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If you’ve never read anything by Neil Gaiman, you are missing out. Of his work, he’s said, “I make things up and I write them down”. While that might be slightly over-simplifying things, the author of at least 31 works is a truly masterful storyteller. His work heavily features topics like the supernatural, fantasy, mythology (especially Norse), and religious mythology from a veritable pantheon of regions and eras. The result is some truly engrossing stories, some mind-bending twists, and more than a few chills along the way that will keep you anxiously turning pages well into the night. If you’re just discovering Gaiman, here’s a tip of the iceberg list to get you started.
Published by DC Comics, this critically acclaimed comic book series by Gaiman follows the main protagonist Dream, also called Morpheus. Overall, the story as a whole is rather nuanced and few people claim to have all the answers. But, in a nutshell, Dream is the Lord (and personification) of Dreams and Storytelling the world over. He can look however he wishes, but generally sticks to one very goth-centric form. He is captured and his powers taken by some occultists and the comics follow his struggle to escape and regain what he was robbed of. Gaiman loves to reference the tradition and importance of storytelling throughout history and hammers it home in several of his works. This one does it especially beautifully.
There’s something incredibly special about American Gods. The title of the book might initially make you think that the gods Gaiman is referencing comprise a rather narrow number. However, Neil Gaiman actually uses the melting-pot of cultures that comprise a nation so heavily populated with immigrants to introduce us to a vast array of them. Norse, Egyptian, African, Russian, Indian, Native American gods, even the fairy folk of the Highlands grace the pages of this epic tale. The gods of yore struggle to stay relevant in today’s world where tech is what is worshiped. This story follows the adventures and misadventures of Shadow Moon as he works alongside his strange employer Mr. Wednesday. This is a book where too much said is going to spoil the fun, and nobody wants that. It is beyond worth a read and possibly Neil Gaiman’s best novel. After you’ve read the book, check out the TV show, which is staying pretty faithful to the book so far.
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This Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaboration novel is just charming and hilarious and a really entertaining read. It has a good bit of fun with Christian mythology and it’s kinda got a Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy wacky fun vibe, but dealing with the Christian version of the apocalypse instead of space. It follows an angel and a demon who have been living on Earth pretty much since the beginning and have grown to rather like the planet how it is, so they’re not too keen on the world ending. To do that, they’ve got to find, and gently dissuade the antichrist from actually becoming evil. Hilarity, naturally, ensures. It is also in the works to become a show and the wait is agony!
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While you might be familiar with the movie adaptation of this Gaiman work, the book is a fun and creepy read as well. If you’re new to the general plot, Coraline is a precocious and curious child who has just moved into a very old house which she naturally wants to explore. Her mother and father are also somewhat busy and neglectful. She eventually finds an alternative realm where there are another mother and another father and a room full of toys and lots of fanciful, strange, and wonderful things. But there’s something not quite right, as amazing as it all initially seems. Finding one’s courage and pushing on through the fear is also one of Neil Gaiman’s favorite plot points, as well as children being just as brave and capable (sometimes more so) than adults, and both are showcased here. Give it a read!
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Simultaneously sweetly poignant, scary, and triumphant, this is a quick read that sticks with you. There’s a bittersweet melancholy within as the main character recalls his childhood, and indeed is so good at those recollections that you cannot help but draw your own comparisons to your own younger years. Of course, there’s magic and menace, and strange things and occurrences, it wouldn’t truly be a Neil Gaiman novel without them, but it is also touching and leaves you just a bit wistful for all those things that have come before and when true magic still seemed so possible in the world. It moves you and makes you think and that is what good storytelling should do.
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Looking for more reads? Check out these 5 horror writers that aren’t Stephen King!
