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A review by grrr8_catsby
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman
4.5
The Neil Gaiman Reader is a collection of 52 short stories and excerpts written by the titular author, far too many to list out in a simple book review.
Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller, and has the rare ability to satisfactorily tell a story of any length, whether it be a short story, novella, or full length book. Gaiman's prose is intentional; focused, but allowing for glimpses of flavorful description when description is needed, but never being overly gushing or flowery. Passages will lull you into a sense of nostalgia of memories of reading fairy tales, while never feeling juvenile.
Overall, this feels like a complete and authentic collection; every story is well written and none feel added for content or length. Every entry in this book is included in chronologic order, and it is nice to appreciate the changes and development of Gaiman's writing style over the years.
While there are no bad stories included in this book, there are some interesting thematic choices. Several of the included novellas serve as companion pieces to Gaiman's American Gods novel (which I have not yet read) and multiple short stories can be classified as "Sherlock Holmes" tales. Most surprising, however, are the sheer number of Cthulhu adjacent stories; some the reader may not identify until nearing completion of the tale.
If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, you will enjoy this book. If you are interested in picking up one of Gaiman's novels but are too daunted by the length of books like Coraline, there is plenty to enjoy in a book like this, while being a truthful representation of what the author consistently offers.
Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller, and has the rare ability to satisfactorily tell a story of any length, whether it be a short story, novella, or full length book. Gaiman's prose is intentional; focused, but allowing for glimpses of flavorful description when description is needed, but never being overly gushing or flowery. Passages will lull you into a sense of nostalgia of memories of reading fairy tales, while never feeling juvenile.
Overall, this feels like a complete and authentic collection; every story is well written and none feel added for content or length. Every entry in this book is included in chronologic order, and it is nice to appreciate the changes and development of Gaiman's writing style over the years.
While there are no bad stories included in this book, there are some interesting thematic choices. Several of the included novellas serve as companion pieces to Gaiman's American Gods novel (which I have not yet read) and multiple short stories can be classified as "Sherlock Holmes" tales. Most surprising, however, are the sheer number of Cthulhu adjacent stories; some the reader may not identify until nearing completion of the tale.
If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, you will enjoy this book. If you are interested in picking up one of Gaiman's novels but are too daunted by the length of books like Coraline, there is plenty to enjoy in a book like this, while being a truthful representation of what the author consistently offers.