Neil Gaiman: short stories?

[Brian G Turner]

Ah, yes - he read that one out aloud at Fantasycon last year.

 

[GOLLUM]

I've just got hold of 'Smoke and Mirrors', Gaiman's short story collection. Before I read it, I thought I'd just check out what fellow Chroniclers thought about it. There were some mixed views below - anyone else read it in the last year, and want to comment?

Smoke and Mirrors is good BUT Fragile Things as a collection is superior.

 

[Flemcodogmusic]

Chivalry - from Smoke and Mirrors - has to be one of my favourite short stories of all time ... a nutty idea, beautifully carried off ...

 

[DeepThought]

Another vote for Smoke and Mirrors, a great collection with a wide range of stories. I especially like the last one, his take on the tale of Snow White. The most twisted and chilling of it's retelling (from the POV of another significant character...) that I've read thus far which has been already done to death by myriad other authors. I haven't read Fragile Things, had been meaning to do so for quite some time (availability issues here...again). I'll probably have to order it online.

Cheers, DeepThought

 

[Grimward]

I'm not widely-read where Neil is concerned (although a lot of his stuff is lurking in my to-be-read list), but I do have to chime in about 1 of his short stories I just finished. It's published in a collection called Flights, and in just a few short pages Gaiman managed to ravage (ruin might be closer to the mark) my thinking about the Chronicles of Narnia, possibly beyond repair. The story is called The Problem with Susan, and I won't say any more about it other than if you like your images of C.S. Lewis' world, DON'T READ THIS STORY.

 

[DZara]

There's also Trigger Warning - saw it in the library just the other day. It's on my very long 'to-read' list.

 

[Caliban]

I think I've read all his short fiction (at least from the 3 collections) Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things, Trigger Warning.

My favourites are:
Chivalry
The Departure of Miss Finch
Monarch of the Glen
Sunbird
How to to Girls at Parties
The Truth is in a Cave in the Black Mountains
The Sleeper and the Spindle
Black Dog

The Problem of Susan is also very good. But as mentioned above don't read if you love C.S. Lewis.

I wouldn't be able to tell you which ones are in which collection sorry. Even most of the ones I havnt listed I sound to be well written and mediocre to good. I can't remember any real stinkers.

 

[Randy M.]

Late to this party, I'm afraid.

Loved Smoke and Mirrors. The Gaiman of this collection reminded me of Saki and John Collier, with a bit of Fred Brown and Bradbury thrown in here and there.

I need to get to his other collections, and just have not. After reading American Gods, Neverwhere, Coraline and The Graveyard Book, though, I think the short story is his natural metier.

Randy M.

 

[Bick]

I just read How to Talk to Girls at Parties - it's the first story in Strahan's 'best of' anthology from 2007 - i.e. volume 1. The story is a cracker. I'm enjoying the anthology as a whole but that's for another thread I guess.