Author Spotlight:
the works of Neil Gaiman
NEVERWHERE
Neil Gaiman / Avon Books / Copyright 1997 / 336
pages
When Richard Mayhew stops to help a bleeding girl on a London sidewalk, he steps across a line into an alternative world and his former life on the Upside vanishes. Finding himself in the subterranean labyrinth of old sewers, abandoned subway stations and Living Darkness called London Below, Richard meets again the enigmatic Lady Door, along with the marquis de Carabas, The Hunter, a demon angel, and a cast of characters you'll recognize from fairy tales, myths and your own dreams. With no choice but to join the Lady Door in her dangerous quest, this gentle and decent Everyman, amidst a spiraling journey downward through bizarre anachronisms, incongruities, and mythic dreams come to life, loses his life....but finds his soul.
Neverwhere is the first solo novel of Neil Gaiman, award-winning author of the epic graphic novel The Sandman. It is a spellbinding blend of Gaiman's now-famous mythic weavings, set in a very modern, sharply insightful urban fantasy setting that is more real than "real"....as the protagonist learns. I thoroughly recommend it, not just for fantasy readers, but for anyone who loves speculative fiction, science fiction -- or just fine storytelling.
"I didn't ever
want this book to end....Hunter, Islington, Door -- these
characters are part of my life now. I see them when I turn
corners." Also by Neil Gaiman: Dreamhaven Books Large inventory of Gaiman material, as well as Dave McKean artwork and much more.
-- Tori Amos
The Sandman - Acclaimed
graphic novel series follows Lord Morpheus of The Endless Clan and his
dealings with mortals, gods and his immortal siblings as he traverses the universe tending the affairs of The Realm of the Dreaming. Filled with mythic references of numerous origin, these interlinked stories, with their timeless plots and unforgettable characters, is one of the most rewarding reading experiences ever for this reviewer.
Death: The High Cost of Living -From the pages of THE SANDMAN LIBRARY Neil Gaiman tells the story of the one day every hundred years when Death, older sister of The Sandman, walks among humans to gain a better understanding of those whom she is about to usher into their new existence.
Smoke and Mirrors - Short
stories in the inimitable Gaiman style.
Related Websites:
This Gaiman-inspired site features
stunning graphics, interactive adventures, and nooks &
crannies that seem imagined by Lord Morpheus himself. Includes
Gaiman signings & publication information.
"To read THE SANDMAN is to read something more than an imaginative new comic: it is to read a powerful new literature, fresh with resonance of timeless myths." --Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone
"Neil Gaiman is on a plane all his own. Nobody in his field is better than this. Gaiman is a master, and his vast, roomy stories, filled with every possible shade of feeling, are unlike anyone else's. If this isn't literature, nothing is." -- Peter Straub
"Along with all else, SANDMAN is a comic strip for intellectuals, and I say it's about time". --Norman Mailer
Born in 1960 in Portchester, England and now living in "the perfect Gothic house" in Minnesota, Neil Gaiman is an award-winning writer of science fiction and fantasy, most widely known as the creator and author of the extremely popular DC/Vertigo series The Sandman. But this nutshell description falls woefully short of truly describing this multi-talented author with a near cult-like following fan following worldwide.
Passionately devoted to freedom of speech for artists and writers, Gaiman was Co-editor of The Utterly Comic Comic Relief, which raised £45,000 for the Comic Relief charity in 1991, and is very active in the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
A prolific writer, Gaiman was co-author, with Terry Pratchett, of Good Omens. His most recent novels include Stardust (1999) and Smoke and Mirrors (1998), and his children's literature venture, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (White Wolf Publishing, 1997), was selected by Newsweek as one of the Best Children's Books of 1997.
Most widely praised for his work in the graphic novel form, which combines prose and illustration in a comic book-type format, Gaiman spoke of this preference in an interview with Nicolette White of the Sunday Times, saying, "You can still toy with the conventions of the genre.... It mixes media: you can play with the rules." It is precisely this genre-bending that makes Gaiman's work so much fun to read. You never know what to expect: which character might pop back into the plot, when a storyline might double back on itself in a strange, but always plausible, way. Add to this the fact that Gaiman is perhaps one of the best-read people writing today -- his depth and breadth of knowledge is astonishing -- and you have the ingredients for a great reading experience with each new story.
