Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions

What do you do when you adore two-thirds of the short stories in a book and detest the rest? Simple, you just state your opinion and leave the decision in the hands of the reader. That's what I'm going to attempt here.

Smoke and Mirrors is a collection of 29 short stories (some of these are in poetic form) by the master of fantasy, Neil Gaiman. Written over various years, the collection has stories from fantasy, mild horror, sci-fi and magical realism. In some ebook editions, there are three bonus stories. Plus, and I believe this is Gaiman's special gift to those readers who diligently read introductions even if they are long, there's a beautiful story even in the introduction. This makes it 33 stories in all. Of these, I really show more relished 22 stories. Though from various genres, these 22 stories are astounding and leave a great impact with their creativity and storyline. The remaining 11 were either boring or perplexing; I couldn't even complete a few of them. Thus reading the stories was a hit-and-miss experience. But the ones that worked, really really worked and how!!! In fact, one of them is a retelling of a very famous fairy tale and that story just blew me away with its brilliance.

Mind you, this book has strictly adult content. Just because you hear Neil Gaiman and fantasy and short stories, don't give this book to your teens. There's a lot of sexually explicit content, sometimes over-the-top. Many of the stories aren't recommended even for those adults who are either childish or prudish.

For those who want to get a fabulous audio experience, there is a special audio version of two of the best stories in the book. This is named "Two Plays for Voices" and is available on Scribd. In fact, I started with the audio book first, assuming that it was a different Gaiman book. When the epilogue said that these were two stories from Smoke and Mirrors, I was so excited that I recommended the book to my moderator gang immediately and started reading the ebook. Lesson learnt: never ever recommend a book without completing it first.

Rating: 4.5 to 4.75 for the 22 stories that clicked. Can't rate the rest but they would fall between 1-2 stars.

So who should go for the book?
Neil Gaiman fans: Do you really need my go-ahead?

Fantasy/SciFi/Horror fans: Yes, give it a try. It's worth the efforts of trudging through the boring stuff.

"I want to try Neil Gaiman" readers: Stay away for now. Begin with Coraline or The Graveyard Book.

Regular Short Story fans: You decide based on your love for this genre and this style of writing.

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Join me on the Facebook group, "Readers Forever!", for more reviews and other book-related discussions and fun. show less

From Book Jacket:

The distinctive storytelling genius of Neil Gaiman has been acclaimed by writers as diverse as Norman Mailer and Stephen King. Now in this new collection of stories--several of which have never before appeared in print and more than half that have never been collected--that will dazzle the senses and haunt the imagination. Miraculous inventions and unforgettable characters inhabit these pages: an elderly widow who finds the Holy Grail in a second-hand store...a frightened little boy who bargains for his life with a troll living under a bridge by the railroad tracks...a stray cat who battles nightly against a recurring evil that threatens his unsuspecting adoptive family. In these stories, Gaiman displays the power, wit, show more insight and outrageous originality that has made him one of the most unique literary artists of our day.

My Thoughts:

Neil Gaiman doesn't write horror stories... he writes magic...stories that wrap you up in what your parents told you for years was impossible or unreal. Some of the samplings that I really enjoyed were..."Snow, Glass, Apples"....this is not your grandmother's Snow White, and Gaiman himself states that he hopes the reader will not read the original fairy tale the same way ever again. He succeeds. "Chivalry"... a brilliant, extremely funny look into the mind of an elderly woman who has found the Holy Grail in a secondhand store and think it's a perfect doo-dad for her mantel, never mind that Arthurian knight who keeps hounding her for it. A tip to anyone who is in the habit of skipping book introductions....Gaiman actually hides a story within the introduction of this book as a payoff to those who religiously read the introduction. That sort of cleverness suckers me in every time. show less

What do you do when you adore two-thirds of the short stories in a book and detest the rest? Simple, you just state your opinion and leave the decision in the hands of the reader. That's what I'm going to attempt here.

Smoke and Mirrors is a collection of 29 short stories (some of these are in poetic form) by the master of fantasy, Neil Gaiman. Written over various years, the collection has stories from fantasy, mild horror, sci-fi and magical realism. In some ebook editions, there are three bonus stories. Plus, and I believe this is Gaiman's special gift to those readers who diligently read introductions even if they are long, there's a beautiful story even in the introduction. This makes it 33 stories in all. Of these, I really show more relished 22 stories. Though from various genres, these 22 stories are astounding and leave a great impact with their creativity and storyline. The remaining 11 were either boring or perplexing; I couldn't even complete a few of them. Thus reading the stories was a hit-and-miss experience. But the ones that worked, really really worked and how!!! In fact, one of them is a retelling of a very famous fairy tale and that story just blew me away with its brilliance.

Mind you, this book has strictly adult content. Just because you hear Neil Gaiman and fantasy and short stories, don't give this book to your teens. There's a lot of sexually explicit content, sometimes over-the-top. Many of the stories aren't recommended even for those adults who are either childish or prudish.

For those who want to get a fabulous audio experience, there is a special audio version of two of the best stories in the book. This is named "Two Plays for Voices" and is available on Scribd. In fact, I started with the audio book first, assuming that it was a different Gaiman book. When the epilogue said that these were two stories from Smoke and Mirrors, I was so excited that I recommended the book to my moderator gang immediately and started reading the ebook. Lesson learnt: never ever recommend a book without completing it first.

Rating: 4.5 to 4.75 for the 22 stories that clicked. Can't rate the rest but they would fall between 1-2 stars.

So who should go for the book?
Neil Gaiman fans: Do you really need my go-ahead?

Fantasy/SciFi/Horror fans: Yes, give it a try. It's worth the efforts of trudging through the boring stuff.

"I want to try Neil Gaiman" readers: Stay away for now. Begin with Coraline or The Graveyard Book.

Regular Short Story fans: You decide based on your love for this genre and this style of writing.

********************************************
Join me on the Facebook group, "Readers Forever!", for more reviews and other book-related discussions and fun. show less

This collection of short pieces from Gaiman's work in the late 90s showcases his often dark imagination. Not every selection here is to my taste, but when he's cookin', no one can touch him.

This edition includes copious notes regarding each story, helping to place them in time and occasionally to explain where they came from. Standouts in the collection include 'Chivalry', a clever fantasy with a light touch, and a quietly frightening piece called 'The Sweeper of Dreams', whose lyrical opening paragraph is just about as perfect a lead-in as I've ever seen:

After all the dreaming is over, after you wake, and leave the world of madness and glory for the mundane day-lit daily grind, through the wreckage of your abandoned fancies walks the

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sweeper of dreams.

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Neil Gaiman is a master story teller, IMHO, and this selection of short stories by him is the perfect showcase for his talents. An incredible assortment of tales awaits the reader in this marvelous book - an old lady that finds the Holy Grail in an Oxfam shop for 30p - a little boy that meets a troll - the shortest but most haunting Xmas story I've ever read - the Jack-in-the-box that no-one played with......oh, so many and all are pure genius. My personal favourite is the very last in the book, which is a re-telling of Snow White and because of N G's version I will never think of her in the same light again. I feel that several of these stories have the potential of becoming full length novels one day - I'll just have to wait and see. show more One warning, if you haven't read any of Gaiman's work before you will soon become addicted after reading this book. show less

If there's a part of your imagination that can be ignited, this book ignites it. Spanning the spectrum from charming, gentle fantasy to chilling, macabre horror, Gaiman's stories make the reader think in ways most impossible; somehow making his charm and wit come through even the most horrifying tales.

My favorite story out of this collection was once "The Price." I think it captivates the way Neil Gaiman tends to think in his stories, and the ending couldn't have been more perfect.

But as I've come back to this collection I now find myself rereading "It's Only the End of the World Again," which has quite possibly the perfect opening to a story. What I love is that the opening delivers on its promise to be great. And Gaiman's skill at making the supernatural a completely accepted part of each world in his stories ALMOST makes me believe in an afterlife—which is more than I can say for any church. In each of his stories, no matter how creepy, I want to crawl through the page and explore that world again and again. Excellent stuff.