisected, satirized, and analyzed objectively by giving the protagonists different core motivations. Because it´s satire, it´s with less overthinking induced headache and deep existential crisis than in hardcore nonfiction philosophy and nonfiction, but more with a „What just happened“ realization after the giggles, rofls, and lols. That´s important for learning too, because positive psychology shows that after the serotonin storm of joy more grains of knowledge stay in brain convolutions.
DEATH and his 3 pals Could have something against a postponed armageddon. Just as the other evil hell entities, the 4 of them would really like to party hard until the end of the world, respectively the event itself, as long as no spoilsport comes along. Let´s say, a
Not typical antichrist By mixing childhood idealism with godlike superhero powers, he doesn´t act as he should. The innocence of youth card is played to show the degeneration towards extremist adults and fantasy fractions that just can´t find a diplomatic middle course.
Prachetterian Gaimanism I would like to know who wrote what, how they coordinated and cooperated, two of the greatest authors of all time writing something close to incomparable. Imagine what your favorite genres writers could create together, how their styles would be forged to something stronger than the creative titanium and imaginative graphene they already tend to use in their own works.
Unpredictable and unique The combination of all these unusual character traits makes the story as unexpectable as possible, combining the strength of both Pratchetts´and Gaimans´writing to something truly unique. I tried to find a comparison, but there simply isn´t any, their own works are different too. So the best thing might be to go with the reading pack and compare it with some of the greatest milestones of deep satirical writing, which also often come with the somewhat depressing fact that the authors created one hit wonder evergreen overkill masterpieces.
This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheibe... The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together....more
Be careful if one falls into the house with the Door
Because she could be more than you would expect It´s a typical male problem, an attractive young wBe careful if one falls into the house with the Door
Because she could be more than you would expect It´s a typical male problem, an attractive young woman called Door comes into one's life and suddenly, one has no more other thoughts in mind. In this case, one even has sudden problems with everything else, so the only option is to
Go underground This worldbuilding is some of the best Gaiman ever imagined, I would subjectively call it my favorite until the one day big reread may teach me better. But the wonders, dangers, and terrors lurking down there are just amazing and it shows what
Dark urban fantasy should look like In the hands of a very talented author. The problem with many other genre clones is that they can´t reach such levels of speech, character construction, worldbuilding, plot interactivity, wit, and especially fascinating antagonists like
Croup and Vandemar They´re one of the best antagonist pairs I´ve ever seen. Not just because of the suspense, they create as soon as they appear, but their abilities combined with perfectly finetuned dialogues make them sometimes cooler than the protagonist. Honestly, it´s not just that I am into the bad girls, and boys on a just platonic level, but I kept looking forward to them hopefully soon reappearing.
Best reading experience with UK expertise With more exact knowledge about the places mentioned, the culture, and the tradition, this must be an even better read. I can even forgive the fact that very probably Gaiman helped trigger the mentioned avalanche of urban fantasy detective dark noir YA works that copy this concept until readers´ madness sets in.
For someone like Gaiman who tends to revolutionize tropes With new concepts and ideas that blow reader´s minds. ThMaybe a bit too conventional fantasy
For someone like Gaiman who tends to revolutionize tropes With new concepts and ideas that blow reader´s minds. This one feels somewhat conventional and maybe Gaiman experimented with another writing style (because it feels different than his other works I´ve read so far), making it
Different than the Sandman That was an amazing firework of fantasy creativity. And readers want that, old wine in new skins, making Stardust an average, not that surprising experience. That´s a good example that the great art and illustration also
Need a fascinating soul Because nowadays reader´s have pretty high expectations. Although it might be a bit unfair and caused by Gaimans prodigy status, so it´s a bit his own fault too. Other fantasy authors could mass produce good, average works and series, but as soon as one has written outstanding works, the quality shouldn´t be lowered anymore. An impossible task for poor legendary writers.
In a very special kind of patchwork family As if normal parents weren´t already strange enough, the protagonistNobody is slowly aging toward adulthood
In a very special kind of patchwork family As if normal parents weren´t already strange enough, the protagonist Nobody aka Bod has to deal with the upbringing ideas of paranormal beings. But it seems to somehow work well, and it could be an idyllic time if there weren´t
Real people making more trouble than ghosts and magic creatures That´s an achievement in malice, being worse than evil demons and bloodthirsty fantasy creatures that have to kill to survive, but psycho killer humans just roll that way too. The fact that Nobody could live a, under these circumstances more or less, normal life, without bad reality messing things up, is a cynical comment on how crazy people are.
Jumping between family life, coming of age, fantasy horror, and human world troubles By mixing 4 levels of different suspense generators, Gaiman creates one of his most dynamic works, making it tricky to impossible to guess where it will go. Anytime a psycho killer, ghoul, or just a friendly Casper style ghost could appear, making it unpredictable until the last minute. It´s also one of
Gaimans´darkest works Hope and love are the only really positive things in this grim setting. But Nobody stays highly motivated, helps with different paranormal graveyard problems just a living body can solve, and pimps his abilities for the end fight. By this, he can integrate even more complex plot and trope options, adding an extra layer of paraphysical mind penetration. Because
Dreamwalking, fading, and haunting are subtle ways to evolve for a character It´s also cool that it goes without any physical violence, except for fear and some possible traumatic issues cut into the victims' shattered soul. But that´s nothing compared to getting burned by magic flames, zombified, vampirized, or bewitched by an incubi or succubi. Mh, sexy naughty adult ed dreamwalking. But this having kids one doesn´t know about afterward and that are partly demon is something too pricy for the fun. Or is it?
Death is the core of the tale No other of Gaimans´novels is so Day of the Dead. It´s a morbid optimistic celebration of the fact that, even after death, there may lie endless options of what to do with one's soul in eternity. Subjectively I deem this „Death is just a new beginning“ message the main core of Nobodys´journey, everyone still lucky enough to be alive should absorb and practice. As long there is still time to.
A cool spidey alternative, not just special tinkling senses while silking and scuttling around, but doing some nasty stuff with his abilities and I doA cool spidey alternative, not just special tinkling senses while silking and scuttling around, but doing some nasty stuff with his abilities and I don´t mean the bondage your dirty mind might imagine at the moment. Wait,… damn self irony.
There are 2 kinds of second parts, the one in series that usually get better because the exposition, and thereby dangerous lengths, infodumps, and losing the reader´s interest, are already behind the writer and she/he can now fully focus on pure entertainment.
And then there are the ones that are not lifting off, I´ve hardly seen this in one of Gaiman´s usually ingenious books, but this one seemed somewhat constructed, put together afterward, didn´t have the usual logic and inner stability, but that´s criticism at a very high level, it´s still a good work.
Anti heroes, such as Loki, in this case the not so well known Anansi, are always fun to read, because their enjoyable evilness opens up dynamic, fun, and vast lands of putting their deadly, crippling, and humiliating jokes into a modern or future setting. Often, there was even some educational purpose in the originals, something mostly getting lost in modern adaptations, where it´s mostly about using them for thrill, action, and fast paced cuts and jumps from character to setting. I´ve read some mythologies and they are, duh, kind of boring too, because creative writing courses weren´t that hip and fancy these days hundreds and thousands of years ago.
Because there is so much mythology and clever, hidden easter eggs and philosophy hidden in this one, it would be interesting to take a deeper look when reading or rereading it, because Gaiman didn´t just include a ton of classical motives, origin myths, and moralizing examples of how ancient cultures used to brainwash and indoctrinate their people by hiding secret commandos in their folklore, but some underlying, deeper meaning too. Or I just want to see them, whatever.
What is really strange, kind of prophetic, is that the potentially endless concept of creating new gods out of technology, epigenetic, and cultural change, didn´t work out as well as possible both as series and as book. Just thinking about what might be possible, not just in general, but specifically with the mythology and current state of affairs around the world, is immense. All fantasy elements of traditional tales could be continued in a science fantasy comedy setting, filling it with innuendos and connotations to past, present, and possible futures, making it an extremely inspiring read.
I have to repeat and emphasize, that this is criticism at a very high level, the curse of all outstanding prodigy writers, that the fangirls and -boys immediately notice weaknesses that would be accepted in works of all the good, but not great, authors, and that it´s still an amazing, funny, mindblowing work. Just not as good as his others.
I am totally looking forward to an author who makes this dynamic the driving force of her/his series, using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon... https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... and creating a never seen, mind blowing, crossover, letting genre conventions implode, über hybrid. Ahem, Mister Sanderson, may you please take over?
The best interpretation of what ancient gods could look like in modern society
Usurpers of the throne A company goes bankrupt, a human dies, and a god wThe best interpretation of what ancient gods could look like in modern society
Usurpers of the throne A company goes bankrupt, a human dies, and a god without any believers… rebrands her/himself, vanishes, goes back to heaven, hell, behind the big bang, crunch, rip, multiverse? But seriously, of course not, as long as nobody has interviewed a literal goddess/god, this remains an open question. Maybe they don´t even know it themselves and fear the day of the last dead idolator. But at least they are human in the one regard that there is always
A new business idea based on technological and cultural evolution This is the totally mindblowing, forever continuable concept of creating new gods out of technological and social progress and manifested in it. Internet, biotech, social media, mind uploading, nanotech, war machinery, new ideologies, all fantasy, and sci fi concepts that are standalone enough to be an equivalent, or new interpretation, of the old gods for human stuff like love, death, birth, war, and the big ones like weather, earth, etc. The funny thing is, the more
Humans are losing the connection to their origins, nature, and the biosphere the more destructive a bad god could be. Let´s say a god of war or mammon is the whole army or government of a superpower or all its conglomerates and megacorporations. A god of lust is the owner of anything pornographic in a time VR and AR are pimping and spicing already incredible 4K and 8K pornography. What I´ve heard so far. And depending on how good or bad Aphrodites and Eros's kinky fetish tendency is, One man's meat is another man's suffering style, the impact on a society, in this case even a mixture of hard tech and soft, sometimes slack, horny ape needs, is pleasure or pain. Play with the idea yourself, you´ll find incredible insights. Both fantasy and sci fi
Expand this concept in extreme detail Imagine an incredible mighty evil or good magician or a Clarketech civilization and this game could be played until the end of time. And thereby also creating a picture of the human values left in these fantastic settings. That´s what makes, back to the topic, Gaimans´work not better, but more unique than his other also incredible pieces. They are a kind of gold standard for fantasy, but they don´t have this
Mixture with our current time This is what makes both the book and the TV series something unusual for the genre, tinkering with the idea of fusing fantasy genres with a commentary on modern society that isn´t moralizing or proselytizing for an ideology. But instead letting gods do that work.
Take the buttons off your eyes and face alternative horror reality, girl
Definitively not for all audiences The creep factor is so immense thanks to GaiTake the buttons off your eyes and face alternative horror reality, girl
Definitively not for all audiences The creep factor is so immense thanks to Gaiman's writing skills and him seemingly wanting to traumatize people, the clever and first peaceful way, by generating more and more suspense until it escalates without much real violence. It´s more the permanent feeling of something being terribly wrong, more and more disturbing signs appearing, and the final realization of the protagonist what really is behind the seemingly better reality. So one message could be to
Be thankful for what you´ve got Maybe one's workplace, partners, friends, and kids suck, but hey, there could be parallel universes with seemingly better alternatives with hidden stipulations. It should also remind everyone about the fact that nobody is perfect, has flaws, stress, and everyday issues, and that in reality, seeming perfection and total harmony often come with hidden darkness. Of course, it´s nice to be the top enjoying the suffering of other bottoms to be mega happy, but one shouldn´t underestimate the potential for self destruction that comes that way.
Dark and white motherhood Who says that a seemingly evil nightmare creature can´t try to be a good mother? This perversion of the most intensive human bonding is a megatrope of any kind of horror and in this case, the tragic emotional impact and the manipulation are the second red line. Wishing, and mostly it stays just hoping because of a lack of magic in reality, for perfect parents is something perfectly normal during the aging process, but one should always be thankful for what one has already got.
Big horror finale After a long setup, all disturbing, soul crushing facts are united with some action plot twists and Coraline living up to the expectations of being a brave, smart, and courageous girl. She realizes and accepts her issues and struggles, fights the inner and outer demons, and comes back even stronger and wiser than she already was before. This
Dealing with one's fears is the message for both young and old readers. Maybe it was Gaiman's intention to first show how fear can manifest and paralyze, or seduce, to stay or become a victim or even perpetrator. Or it's just a little coincidental side effect of the plot he wanted to create and I´m overanalyzing and hyper vivisecting again.
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