Search Results for: neil gaiman

Knights of the Sea: Reminiscent of Gaiman’s lighter works

Knights of the Sea by Paul Marlowe

I was first drawn to Knights of the Sea by the hilarious cover art. Now, having read the book, I can say two things: First, the art is accurate! Every element of the cover design — wolf, capsized boat, ghostly damsel, and lemon — is present in the plot. Second, the book is just as funny as the cover, and in a very good way.

In the previous The Wellborn Conspiracy book, Sporeville, Elliott Graven made a powerful enemy in the dastardly Professor Strange.

M is for Magic: Diverse stories by Gaiman

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

M is for Magic‘s title is an homage to the short story collections of Ray Bradbury and is a worthy successor. (Now if only we had 25 more short story collections to complete the alphabet.) Gaiman’s stories in this collection are easy reads that both young readers and adults will enjoy. It has a diverse set of stories, everything from mystery to coming-of-age to horror. There’s even a poem that managed to sneak into this collection.

Gaiman’s prose is quite easy to understand yet nonetheless charming.

Fragile Things: Gaiman short stories and poems

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

This collection comes with 31 short stories and poems as well as an introduction that’s as compelling as Smoke and Mirrors. Of all of Gaiman’s collections, I think this is by far the most superior as it features more of his later work and has a more polished style.

I’ve also read several of the stories here before in various anthologies but it was great to revisit them as I wasn’t the same reader I was several years ago. Reading them today,

Utterly Dark and the Heart of the Wild: A fantastic middle book in a captivating trilogy

Utterly Dark and the Heart of the Wild by Philip Reeve

In his review for Skye McKenna’s Hedgewitch, Reeve said: “there are only two sorts of fantasy story: the ones that feel fake and the ones that feel real. It’s hard to explain the difference but you know the real ones when you read them.”

I know exactly what he’s talking about, because he writes the real ones too. His depiction of Faerie – that ancient place where all the fairy tales come from – captures its mystery and danger and uncanny beauty as it also exists in books like Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell,

Hedgewitch: The first instalment in a magical new series

Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna

Have you ever read a book in which the plot and characterization are best described as “fun but not special” only to completely fall in love with the world in which they’re set? In this case, there’s nothing wrong with the story of Hedgewitch (even if it hews a little too closely to the HARRY POTTER formula for its first few chapters: a magically-gifted child escapes a terrible environment with the help of a flying broomstick and a talking cat) but the construction and ambiance of the setting is just intoxicating.

WWWednesday: December 13, 2023

Lis Carey review Chaos on Catnet, (looks like Audio only) over at I.

Neil Gaiman was interview by the New York Times. Here’s part of the article. It may be behind a paywall. (Thank you to File 770.)

Flory Jagoda wrote “Ocho Kandelikas” in 1983, in Ladino, a Spanish language used traditionally by the Sephardic Jewish community.

Tor.com has a detailed recap of the Doctor Who specials which I will probably not see since they’re on Disney and I don’t subscribe.

December 13th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |

WWWednesday: October 11, 2023

File 770 regularly prints a column by Melanie Stormm, about a writer who is the victim of misdirected email by a wannabe writer. I haven’t been following these, but this week’s installment had me at the patent-pending “Conflict Drops,” guaranteed to add conflict to any work you’re writing.

Also from File 770, an update on Wanda Maximoff, also called the Scarlet Witch.

Over at Nerds of a Feather, the gloves are off! Joe and Adri are reading the Hugo Best Novel candidates,

October 11th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |

Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon: A fresh addition to the fantasy heist genre

Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi is a new addition to the fantasy heist genre, one that brings a sense of freshness due to its backdrop of Yoruba folktale/myth and a sense of depth thanks to its focus on character, as well as a moving close.

The narrative is set in a world of gods and spirits who have organized themselves into companies and regions and who are,

August 7th, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Wole Talabi | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

WWWednesday: November 9, 2022

The World Fantasy Awards were announced. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri took home the Best Novel award while Premee Mohamed’s And What Can We Offer You Tonight snagged Best Novella, and “(emet)” by Lauren Ring Best Short Story. The convention was held in New Orleans this year.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are separating. Thanks to File 770 for this item.

John Scalzi presents a long but clear column on how you can attempt to verify who is tweeting,

November 9th, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Sunday Status Update: August 14, 2022

Marion: I read and greatly enjoyed Amongst our Weapons, the latest RIVERS OF LONDON book by Ben Aaronivitch, and now I’ve started Locklands, final book in Robert Jackson Bennett’s FOUNDERS trilogy. I spent some time reading the rough draft of my current WIP with an eye to revision, and continue that process today.

Terry: I continue with my reread of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, noting a lot more detail than I did the first time through,

August 14th, 2022. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |

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