It is no secret that we love Neil Gaiman (heck, we even had a full on “Neil Gaiman Appreciation Week” last year).  When The Graveyard Book was first released last year (in Hardcover) , we bought it as soon as we could and totally loved it. Since then, the book, which tells the tale of a boy named Nobody Owens who is adopted and raised by the occupants of a graveyard, has won several major Awards like the 2009 Hugo, the Newbery Medal, and a Locus Award as well as making it into Ana and Thea’s Most Excellent Books of 2008 list (which we all know is the most prestigious award of them all.)

More About the Book:

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family. . .

Book Trailler narrated by Neil Gaiman:

Giveaway Details:

In celebration of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week and the paperback release of the book in October, we are giving away two paperback copies. All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment here answering the question:

“Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?”

Contest is open to all and runs untill Saturday 19th, 11:59 PM Pacific Time. We will announce the two winners in our Sunday stash. Good luck to all!

Today the BBAW suggested daily topic is:

Reading Meme

We encourage you to be creative with this! Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

We chose to answer only one question:

Q: Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?

Ana and Thea: HELL YES and that would be His Holy Awesomeness, Neil Gaiman.

We find that there is really only one word that can possibly describe how awesome he is and that word is: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Thea: Or “Ineffable.” You know, in the spirit of Good Omens.)

And, friends, this about as brief as it’s going to get. In part to celebrate making it on the shortlist for Best Graphic Novel Blog, we will take this meme opportunity to turn today into a Neil Gaiman Spotlight, and offer a joint review of Murder Mysteries. Here goes…

Title: Murder Mysteries

Author: Neil Gaiman (Writer) and P. Craig Russell (Illustrator)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy

Publisher: Dark Horse
Publishing Date: June 2002
Hardcover: 64 Pages

Stand alone or series: This graphic novel is actually an adaptation of a short story by Neil Gaiman in his Angels and Visitations and Smoke and Mirrors anthologies, of the same title. It was also adapted earlier into a radio drama – narrated by none other than Michael Emerson (aka Benjamin “Bug-eyed Bastard” Linus, from LOST).

Why did we read the book: Because it’s Neil Gaiman.

Summary: (from amazon.com)

Constructing and maintaining all of heaven and earth is an immense task, which God has divided up amongst the various ranks and stations of angels. As with any such huge effort, there are bound to be casualties. This unique passion play sheds light on the hands behind creation, as well as one lonely man in Los Angeles who gets to hear the whole story of a most unspeakable crime: a murder in paradise!

REVIEW

First Impressions:

Ana: Murder Mysteries was first published as a short story in the Smoke and Mirrors anthology which I read and reviewed last year. I loved the anthology as a whole but Murder Mysteries was my favourite story. As soon as I finished reading it, I found out that it had made into a Graphic Novel and I immediately bought it but haven’t read it until now. What can say about it? It works even better in Graphic Novel format with the added visual to a most powerful story. This is not only a very good, traditional whodunit but also with gravitas and age-old discussion of Free Will versus Determination. Murder Mysteries stays with the reader long after you finish reading it (and Neil Gaiman is a freaking genius).

Thea: After Ana read Smoke and Mirrors for our Neil Gaiman Week last year and was drooling over the graphic novel adaptation of “Murder Mysteries,” I, of course, has to have it too. And so, I bought the hardcover. It languished on my TBR for a very long time, but finally we found the perfect opportunity to do a joint review. I started Murder Mysteries and wasn’t expecting too much – I’ll be honest. Neil Gaiman is a master (clearly) and one of my favorite authors, but I’m not completely stoked by P. Craig Russell’s art (sorry!), and at a slim 65 pages, I wasn’t expecting as much from this stand alone book. Well, I was wrong. Murder Mysteries is a deceptively deep story. About the first murder in the creation of the universe, this book tackles a lot of old questions (as Ana says, Fate vs. Free Will), and sets the stage for the inevitable battle to come. It also has a somewhat open-for-interpretation ending, which is fantastic. This is Gaiman at his classic best.

On the Plot:

Ana: A young man recounts his time in LA ten years ago, when his flight to London kept being delayed for almost a week. On the last night before returning to London, he meets Tink, a beautiful woman he remembers from years ago in London, with whom he had a fling with. They have a brief sexual encounter and although he can’t remember part of the night after that, he knows that he left her place and unable to sleep, he goes for a walk. He sits down on a bench for a smoke when a homeless man sits next to him. In exchange for a cigarette, the homeless man tells him a story: a story that starts with the Word. In the beginning of times when Angels were helping the Creation, we learn that the Angel Raguel, the Vengeance of the Lord is awakened to investigate the first-ever murder.

Murder Mysteries is one of my favourite stories by Neil Gaiman – it is everything that he can be, condensed in less than 60 pages. Just like with The Sandman, everything within Murder Mysteries matters – when you reach the end, you realise how all and every single information (relayed here in panels) is relevant.

The storytelling is effective and there are two stories being told at the same time, although you think one of them does not matter: it is a story within a story and the title says everything you need to know: it is in the plural, isn’t it? The main whodunit is expertly handled by the Angel of Vengeance, who acts like a Poirot-like figure, investigating the crime. But it is the very nature of the crime that makes this book so freaking brilliant – and where Neil Gaiman’s imaginative signature comes into play: because we are talking about the first crime EVER, committed in Paradise at a time where human beings did not even exist and the Angels were busy thinking about concepts such as “love” or “hate” . There is a thread of theology in the story as Gaiman once again, brings Lucifer and his role in the Creation to the forefront. It is all part of the story, of both stories.

With regards to the illustrations: I like the added visual to a story I already loved but I am not crazy about the artwork – I think it lacks something MORE as though the figures are way too simplistic for such a complex story.

Thea: Murder Mysteries tells the story of the first death in the creation of the universe; it’s the original murder mystery (for which the book is titled). Who killed Carasel? And for what reason? This is the sole purpose of Raguel, or Vengeance – to discover the facts behind the death of an immortal, whether it was self-inflicted or murder. And, as his name suggests, to exact the Lord’s Vengeance upon the perpetrator.

Plot-wise, Murder Mysteries seems straightforward – the heart of the story is the homeless man (who claims to be Vengeance) and his tale to the narrator of the book, as payment for a cigarette and matchbook. The beginning of the book, as the narrator recounts his short layover in Los Angeles years back, seems almost negligible; an unimportant detail to get to the meat and potatoes of the book. At least, that’s how I saw it, initially. Of course, nothing in a Neil Gaiman book is a throwaway – everything has significance, from the location of the story (my hometown and aptly set City of Angels), to the serpentine shape of freeways, to the image of a child’s painting, to the payment for a cigarette. The parallel stories of the nameless bespectacled traveller to the angel’s tale overlap beautifully, and by the end of the book, everything comes together and makes perfect sense. As always, I find myself awed by Neil Gaiman’s skill at telling stories – even a seemingly simple story, such as this one.

Though I’m not a huge fan of P. Craig Russell’s art here (I wasn’t crazy on his interpretation of Coraline either – I much prefer Dave McKean’s print-like surreal inks in the prose novel), I cannot deny that the images he uses to tell the story, from the city of Heaven to Los Angeles itself, are thoughtful and compliment the tale perfectly.

Then, of course, there’s the thematic concept of fate versus free will. It is executed beautifully in the book, and raises some interesting questions….but more on that later.

On The Characters:

Thea: There are two main characters to this dual story – the nameless narrator, and the angel Raguel, or Vengeance. We don’t know much about the nameless narrator initially…not until the end of the book do things become clear. But he exudes a sense of discomforting detachment (reinforced again by Mr. Russell’s decision to give him symbolic glinting, reflective glasses). Raguel, on the other hand, is nothing but forthrightness. He has been created for one purpose and one purpose only – as a tool of his master, to exact vengeance on those who deserve it…but is it that simple? Raguel shares thoughts of his own which challenge the determination angle, and seems to be able to make his own way (or rather, he is permitted to find his own way). This leads to more theological pondering, but, again, more on that later.

The other standout character, as Ana will most assuredly gush about, is Lucifer – the Authority’s second in command. If you’ve read the Sandman books, you will be familiar with Lucifer and his role in Neil Gaiman’s work – and indeed this early invocation of Lucifer seems very close to the Lucifer that Morpheus encounters. There’s something so beautiful and heartbreaking about Lucifer, especially in this portrayal. His loyalty, his tears, his beginning to question things…it’s damn near flawless. Really good stuff.

Ana: Ah, Lucifer Morningstar. My heart bleeds for you every time Neil Gaiman writes you. The author manages to portray Lucifer as a tragic figure instead of a pure evil one. In Murder Mysteries, his role, his demeanour are heartbreaking, because he dares. He questions, he thinks about the box and because of that, he has a role to play in the Creation – a role that has not being chosen by him, but which is solely based on his very own personality. The very principle of Free Will x Fate clashes in Lucifer: his Free Will is the very thing that condemns him to his Fate. It is a sad and beautiful thing. In here as in The Sandman, I find myself having sympathy for the devil above any other character.

Murder Mysteries is Lucifer’s story – he is at the centre of it all. That makes all the other characters pale in comparison. That’s my story and I will stick to it.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Rating:

Ana: Murder Mysteries is one the best Neil Gaiman stories I’ve ever read and it’s sheer brilliance for all its depth and intensity. This book can be profoundly disturbing and it provokes the reader to think. The ending is open for interpretation and the outcome of it comes solely from the reader’s own beliefs and how they clash (or not) with what they read. For such a small story it sure does packs a punch but then again, that’s Neil Gaiman for you.

Thea: Murder Mysteries isn’t the best Neil Gaiman book I’ve ever read, but it is a fantastic standalone comic. I was immersed in it, I was ambushed by its depth and beauty, and I loved it. If you haven’t read anything by Neil Gaiman before and want a quick, fast read to see what he’s all about, Murder Mysteries is a great place to start.

Notable Quotes/Parts:

Ana: The moment when Lucifer QUESTIONS the Creator. Awesome stuff.

Thea: Following the classic Poirot-esque method of the Dramatic Parlor Room trope, the ultimate reveal of the murderer – who did it, and why they did it – is fantastic.

Additional Thoughts: On Fate (or Determinism) versus Free Will…

It’s a common enough dilemma, one that has been debated between philosophers and especially in religious connotations throughout history. Heck, it’s even a main theme in one of our all time favorite shows, LOST.

(And yeah, we didn’t include a picture of his holiness Jack, even though he’s our supposed “Man of Science” to Locke’s “Man of Faith”…)

So…with that theme in mind, we have a brief, SPOILERY DISCUSSION of the open ending:

WE REPEAT. SPOILERS BELOW. (To read, highlight the white space)

Thea: The way I interpreted the ending was that the English narrator killed Tink’s flatmate, Tink, and her daughter Susan – and Raguel, the homeless man, absolved him at least temporarily of his sin. My initial reaction was that Vengeance took pity on the man (because he gave him a “gift,” the same one he refused from God) because of how he felt after he smote the Saraquael. It’s a gift only temporarily for the narrator, absolution for only the time of his short life, but i do think he’ll “go down” the elevator later when he dies. (How could he not? Vengeance is the tool during life, but in death i’m sure the big man upstairs won’t be too happy with him, and send him to good ol’ Lucifer. Heck maybe that’s more of God’s cold planning in the book – temporary absolution, then to yank it away for eternity after death). And he can do all this because everything happens according to the big man’s will, right?

I’m not a philosopher and I don’t care for theological doctrine really, but the idea of a world that runs solely according to predetermination sits unwell with me. I like to think that Raguel turned his back on Heaven, but offers choice in his exaction of “vengeance.”

Ana: I interpreted in a very similar way as Thea did. I do think that Raguel , is still the Angel of Vengeance – after all he did not “Fall”. But he does offer the guy a reprieve by granting his forgetfulness until he eventually goes “down” to meet Lucifer. But everybody is still very much playing their roles as stipulated in the Master Plan.

The main thing about the book for me though is this: if the first Murder was committed so that Lucifer Fell according to The plan, then every single murder after that is ALSO according to the Plan. If God is the culprit of the first murder then he is the de facto culprit of every single murder after that – because he knows all, and is everywhere and has this Plan. In that sense, even Raguel’s gift is also according to the Plan. Where there is a master plan engineered by an omniscient and omnipresent being there is absolutely NO possibility of Free Will. And that sucks huge donkey balls. Excuse my French.

Rating:

Ana: 8 – Excellent – missing out being a 9/10 solely because I am not a fan of the art

Thea: 8 – Excellent

Next in our Neil Gaiman mini-special: come back later today for a chance to win one of two copies of one of our favorite books of 2008, The Graveyard Book!

Reading Next: The Declaration by Gemma Malley

Weekend is nearly over for us in the UK but you guys in the US still have one day off to look forward to! Meanwhile, here is what we have planned this week:

On Monday, Ana reviews The Infinite Instant by Danielle Parker

Tuesday, it’s Thea’s turn and she reviews Heroes at Risk by Moira J Moore

Followed by our joint review of Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire on Wednesday

Then on Thursday, Thea reviews Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

and finally on Friday, another joint review, this time of Orphan’s Tale – In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente

PLUS:

We are chuffed to bits that this week, in association with Angry Robot – the new Harper Collins Imprint for genre fiction – SF, F and WTF? – from Monday to Friday, we will be exclusively publishing 5 daily extracts from Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero by Dan Abnett which will be released in October:

Sir Rupert Triumff. Adventurer. Fighter. Drinker.

Saviour?

Pratchett goes swashbuckling in the hotly anticipated original fiction debut of the multi-million selling Warhammer star.

Triumff is a ribald historical fantasy set in a warped clockwork-powered version of our present day … a new Elizabethan age, not of Elizabeth II but in the style of the original Virgin Queen. Throughout its rollicking pages, Sir Rupert Triumff drinks, dines and duels his way into a new Brass Age of Exploration and Adventure.

Be sure to stop by to check it out!

Giveaway Winners:

The winners of the Flash Giveaway are…

Batch 1  – Contemporary Romance: Marie (comment #44)

Batch 2 – Romantic Suspense: Carolyn H (comment #7)

Congratulations! Please send your snail mail address to contact@thebooksmugglers.com

Speaking of giveaways:

You can still enter our ultra cool Catching Fire Giveaway here. It runs till September 15th and it’s open to residents of Canada and US only.

Reasons Why We Want To Marry Neil Gaiman:

# 1023: For His Library

Seriously, check.this.out and prepare to drool : Neil Gaiman’s Library

On our Radar

Urban Fantasy – The fifth Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs which has the cool cover (but not a blurb yet)

Young Adult:

Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah relizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice – to be a creature of the land or the sea.

Young Adult:

For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward isn’t so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly looked after. As strange as it was, it was home. He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie visited him often enough; and Nurse Ophelia–the prettiest no-nonsense nurse ever–sometimes took him bowling. Of course, that didn’t mean he had it easy. His allergies restricted his diet to strawberry smoothies, and being the only kid at the hospital could get lonely. But it never once crossed Zack’s mind to leave…until the night someone crashed through the front doors and told him to run. Now he’s on a race for answers–about his past, his parents, and his strange sickness–even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths.

Young Adult – The sequel to the very cool Suite Scarlett!

Ever since Mrs. Amberson, the former-aspiring-actress-turned-agent, entered Scarlett Martin’s life, nothing has been the same.

She’s still in charge of the Empire Suite in her family’s hotel, but she’s now also Mrs. Amberson’s assistant, running around town for her star client, Chelsea – a Broadway star Scarlett’s age with a knack for making her feel insignificant.

Scarlett’s also trying to juggle sophomore year classes, her lab partner who is being just a little TOO nice, and getting over the boy who broke her heart.

In the midst of all this, her parents drop a bombshell that threatens to change her New York life forever…

Aaaaaaaand that’s it from us today!

~your friendly neighborhood book smugglers

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will probably know by now that one of my favourite series is the Tairen Soul series by C.L. Wilson. I consider this to be one of the finest examples of Fantasy Romance. The fourth and final book, Queen of Song and Souls was first set to be released earlier this year but the date was pushed forward to June but there were talks of yet another postponement.

I have just learnt from the lovely Erin Galloway from Dorchester Publishing that the book will now be published in November (the date seems to be set in stone now).

My first reaction upon hearing these news was to pull my hair, wail in pain and drown my sorrows in coffee (I was at work at the time). My second reaction was to say: well, she can take as much time as she wants! This series rocks and if the author doesn’t feel the last book is ready, then so be it.

That made me think about all the kerfuffle regarding authors Patrick Rothfuss and George RR Martin – both authors have been writing sequels to their books for a few years now and some fans are, how should I put it, Behaving Badly. By pestering the authors, sending hate email, being generally unpleasant about the wait – as if they are entitled to something from the authors.

Patrick Rothfuss blogged about his frustration and how bad he feels about the pressure. I blogged about that when I wrote my review of The Name of the Wind and I asked our readers how did they feel about waiting for a book. I got some really interesting comments.

Now this other question popped in after not only learning about the new date for Wilson’s book but also because Neil Gaiman (all hail the King) blogged about reader’s entitlement yesterday.

Neil is a nice guy – he must receive tons of emails and he always finds the time to reply to at least some of them. Yesterday he got the following from a guy named Garret:

“I’ve recently subscribed to George RR Martin’s blog (http://grrm.livejournal.com/) in the hopes of getting some inside information regarding when the next “Song of Ice and Fire” book is due to be released. I love the series but since subscribing to the blog I’ve become increasingly frustrated with Martin’s lack of communication on the next novel’s publication date. In fact, it’s almost as though he is doing everything in his power to avoid working on his latest novel. Which poses a few questions:

1. With blogs and twitter and other forms of social media do you think the audience has too much input when it comes to scrutinising the actions of an artist? If you had announced a new book two years ago and were yet to deliver do you think avoiding the topic on your blog would lead readers to believe you were being “slack”? By blogging about your work and life do you have more of a responsibility to deliver on your commitments?

2. When writing a series of books, like Martin is with “A Song of Ice and Fire” what responsibility does he have to finish the story? Is it unrealistic to think that by not writing the next chapter Martin is letting me down, even though if and when the book gets written is completely up to him?

Would be very interested in your insight.”

Neil’s reply is a work of art in itself and you should read it (actually you should read ANYTHING he writes) but the bottom line of what he says is:

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

So, there you have it: we have two writer’s opinion regarding the so-called Reader’s Entitlement.

But what about WE, as readers , what do we think about it– are we entitled to anything especially when it comes to serialised books? Are we entitled to feel angered about the wait and to feel let down when a book in a series is not as good as its predecessor? Is that the author’s fault – are they obliged to always meet our expectations or to write as fast as we want to?

There is a very simple and obvious answer, at least to me: no. I don’t feel like I am entitled to anything. Yes, the wait is painful and can be frustrating, there is no denying it; and I am pretty sure that say, if Meljean Brook decided NOT to write Michael’s story , I would probably be forever sad but ultimately? There is NOTHING I can do. And frankly, I would rather do something useful than to pester a writer for a book they are writing. As Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss say, they have a life and so do I.

But what do you think? Do you feel entitled as a reader to a writer’s work? Any authors in the house – how do you feel about reader’s pressure and expectation?

Last month we had Marg over to review Stephen King’s It. This month’s victim? The unsuspecting Graeme from Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review! After Graeme admitted to us that he had never read Neil Gaiman’s epic Sandman comics, we had to Dare him. (Yes, again. We know this is the third Preludes and Nocturnes review here, but it’s really just that damn good).

The catch, of course, is that Graeme then turned around and dared to Dare US! We are over Graeme’s blog today, with our review of the fantasy novel The Briar King.

Title: The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy/Horror

Publisher: Vertigo (DC Comics)
Publication Date: December 1993
Trade Paperback (softcover): 240 pages

Stand alone or series: The first graphic novel in a 10 volume series.

Why did we RECOMMEND this book?: Is this really necessary? WE. LOVE. GAIMAN. (And how fitting considering the announcement yesterday that his The Graveyard Book won the Newberry Award!)

Summary: (from NeilGaiman.com)
A wizard attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. Fearful for his safety, the wizard kept him imprisoned in a glass bottle for decades. After his escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On the way, Morpheus encounters Lucifer and demons from Hell, the Justice League, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer. This book also includes the story “The Sound of Her Wings” which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl, Death.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Grame!

———-
Graeme:

It’s only in the last year or so that I’ve started reading comic books again, I used to read them at college until I got completely sick of constant ‘Marvel Crossovers’… (a man only has so much money to spend!) I’ve got a bit more money these days so it was inevitable that my comic book habit would start up again and now it consists of anything with zombies in it (‘Quick Gratuitous Plug’ coming up for my two favourite series! Check out ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘The Goon’, well worth your time!)

One series that I’ve never picked up is Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’, partly because I wasn’t sure my wallet could stand the commitment of picking up all those trade paperbacks and partly because the only people I’ve ever seen reading ‘Sandman’ all have long black trench coats and interesting hair (I don’t have a long black trench coat, my hair is always interesting but not for the reasons that you might think… dammit…)

Being a fan of Gaiman’s novels (‘Neverwhere’ and ‘Stardust’) the ‘Sandman’ series has always interested me and when Thea and Ana dared me to have a read of ‘Preludes and Nocturnes’ I just knew it was time to go for it. There was also a bit of male pride happening… I’m a man dammit! Your puny dares cannot harm me! ;o)

Having said that though, I still got my Mum to pick ‘Preludes’ up for me as a Christmas present. If I didn’t like it then at least I wouldn’t have spent any money on it ;o) As it turns out, while I’ve saved myself some money on ‘Preludes’ the sheer act of reading it means that I’m now going to have to go out and buy the rest of the series. I’m now a fan…

In 1916 an occult sect sought to trap Death and gain immortality (for their leader in the process). The ritual didn’t quite work though; Dream (Death’s younger brother) is summoned instead and imprisoned in a glass globe. It would be a very boring book if Dream didn’t escape; he does and must regain his stolen possessions if he is to stand any chance of rebuilding his kingsdom. A journey into Hell (and Hell on Earth) awaits…

The bottom line is that I was completely blown away by ‘Preludes and Nocturmes’. It’s usually books that have me spellbound in this manner (comics are good fun but easy to put down) but there was just no way that I was going anywhere, or doing anything, until ‘Preludes’ was finished. Neil Gaiman knows how to tell a good story and he’s more than happy to share them with the rest of us, ‘Preludes’ is no exception to this rule. You wouldn’t have thought that there would be an awful lot of tension and story around a guy sat in a glass cage would you? I wouldn’t have thought so but Gaiman proves us all wrong by telling the story of the people outside the cage instead, setting events up for the future. When Dream finally escapes he takes his revenge in some particularly horrifying scenes that stayed with me right until I went to bed (and while I was asleep too, stupid dreams…), the mark of some truly masterful storytelling. Full of power and impact…

Dream must then go on his travels to regain his stolen possessions and this is where things went a little bit wonky for me… One thing I hate when I’m reading is the ‘video game effect’ where it gets really obvious that the hero must complete a stage (and fight an ‘end of level boss’) before he can go on to the next level. Because ‘Preludes’ collects the first few issues of ‘Sandman’ it sometimes feels very repetitive in this respect.
This is only a small concern though when placed against the story that Gaiman tells. It’s epic in scope (taking in Earth, Hell, Earth again and the Realm of Dream) but still manages to give us a look into all the characters that left me almost thinking of them as real people. Dream delivers justice to those who would seek to control him, and his realm, and in doing so shows that there may be a hint of humanity about him after all.

The world of The Dreaming isn’t one that I wanted to leave and it will only be a short farewell as I’m off to my local comic shop on Friday. It’s frequently unsettling, and occasionally horrifying, but ‘Preludes and Nocturnes’ is just gorgeous and stunning the whole way through. Like I said back at the start, I think I’m now a fan! If only all dares could be like this…

———-

Thanks Graeme for the fabulous review–and we’re stoked that you too are now enamored by The Sandman! As for all Dares being this way, I’m sure we can figure something out…

Next Victim Guest on The Dare: Kristen of the always wonderful Fantasy Cafe will join us in February! Kristen admitted that she hadn’t really read much female protagonist centered Urban Fantasy, so we Dared her to give Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking a read!

The Hollows, as you may know, is Thea’s numero uno all-time favorite Urban Fantasy series–so we are excited to see what Kristen thinks of it!

And wouldn’t you know it, she had the nerve to pull a Graeme on us! Next month we will be over at Kristen’s spot, reviewing one of her favorite novels: Melusine by Sarah Monette.

That’s all for now folks. See you again later on another Guest Dare! And remember: YOU COULD BE NEXT.

This week:

We kick-off the week with a three-day Kim Harrison Extravaganza!

On Monday, Thea reviews book 6 in The Hollows series, The Outlaw Demon Wails, in honor of the mass market paperback release of the book.

On Tuesday we will have an INTERVIEW with Kim Harrison (*Thea: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*) including an awesome giveaway! We’ll have FIVE copies of Outlaw Demon Wails, and a GRAND PRIZE of ALL THE BOOKS IN THE HOLLOWS SERIES for one lucky winner!

On Thursday, Ana reviews When The Duke Returns, the 4th book in the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James, which is released this week.

Finally, on Friday, Ana reviews What a Scoundrel Wants by Carrie Lofty, a December release -a book that has Will Scarlet of Robin Hood fame, as the hero!

Other News:

Here’s the new cover for Richelle Mead’s book 2 of the Dark Swan series:

And in other news, Mulluane has joined Tia over at the cool blog Fantasy Debut. Mulluane runs Dragons, Heroes and Wizards and she will be giving Tia a hand with their debut showcases and the occasional review. Congrats to Mulluane and Tia!

And a couple of new trailers of movies we are dying to watch:

Coraline

Star Trek

That’s all for today folks! Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

Why did we read this book: Really? Because, obviously, we love Neil Gaiman. (The question should be why did it take us so freaking long to read this book!)

Summary: (from amazon.com)
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Review:

First Impressions:

Thea: I had been eagerly anticipating this book for months, stalking Neil Gaiman’s blog, gushing in emails with Ana. So, needless to say, I had some high expectations for this book–as I do for anything written by Neil Gaiman. And, once again, I found myself completely captivated by his work. The Graveyard Book is yet another stunning tale to add to the collection–with that same blend of lovely oddness and ethereal beauty that is Gaiman’s trademark. I fell in love with Bod and his strange, lovely Graveyard home, and finished this book with a full heart and a silly grin on my face.

Ana:I love Neil Gaiman’s books, he is my God of Writing and I have impossibly high expectations for his books as I had for this book in particular. The Graveyard Book was one of my Most Wanted of 2008 and I am glad to report that once again, Neil Gaiman did not fail me – from the stark horror of the first pages to the odd and yet beautiful tone as the story progresses, The Graveyard Book is a gem.

(Neil Gaiman is a freaking genius and I want to steal his DNA, create a1000 slave-clones and have them all sitting down writing stories for me.)

On the Plot:

One dark night, a man with a wicked knife and a cold heart makes his way through 33 Dunstan Road, killing the mother, father and daughter who live there. Quietly, the man Jack heads up the stairs to finish his terrible task, to murder the fourth member of the family, a baby boy. The boy, however, has escaped from his crib and slid down the stairs, following a misty path to the graveyard outside. The man Jack, infuriated, searches for the baby but cannot find him. He soon gives up his search, knowing that the baby will die on his own or be found soon enough, and then he will finish his task. The boy, however, is not abandoned to die. Instead, he is taken in by the ghostly residents of the graveyard, adopted by the old Owens couple, who had never had children of their own in life. With a shade named Silas, who is neither alive nor dead and can pass through both worlds, as the boy’s guardian, the baby is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard. The child is named, aptly, Nobody Owens. Bod, for short. And, it is thus that his strange young life begins.

The years pass and Bod grows from a baby into an inquisitive young child, growing up in the manner that all children do, except that he lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts. He learns to read from the gravestones, he learns history from spirits, and he adds a few ghostly aptitudes–Fading, Dreamwalking, Terror, etc–that other young children might not be so familiar with. All the while, he is kept in the graveyard, for the Owens’ and Silas know that outside the gates, the man Jack is still looking for Bod. But, a child’s curiosity can never really be repressed, and Bod manages to discover an ancient burial tomb, fall through a Ghoul Gate, dance the macabray, and make all manner of friends and enemies, both living and dead, on the path to his own destiny.

Thea: The Graveyard Book is a clever, clever tale about growing up. As I once read in a review of Neil Gaiman’s work, like many fairy tales and fables, this novel too has a bit of a sadistic streak. The innocent Bod whose family is murdered before his young eyes, is forced to take refuge in a world of the dead. It’s not lighthearted stuff–but to be perfectly fair, most fairy tales or young adult novels have a sort of cruel streak to them, which is something I appreciate mightily. It certainly makes for a much more interesting, human story. And when it comes down to it, that’s what The Graveyard Book does best–using ghosts and fantasies to tell the story of a very human, young man, eager to step out of the protection of the graveyard to live his life to its fullest.

The format of the book is that of a straight-forward novel, but each chapter reads almost as though it were a different story, or episode, of Bod’s life. On their own, each chapter is brilliant, chock full of fantasy and wonder–my favorites deal with Ghulheim and the Danse Macabre, and both are chapters which I could see being developed into separate novels or stories in their own right. The ending effect is certainly different from other prose works by Neil Gaiman–as opposed to Coraline, which tells a more linear story (over a much shorter time frame, I might add), The Graveyard Book moves through Bod’s young life in growths and stops, each adventure separate from the last, but all grandly coming together in the end. The effect is strange, a bit awkward and incongruous–but that too is what growing up is about, isn’t it? Although I must say I preferred the more storyteller voice and rhythm of Coraline, in the end, these scraps of stories and chapters of Bod’s life come together in an odd way that suits Bod–with his strange musty clothes and too-long hair–perfectly.

Ana:Odd, strange, dark: all words that can be safely used to describe this book. But also: beautiful, funny and clever.

Out of all the words , I think my favorite would be clever – the storytelling itself, the manner in which things happen but most of all the fact that Neil Gaiman never underestimates the reader: some things are a mystery to start with and some of them remain a mystery; there are no info dumps even though I would have loved to know more about the Honour Guard or the ghouls and their city Ghulheim for example; as Thea says each chapter is an adventure in its own – a chapter in the book, a chapter in the life of Bod but they do not sound as sequel bait and I will never expect a separate book for each of them (although yes, I would love to) .

One of the reasons why I love Gaiman’s work is that I feel he really never compromises on what he wants to do and where he wants to take his characters – he may be writing a fairy tale but he will * gasps * kill the unicorn (Stardust) – and it is very similar with The Graveyard Book as well. There may be adventure and fantasy but he will not shy away from pain and hurt and truths that Bod may not want to hear and it’s all the better for it. When you reach the end, it is clear that there was a direction to the story from the start even though at points, the plot seems disjointed – like small pieces of a glass mosaic, each having sublime colours and qualities of their own but when combined form a grander, whole picture.

On the Characters:

Thea: Oh, the strange and motley crew of characters! I love Neil Gaiman’s large and varied cast–from Bod to Silas and Miss Lupescu, to the Jacks of All Trades to Scarlett and the witch girl. Even characters met only briefly, like the poet Nehemiah Trot, are so varied and strange, they all come across as incredibly genuine. The true star of the novel, and the only true character to be ‘fleshed out’ (pardon my lame attempts at humor) of course, is Nobody himself. A dirty, scrawny child, Nobody is as curious and impatient as any other young boy. He sometimes does not listen to his parents (or his guardian), and he tries to run away, as most children fantasize about at some point or another. But, unlike the other children in the novel that grow up safe and warm among the living, Bod does not live in fear or denial and on more than one occasion he stands up for what he simply knows for what is right from wrong. Procuring a makeshift headstone, standing up to the bullies at school, using the lessons he has learned and putting them to good use, living up to his limitless potential–these are the things that Bod discovers and accomplishes. For a character named Nobody, Bod grows into the master of his own world, someone substantial and fully alive–and one can’t help but fall in love with this quirky, real young man.

Ana:I loved Bod – from the very start when he was only a baby it was clear that what propelled him was curiosity – a sense of wonder and need for adventure that at first saves his life but continuously put him in scrapes – and he gets away from them by putting his cleverness to good use and by using what he learnt from his dead teachers. I loved his lessons in how to Fade – and the fact that his teacher told him that he was “too obvious” . Nobody was indeed just somebody who as he grew up searched for identity…as anybody else.

Bod is a boy with the heart at the right place (there is a very sweet sequence when he goes out of the graveyard to try and get a headstone for the Witch girl who had been buried without one) but who is also a boy like any other – prepared to test the limits his parents and his Guardian Silas have given him.

Neil Gaiman says he took some inspiration from Kippling’s The Jungle Book to write The Graveyard Book but I had another tale in mind as I read it: Pinocchio (the Disney version). Both Pinocchio and Bod share the same need: to be a real boy.

Bod wanted to learn what it meant to be “living” but he was so deeply connected to the people at the graveyard and this dichotomy – the dead and the living – was incredible to read about. With a lot of subtle humour each of the inhabitants of the graveyard have a place and a moment to shine in the book and I loved all of them – but my favorite after Bod was Silas, his Guardian. I just loved how Gaiman never truly said in full words, Silas is a ……. instead he presented us with clues as to what he was – not truly alive, not truly dead, a character with a lot of depth , a mission and with a lot of heart. His interactions with Bod were amazingly poignant.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Rating:

Thea: What more can I say? I loved this book. It lived up to my very high expectations, as Neil Gaiman always does. My only criticisms would be that the ending came too quickly, the Jacks of All Trades too dastardly and rushed. But despite these shortcomings, this is still an exceptional read. I still prefer Coraline–for all the unique wonder to this tale, there is something bewitching and terrifying about Coraline that just does it for me–but this is a book that should be read by young and old alike. As a coming of age tale, it is strong and bittersweet. I dare anyone to read this book and not fall in love with Bod and his own wonderful world. One of my top 10 reads for 2008!

Ana:I loved the Britishness of the book plain in the use of language and the quirkyness of small town Britain. I have an appreciation for small graveyards and old gravestones so I loved all the descriptions of the Graveyard in the book. I also appreciated, as I always do, how Gaiman brings to his story known figures of folklore and make them their own: on top of the ghosts that inhabit the graveyard there are also ghouls, werewolves, witches, vampires, the lady death etc. This is a very smart little book full of wonders and adventures and heart – as any good tale should be. I recommend it to children and adults alike. This of course, was the book I was waiting for to fill the last available position in my top 10 of 2008!

Notable Quotes/Parts:

Thea: Has to be the dance of the dead. I love this passage:

His guardian looked at him with eyes like black pools and said, “I do not know. I know many things, Bod, for I have been walking this earth at night for a very long time, but I do not know what it is like to dance the Macabray. You must be alive or you must be dead to dance it–and I am neither.”

Bod shivered. He wanted to embrace his guardian, to hold him and tell him that he would never desert him, but the action was unthinkable. He could no more hug Silas than he could hold a moonbeam, not because his guardian was insubstantial, but because it would be wrong. There were people you could hug, and then there was Silas.

Ana:

oh yes Thea! The dance of death – or Danse Macabre in the book – was my favorite chapter too as evidenced by the emails I sent you saying “this man is a freaking genius” ! By appropriating himself from this bit of Medieval folklore – whereupon on a certain night, the living and the dead dance together lead by Death herself – Gaiman wrote a chapter that is eerie, intense, interesting and cool. And it was clear then which place Bod really belonged to.

I was immediately reminded of this scene in the movie The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman:

Additional Thoughts:

Thea: Once again, The Graveyard Book features the tag team of Gaiman and artist extraordinaire Dave McKean. His black and white inks and pencils here mimic the style he used in Coraline (as opposed to say his work on The Sandman covers, or his more surreal stuff in The Wolves in the Walls or The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish). Personally, I lvoe anything this artist does–and his illustrations for The Graveyard Book make me nostalgic for the Roald Dahl books I used to read as a child. The art is heavier, more old-fashioned, and puts me in the mind of hard covered library books in protective plastic cases, with tattered, slightly mustier smelling pages…and I mean this in the best possible way. I absolutely love it.

Ana:

What Thea said.

Also,I really like all 3 covers available:

The limited signed Hardback

The Hardback (this is the one I have):

The Children’s edition:

Rating:

Thea: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Ana: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Reading Next: The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt