Neil Gaiman Spotlight

I’ll try to keep this spoiler free but WOW! Did you watch Doctor Who [the other] night? Whattan episode! You know in the series trailer where the voice says, “Fear me, I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords,” and the Doctor replies, “Fear me, I’ve killed them all.” That’s this episode!

This episode was penned by Neil Gaiman and is possibly the greatest piece of fan fiction ever created. As promised, I won’t detail any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it but watching this episode it is obvious that Gaiman approached it as a man who grew up with a genuine love for the crazy man and his little blue box. It fills in so many little holes in the Doctor Who universe that you didn’t even know were there and also describes biting as being, “like kissing, only there’s a winner.” Genius.

This episode will go down as one of the greats along with the excellent “Blink”.

My friend Adam recently said that the greatest thing for him about Doctor Who is that the stories are potentially limitless as by the nature of WHO, a story can be placed at any point in time and space. Literally anything can happen and the stories are only limited by the author’s imagination. However, for me what makes Doctor Who so compelling is the Doctor’s personality and his relationships. He’s a tragic hero and anyone who has read The Sandman or American Gods will tell you that no one writes a tragic hero better than Mr Neil Gaiman.

But if you haven’t read either of these you may be wondering who this man is and why am I writing an entire article about him. Well, gimme fifteen minutes of your time and hopefully you’ll be enlightened to a man who is pretty much a literary god.

Neil Gaiman.

The first thing you should know is that his stories are steeped in well learned mythologies and genuine adoration for everything that he enjoys reading. When you read anything by Gaiman you are picking up something bathed in a meticulous love.

The second thing you should know is that he is pretty prolific. His website will tell you that he is the winner of 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards to name a few. His best selling works range from comics and adult literature to children’s books and even films. You know that Coraline film your kids like, where the characters have buttons for eyes? Or what about the film Stardust where a pirate Robert DeNiro prances around in a pink feather boa? Both adaptations of Gaiman novels.

I won’t mention that he penned the Beowulf film for fear of scaring you away, so forget I just said it.

The third thing you need to know is that Mr Gaiman is not your typical author. Rather than shying away in a cupboard he has become a very public face with some very famous friends. His acquaintances range from Lenny Henry (English comedian) and Tori Amos (he is the godfather to her daughter) to the eminent Alan Moore who is oft considered the granddaddy of the graphic novel. He is now married to the gloriously ostentatious Amanda Palmer – one half of The Dresden Dolls and part-time conjoined twin with fellow performer Jason Webley. Neil Gaiman is one damn cool guy.

You can’t really talk about Neil Gaiman without discussing his new role as Twitter-Lord. Time magazine recently held a poll asking the public for their 140 most popular Twitter feeds. Mr Neil Gaiman came in second losing the top spot to Andy Borowitz. Through Twitter, fans such as myself watched as the relationship between him and Amanda Palmer blossomed. We were there when he visited Cardiff last year sparking much speculation as to the possibility of a Gaiman penned WHO episode, fueled further with pictures tweeted of himself and Steven Moffat. We fans were incensed at the Pencil Necked Weasel-gate a couple of weeks ago which went viral thanks to Twitter. Twitter has offered us a glimpse into this author’s incredible life and is definitely worth a follow. His Twitter name is @neilhimself. Check him out andwait. What…? Do you not know about the Pencil Necked Weasel episode?

Okay, so Mr Gaiman does the odd bit of public speaking. I say the odd bit, actually Neil Gaiman seems to be constantly on the road signing books or defending good causes such as saving our libraries. Often he speaks for free but when he charges, he charges big.

The ‘Pencil-necked Weasel Gate’ is basically a school yard bully masquerading as a US state senator began calling Gaiman a thief and even said, “I hate him,” for supposedly stealing money from the tax payer. Pardon me?

Y’see, Mr Neil Gaiman received a $45,000 fee for speaking at a local library and this money came from the tax payers. Crazy huh! Well, what is most remarkable is when you realise that the money concerned COULD NOT have been used for anything other than inviting a local author to speak, the money was about to run out and would not be renewed AND Gaiman donated ALL monies (after agent fees) to charity. Yup… Certainly worth a Google.

But I digress.

Not content with ruling the literature scene, Gaiman recently ventured in to a musical collaboration with his wife, Ben Folds and Damien Kulash, the guy from OKGO. The project was for the Creative Commons and called 8in8 with the aim of creating eight fully produced songs in eight hours with Gaiman writing all lyrics. He even sings (tunefully speaks) the fantastic “The Problem With Saints”.

Okay, so they only ended up producing six songs but what a spectacular achievement. You can download it for the low, low price of $1 over at AmandaPalmer.net.

If you’ve never heard of Gaiman before then I hope you’re starting to feel intrigued so let me fan that fire and give you a quick taste of some of the delicious forms of Mr Neil Gaiman’s mind.

Adult Novels

American Gods
When a book is chosen for a book club it’s normal for members of the group or site to vote for what they read. Fantasy-Faction does this each month. Well, the Twitterati we’re given the opportunity to vote for what the whole world should read in unison and American Gods won this poll. Let me re-iterate that, the entire world of Twitter voted American Gods the book to be read above such greats as 1984, Lord of the Flies and the great Burglar Bill. For those of you who haven’t heard of American Gods I can only assume you have only recently learned to read.

American Gods tells the story of Shadow. Adept at coin tricks and recently released from prison to the news that his wife has died, he is befriended by Wednesday who says he needs a bodyguard for the coming war.

What ensues is a fast paced, folklore-filled runaway steam train of a war between the old gods of immigrant American beliefs versus the new gods we all now worship; the gods of the internet and fast cars.

You must read this book, if not for the fantastic story then at least for the introduction of the Queen of Sheba which I, along with most warm blooded people, will not soon forget. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be buried up to their chin in genitals?

Um…

American Gods is also following in the steps of Game of Thrones and is being adapted for the screen.

Be excited.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Good Omens was the first adult fantasy book I ever read. It is also the most worn out book on my book shelf. If you knew me you would know what an accolade that is, but if that alone doesn’t persuade you then let me explain.

In the author blurb it says:

Terry Pratchett gets up early in the morning, Neil Gaiman early in the afternoon. This book was created in the four or five hours every day when both of them were awake.

Yes that’s right, this is a joint collab between two phenomenal authors perfectly blending their respective talents for tackling both the light and dark sides of humour and fantasy. It involves the coming End Of Days, a little boy with a pretty cool dog and an angel and a devil duo for protagonists. Stacked in mythology and soaked in humour from two of the world’s finest fantasy writers, you are on to a winner with this B-E-A-uty of a novel. Read it!

Also check out Neverwhere
Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar are brilliant antagonists and also, remember to ‘Mind the Gap’.

Short Stories

I am a huge fan of short stories and Gaiman is a master. He has two collections of stories called Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors. I could genuinely write an entire article on these collections alone as they are both truly beautiful glimpses in to the mind of a fantastically crazy man but I won’t. Instead, I shall just give you a taste of some stories and say please, please buy both collections and lose a weekend as you read and re-read them.

“Nicholas Was”
…older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die. Santa Clause is not a jolly fat man who lives to warm people’s lives. Here he is a prisoner to the dwarfish natives of the Arctic who force him out in to the cold to deliver their gifts.

I didn’t appreciate this 100 word story at first but then I tried writing a 100 word story and realised just how clever this little nugget is.

“The Day The Saucers Came”
There are a few short stories here that deal with crazy and unbelievable lives. “My Life” for example is a poem with a drunk wearily recounting his ‘boring’ life and “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire” gives us a man trying to write a story but he cannot concentrate for all the sword fights and talking ravens around him. The finest of these though is “The Day The Saucers Came” – a love story set against a back drop of Armageddon.

“Snow, Glass, Apples”
What if Snow White was not the beautiful, wronged princess Disney told us she was. What if she was actually a vampiric creature and the wicked Queen was actually the heroine of the story? Throw in some incest and a prince who likes a bit of necrophilia and you have the makings of a very unhappy ending. Fantastic stuff.

“Other People”
A man discovers that Hell for him is an eternity of torture with the most grotesque creature he has ever seen. This one rivals Mieville’s “Details” for bragging rights as my favourite short story. It is pure genius and will haunt you for a long time. “Don’t Ask Jack” and “Baby Cakes” will do the same.

Both collections begin with introductions explaining the origin of each story in the collection and I can’t help but think while reading it, why don’t all authors do this? It adds a whole new appreciation to the stories.

If you had to choose one collection to buy then I suggest Fragile Things. Enjoy.

Children’s Literature

The Graveyard Book
Before reading this I thought that graveyards were only inhabited by priests and people wearing long black coats and a whole lot of make-up but it turns out I was wrong. The Graveyard Book is about Nobody (Bod) Owens who is raised by a gaggle of ghosts in a graveyard after his family are killed by the mysterious and shadowy man, Jack.

At times it is scary and other times it’s hilarious, it’s about growing up and being a bit different and it is wholly saturated with imagination. It literally is everything that kids look for in a book. If you read it (to your kids or yourself) you will realise why it won pretty much every children’s literature award going including both the Carnegie and Newbery Medals, a Locus and the prestigious Hugo Award. It has also spent pretty much its entire life on the New York Times best-seller list. It’s a good’un.

Coraline
Coraline is a lonely little girl who has just moved to a weird and lonely place. Her parents work solidly and she longs for some attention and adventure. Imagine her joy when she finds a small door that leads her to a parallel world that is full of fun things, a talking cat and parents who seem genuinely interested in her. Things then take a rapid turn to the dark when the wonderful Other Mother from this parallel world asks Coraline to replace her eyes with buttons…

This book brings a swarm of fantastic supporting characters such as Mr Bobinsky with his trained mice and Misses Spink and Forcible the two old, ex-models who live in the apartment below. Much like The Graveyard Book it offers children everything that they look for in a story including scares, laughter and stacks of imagination. Yes it’s aimed at kids but like any good children’s book it has become a firm favourite with adults too.

Also, as mentioned above, check out the stop motion film by Henry Sellick (of The Nightmare Before Christmas fame) for a faithful and beautiful adaptation.

Comics

This is where Gaiman made his name.

The Sandman
Although not a Gaiman original, he (along with Dave McKean) revamped this series into a powerhouse which still stands as the only graphic novel to ever win the World Fantasy Award. Things mainly follow Dream, one of seven ‘family’ members who are all personifications of universal concepts such as mortality and war. All of their names begin with the letter D so Big Bird would be proud.

Dream is the Sandman, lord of the Dreaming. He’s the classic anti-hero in a world steeped in mythology and fantasy and also bears a striking resemblance to the author. If you like your comics dark, then you’ll love this series. If you don’t pick this up based on the concept alone then please pick it up for Gaiman/McKean’s personification of Death who is a light-hearted and fucking sexy young lady. Swoon…

Other notable mentions are:

Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?
As Batman watches over his own funeral he listens to friends and foes giving eulogies on how the Bat died but they’re all a little bizarre and different to each other…

Again the beauty of Gaiman’s mind bursts through to show an author who, like with the Doctor Who episode, obviously loves his source material as a fan. On top of this, the art work is sweet. It’s worth noting that this comic arc actually won ‘Best Comic’ at the Sci-Fi Awards 2010 and was nominated for a Hugo. Not too shabby.

1602
I’m a Marvel boy through and through so imagine my glee when Marvel released this story-arc where the heroes of the Marvel universe are reinvented to the medieval setting of 1602. Set in a world filled with magic, most popular Marvel characters are present in some capacity with a new addition called Rojhaz the native American… Who could he be? Pick it up and find out.

This list is in no way exhaustive.

Now go and spend the evening browsing all his works on Amazon and try not to ruin your credit card too much.

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