Amph Neil Gaiman

The author isn't America, he's British. Plus the protaganist's name is Shadow.

Now you have to read it!

 

Perhaps, perhaps, but it's heavily Americanised, in backdrop, and I felt somewhat excluded. It's still on my Possibility list, though.

 

How would you know if you've never read it?

 

It's set in America, isn't it? And the short story, Monarch of the Glen, had an old-style classic American voice of prose.

 

I'm still not seeing why you have a problem with this.

 

Understandable, since I don't have a problem with Gaimon. But I consider any setting set particularly in America today as heavily cliche and overdone. Why not Aust or New Zealand? Because your readers would feel "detached" without that familiar mother bosom of backdrops.

Disagree? You've never asked yourself why you're reading so many Johns and Wills and Smiths?

Worse than Selkath breath, you'll get American authors forgetting their prized boobies are going to eventually be read by an internat audience. Nothing irritates me more than seeing someone ay "his voice lowered to a mid-Nov chill." Hey-hey-hey, as Krusty would say, Nov ain't winter in Aussieland, or outside America, and I take mild offense to such silliness when that book is not even on bloody Earth in the first place (Icarus Hunt). I call them Irritators, and thankfully it's not so widespread.

It's a blindspot; you don't know you're doing it, and editors---what editors, anyway?---don't think to look for these triffles.

Monarch of the Glen's prose had that slow, laconic drawl of old-style Americanism. Identifying appliances by brandname, and so on. It's the architecture of the book, the narrative voice. Doesn't appeal to me; neither does it bother me.

None of it bothers me. On observation alone, I'm just seeing a novel yet again set in . As an avid proponent of creativity and cliche loather, this doesn't impress me on sight. There is another deity of Gaimon's.

It's called the Lord of Marketing, and that transvestite plays a major influence in book design. To the pit hounds with these drow, I say.

 

American Gods is more a criticism of American culture than it is a "novel set in America."

 

To be brutally honest, Australia just isn't as interesting as America or Britain etc.

 

Ah, but YOU are the author. YOU are the typing force that makes your tale exciting.

The assumption that a Canadian or Aust-backdropped novel isn't as exciting as American is very easily critical striked. Your locales are probably cities---does Chicargo matter to Brisbane? Towers and streets are all the same, apart for a few exceptions like Venice. Secondly, what are you doing, travelling around, driving around? US and Aust both have arid terrains, forests and rivers.

Is the country setting really that different? The cred card deities still live in Aust.

I see it as a marketing ploy, make your domestic readers feel familiar with their own land. But it's the selling of internat rights that gives your book big money. I don't know how The Swans War Trilogy sold for six figures in some country, it was mediocre at best and the writing equally so. "Lyrical," the reviews called it. Gold paint, I call it.

Tis not really a major factor for me. Just give me ongoing intrigue, mature prose, continual excitement and a rewarding finale, and I'll headhunt the book. I'll stomach a bit of dragoning, but I draw the line on flamming elfs and dwarfish beards.

 

I am nearly finished reading American Gods. I wished I had discovered Gaiman sooner, as I now have a lot of reading to do to catch up with his body of work. I love the way he writes. Or maybe it's just the characters in this book. As soon as I finish this book, I think I will pick up Stardust before I go on to Anansi Boys, then i will get more of an idea. Although, I did read his short story Snow Glass Apples (I think that was the title) and,although it was beastily morbid and dark, I still liked it

 

I have to say that I did not particularly enjoy Anansi Boys. I did not find it to be nearly as good as American Gods.

 

I haven't even read it yet. I've got no interest in the book.

 

His best work is in The Sandman. Yes, it's a comic. It's also one of the greatest pieces of SFF in the past 25 years.

 

I do intend to find a copy and read it as well, I am not usually into comics or graphic novels, but I think I will make an exception in this case.

who knows, maybe I will be converted

 

Did you read American Gods?

 

I have just read Coraline.

Short book and some may find it lacking in depth, but I adored it. It just hard all the elements that would engage me and I'm currently re-reading it.

I've also seen Mirrormask recently. Brilliant film. Lots of people think it's rubbish but I find very little fault with it. Again, just had all the right stuff it needed for me to enjoy it.

I'm also about to start Anansi Boy, though after reading this thread I also want to read Stardust and American Gods.

 

I have to agree The Sandman is a great work of him. But even if you don't like comics usally or the art in it (which changes from book to book) the story itself makes it all worth.

 

I'm reading American Gods right now and I love this mix between mythology and normal life. I think, in comparison to Neverwhere, American Gods features more interesting and human minor characters. I mean even though they appear on just a few pages Gaiman brings them all to life.

Although, I did read his short story Snow Glass Apples (I think that was the title) and,although it was beastily morbid and dark, I still liked it

After reading that story two months ago, I'll never look upon Snow White in the same way again .

 

Nor will I emilsson, Nor will I

*shudders*

 

I just finished reading Stardust. I love how it starts out sounding like a childrens fairy tale, but it doesn't take long to find out that the story is definately not for children.LOL

they are already working on a movie based on the book. Neil is working closely with the production on it, so hopefully it will be one of the rare movies that are just as good as the book

 

Monday night I actually attended an event where Neil was speaking. Very funny and charming man he is.

He's got a lot of film projects going on at the moment, Beowolf(I know I spelt it wrong) Coraline stop motion film directed by the guy who did Nightmare Before Christmas with Terri Hatcher(Other mother) Dakota Fanning(Coraline) French and Saunders(Miss Spink and Miss Forcible) and Ian McShane(Mr bobo), and of course Stardust.

And aparently Guillermo del Toro is interested in producing a "Death: the high cost of living" film. And also accoding to Gaiman del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" is not a good movie for twelve year olds.

He also talked about film scripts he'd gotten for Sandman and he described one where in the first few pages Morpheus was in New York being shot at and he yells "You're puny mortal weapons cannot harm me for I am Morpheus, King Of Dreams" and then he jumps from wherever he's standing but can't fly and so falls flat on the ground. Gaiman stated "I just flicked after that".

It was a very movie project orientated night but Gaiman didn't talk about casting ideas because he said that whenever he mentions someone's name in connection with a project it's over half the internet by the next day that the actor has already signed up.

Before all the movie project talk he read a poem and a story from "Fragile Things". Very lovely and a nice evening.

 

Just read 1602, the marvel series. Fantastic stuff.

 

Picked up Eternals #4...this whole series has been good, but I really enjoyed #4. Story's starting to move now

Really liked 1602 as well. Excellent concept.

 

Read The Wolves In The Walls last week. Pretty rofl and good.