The Good Fairies of New York

I doubt I can write a better synopsis than Neil Gaiman does in the introduction to this book.

Morag and Heather are Scottish fairies, who crash into a Lower East Side apartment in New York after an especially excessive night of magic mushrooms, whisky and fiddling (they play fiddles). They can't remember how they got to New York from Scotland, but they determine to make the most of it.

Morag moves in with Kerry, an artist with Crohn's Disease who lives across the way from Dinnie, an overweight curmudgeon who is extremely displeased to find two drunk fairies vomiting on his carpet. Nevertheless, Heather decides to stay to help Dinnie whether he likes it or not (he doesn't) and she sets about giving him a make-over and a purpose in trying show more to win Kerry's heart. Kerry herself is busy competing with her ex - Cal - in a local arts competition to pay him back for breaking her heart (and never teaching her New York Dolls guitar solos as he promised to do).

Heather and Morag are comical: foul-mouthed, drunken, bickering and conceited. It's debatable whether Dinnie and Kerry's lives are enriched by their presence. They are also on the run, having cut up a fairy banner into pieces that they could wrap their fiddles in. They're not the only fairies in New York though, and their knack for causing trouble wherever they go eventually leads to a showdown in Central Park, with a guest appearance by Johnny Thunders along the way.

Enjoyably different. show less

Possibly one of the oddest books I have ever read, this had me chortling all the way to London and back on the train.

The Good Fairies of New York is a story of many, many characters. Right from the off, we meet Morag and Heather, two Scottish thimble fairies, who are transported to New York while escaping the old country and the chaos they left behind them. After a rather amusing and vocal disagreement, the fairies go their separate ways; Heather with the unsociable, ungracious and musically untalented Dinnie, and Morag with the sweet but self-centred Kerry, who suffers from Crohn’s disease. It turns out that Morag and Heather are not the only fairies in New York, in fact the city is rather heavily populated by many races and show more cultures, just as with the humans. These other fairies aren’t too impressed with events that proceed, Morag and Heather cause many a scene, followed by the tumultuous arrival of other Scottish, English and Irish fairies, hot on their trail.

I won’t give any more details, as it is difficult to summarise the story without utter confusion. As you can imagine, the story descends into absolute chaos, with alcohol, magic mushrooms, music, adventures, fights and laughs aplenty. Good Fairies was a surprisingly quick read and perfect for my frustrating journey to London, keeping my mood light with many a giggle and guffaw. Needless to say I received many a bewildered look from other passengers.

This latest addition has an entertaining introduction from none other than the great Neil Gaiman, and with an endorsement like that, how could not enjoy it. Martin Millar is actually British, which comes across in his knowledge of Scottish lore and his style of humour, despite the story being set in New York. I shall definitely be reading more of Millar’s work and highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy, humour and music. show less

I read and review a lot of Indie authors on this blog, but I also read a lot of traditionally published authors as well. I also reread my favorite books, both classics and just best-loved. On Christmas Day, I picked up my copy of The Good Fairies of New York in order to reread a book that always makes me chortle, giggle, and sometimes laugh out loud.
The copy I have now has an introduction by Neil Gaiman. I will quote from him to give you an idea of what the book is about:
The Good Fairies of New York is a story that starts when Morag and Heather, two eighteen-inch fairies with swords and green kilts and badly-dyed hair fly through the window of the worst violinist in New York, an overweight and antisocial type named Dinnie, and vomit on show more his carpet. Who they are, and how then came to New York, and what this has to do with the lovely Kerry, who lives across the street, and who has Crohn's Disease and is making a flower alphabet, and what this has to do with the other fairies (of all nationalities) of New York, not to mention the poor repressed fairies of Britain, is the subject of this book. It has a war in it, and a most unusual production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Johnny Thunders' New York Dolls guitar solos. What more could anyone desire from a book?
This book originally came out in the early nineties and my original copy did not have the introduction from Mr. Gaimen. Martin Millar is well-known in Britain both for his Lonely Werewolf series and for the Thraxas series (under the name Martin Scott). For some reason, he is not as well known in the States and that is a shame because he belongs in the respected author grouping of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Neil Gaiman. Maybe it's his covers, I don't know, but Martin Millar has a style all his own. Some people don't like it, but the rest love it. There seems to be no middle ground here.
There are a lot of Celtic stories and music here as well as musical references to early punk rock. The New York street scene is well-drawn as well as the Scottish countryside and people.
Here is the opening of the book to give you an idea:
Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his fourth-floor window and vomited on the carpet.
"Sorry," said one.
"Don't worry," said the other. "Fairy vomit is no doubt sweet-smelling to humans."
I highly recommend this (and all) of his books. This one is a quick read; trust me, it will make you laugh. show less

First line: "Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his fourth-floor window and vomited on the carpet."

With a first line like that, a recommend from Nymeth, and an introduction by Neil Gaiman ... well ... I just had to read this book!

The Good Fairies of New York is an urban fantasy of a different sort. It is a comedic look at the gritty urban landscape. The typical urban overload is present, but is overlaid by a hilarious fairy romp and an unlikely human romance.

Heather and Morag, two Scottish thistle fairies, have been run out of Scotland for desecrating clan icons. They are hard drinking, argumentative, vain and jealous and show more can always take a good situation and turn it bad. They also want to start a punk rock band. Not your typical Disney fairies.

"Dinnie stared glumly at the wall. If he had believed in fairies, he wouldn't have expected them to spend all their time bitching about each others' hairstyles."

These two contentious fairies bring an unlikely couple of humans together. Dinnie is an overweight and rude man who is "the worst violinist in New York." Kerry is a sweet natured, poor artist with blue hair and Crohn's disease. While Dinnie is aimless, Kerry has two goals: to win a community art contest with her ancient Celtic flower alphabet, and learn to play the entire repertoire of the New York Dolls on her guitar. Heather and Morag leave mayhem in their wake as they try to join these two humans, including a massive ethnic war between the Italian, Chinese, and Ghanian fairies.

Meanwhile, a crazed homeless woman stalks the streets of NYC thinking she is the ancient Greek general Xenophon, the ghost of New York Dolls' Johnny Thunders searches the city for his stolen Gibson guitar, and rehearsals take place for an avant-garde version of "A Midsummer Nights Dream."

Those who are from or have ever lived in a big city will recognize the insanity presented by Millar in this tongue-in-cheek look at life amidst the urban chaos. Morag sums it up well when she notes:

"Being human did seem to involve some very unpleasant things." show less

"Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his fourth floor window and vomited on the carpet."

The opening line from this novel is a cracker. Heather and Morag are the two young fairies in question, with dyed hair and punk kilts. They are friends, but from different Scottish clans and each claim to be the best fiddler in all Scotland. Being wild young things, they’ve ended up in New York after getting into a scrape with the MacLeods. Heather and Morag are just like many young humans, they like to drink, dance, have fun, eat magic mushrooms – it’s just they’re only eighteen inches high, have wings, and can’t be seen by show more most humans.

They soon fall out, and Morag goes to live with Kerry over the road. Kerry suffers from Crohn’s disease, is compiling a Celtic flower alphabet, and loves Johnny Thunders guitar solos. Meanwhile Heather decides that Kerry is the girl for Dinnie, and in exchange for teaching him to play the violin properly, she will get Kerry to fall for the fat slob. Bound up in this central will they, won’t they romance being engineered for Dinnie and Kerry, there is the quest for Kerry’s missing flower, the ghost of Johnny Thunders looking for his old guitar, and unrest amongst the fairies back in Cornwall, not to mention the legendary McPherson violin. Heather and Morag also manage to upset all the other fairy tribes in the city at some stage with their high-spirited feud.

This novel is great fun, and it’s choc-a-block full of energy. The young fairies, in their youthful acts of rebellion, bring chaos and anarchy to the Big Apple in a fast moving, raunchy and comic romp. The Neil Gaiman endorsement caught my eye, and while it’s fair to say I didn’t love it as much as he does, it was a jolly good read. (8/10) NB: Strong language etc. show less

A joy of a book to read; fairies from the UK on the run in New York, what could be better for a fun novel and Martin Millar writes this so well.
As ever, he has characters you really care about, who live on the margins of society in some way and he is sympathetic in his portrayal.
His stories are witty and entertaining, with plenty of music references, in this novel the New York Dolls and the Ramones feature heavily.
I had such a vivid picture of the two main fairies, Morag and Heather, with their kilts and their dyed hair, I couldn't stop smiling.

Wonderfully amusing, despite sloppy copy editing (especially toward the end). Neil Gaiman's introduction helped convince me to read it, and I was not disappointed.