Hanging Out With The Dream King

If you need me, Me and Neil’ll be
Hanging out with the Dream King…
-Tori Amos, Tear In Your Hand

I’ve often felt that I should have the above quote made into a sign that I can hang on my door while I’m reading. My love affair with Neil Gaiman’s writing started about 10 years ago. I was a pseudo-depressed goth kid who dressed in all black and liked to burn patchouli incense in my room. On the recommendation of friend, I picked up a copy of Good Omens and fell in love with it instantly. I was familiar with Neil’s Sandman comics and the wonderful artistry that went along with it, but I was unaware that he had published a novel!

Good Omens had a theme of angels and devils at work after the birth of the Antichrist and the coming of the apocalypse; all done in the most humorous of fashions. What I loved about this book is that it was all set in the world around me. It was in my own backyard. Not literally, but it was in someone’s backyard. It’s a theme that travels through all of Neil’s works. It’s part of what makes his work special to me. Neverwhere, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Good Omens, and Coraline, all take place in our own towns and cities – places we travel every day.

Neil invites us to look for the fantastic in the world around us. Sure, we may not find a London Below quite like the one that Richard Mayhew finds….We may not go on quite the adventure that Shadow does in American Gods, but the fantastic awaits us in everyday life if we invite it to find us. I would love, for example, to travel the streets of London and visit London underground with a copy of Neverwhere. Or take a long road trip around America with a copy of American Gods. Gaiman has set up the experience…all we need is to suspend disbelief and a little imagination.

It is that invitation to the fantastic that I most admire about Neil Gaiman. Gaiman has a gift that I have not yet found in any other author. There’s a sense of magic in each project that he produces. That magic might be found in a house on a rock in America, or it may be found in a more mythical land such as Faerie, or even in the walls of a girl's bedroom where wolves have been hiding. That magic is always there in Neil's books. And it's portrayed so elegantly and in such a captivating way.

I keep a book of quotes; a book that I write down favorite passages in. When I’m reading Neil Gaiman books, I rarely transcribe passages into it. The reason being, I would literally copy the whole book! I felt this way most with American Gods. There was one passage in particular that gave me chills like no other ever has and I’d like to share it with you. It ends Chapter 5 of American Gods…the chapter where Shadow is in the House on the Rock:

“Shadow heard himself laugh, over the sound of music. He was happy. It was as if the last thirty-six hours had never happened, as if the last three years had not happened, as if his life had evaporated into the daydream of a small child, riding the carousel in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, on his first trip back to the States, a marathon journey by ship and by car, his mother standing there, watching him proudly, and himself sucking his melting Popsicle, holding on tightly, hoping the music would never stop, the carousel would never slow, the ride would never end. He was going around and around and around again…

Then the lights went out, and Shadow saw the gods.”

There’s magic in that passage and the scenes that follow it. There’s magic in many quotes of his.

Neil has collaborated with so many wonderful creative forces and through those collaborations has created amazing works of art. These include collaborations and inspirations with Dave McKean, Charles Vess, Terry Pratchett, Lisa Snellings-Clark, Tori Amos, Terri Windling, and a rumored collaboration now with Guillermo Del Toro to produce Death: The High Cost of Living into a motion picture!

Neil’s latest collaboration, and the original reason for this post, is with Michael Reaves, a writer for Star Trek: TNG and the author of the upcoming Star Wars: Death Star. The result of the collaboration is the new novel, Interworld. Interworld revisits Neil’s idea of duality in existence. It is the story of Joey Harker, a young boy who is particularly skilled at getting lost. He soon finds himself more lost than he’s ever been as he soon exists in more than one dimension…more than one world…and there are more than one versions of himself. Joey is a Walker, a person who is able to walk in and out of different planes of existence, and he's one of the best around, totally unbeknown to himself. He soon finds himself in worlds that are fascinating, new, and dangerous. There are forces out there though that could use a skilled Walker...it is the job of Interworld to keep these forces at bay and to keep the altiverse balanced. This is for sure the most Sci-fi of Gaiman's books and feels a little different than his books normally do. The story is told from a first person point of view which was also different…but I enjoyed it. Overall, I liked this book! It’s not my favorite Gaiman, it took awhile to get into, and I think the collaboration was a little strange; but once I finally got into it (about 100 pages in), it really grabbed me and kept hold! I think this may have been more of a Michael Reaves’ book due to the amount of sci-fi, though I’m not certain on that, so don't quote me. It's no American Gods or Neverwhere, but it's a fun read and it kept my interest. The cover art is wonderful and is done by James Jean. Oh...and I'd love to have a pet Hue!

Gaiman has proved himself to be quite a force in literature, comics, and now in cinema! I’m so happy for both him and Charles Vess for the upcoming release of the Stardust film and am extremely excited about the new illustrated hardback being released. Also on the way are Neil’s adaptation of Beowulf and in 2008 we will see Coraline brought to the screen. Interworld has also been optioned by Dreamworks animation to be made into a film. Neil has also done the English adaptation of Princess Mononoke and of course there was the beautiful collaboration between him and Dave McKean, Mirrormask in 2005.

Where the road will lead him in the future…who knows? But we can be sure the journey will be filled with beautiful words and realized dreams.

A Night of Moving and Web Wanderings

I'd like to make this short and sweet since I should be sleeping, but I know it's not going to be.

I have to wake up once again at 6:30 tomorrow morning for a 14 hour shift...so chances are there won't be any blogging tomorrow night.

After a long but rewarding work day, we decided to go to my Gram's house to take more stuff out of storage since Katrina. Lord knows when we'll be in a real house again, but this rental is at least a little bit bigger, so I can fit some of my prized possessions. Tonight I got the rest of my books :D, my entire comic book collection :D, the rest of my Buddhas :D, and some other little knick knacks that I was missing. So I'm feeling pretty good about having all of my old friends back. I also stumbled across an old school bag that was packed with all of my old poetry and journals. Kind of scared to read those, but looking forward to it at the same time.

On to web wanderings....Quite a few cool things that I found today.

Needless to say, number one on the agenda is the Stardust trailer. It's wonderful! I'm a little less nervous about the movie now. I can see that a few things have been spritzed up from the novel, but I'll have to let little things slide I guess. The one that bugged me for some reason (I really have no clue why) is the little special effect they put in when Tristran crossed through the wall. That little wavy thing. The actors look great...they seemed to have picked the perfect cast. Can't wait to see it...looks much better than what I imagined.

The next thing I found is a new anthology coming out on May 1st that looks incredible. It's a collection of short stories entitled Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy. The table of contents is as follows (and what an incredible one it is):

The Witch's Headstone, by Neil Gaiman
Holly and Iron, by Garth Nix
Color Vision, by Mary Rosenblum
The Ruby Incomparable, by Kage Baker
A Fowl Tale, by Eoin Colfer
Slipping Sideways Through Eternity, by Jane Yolen
The Stranger's Hands, by Tad Williams
Naming Day, by Patricia A. McKillip
Winter's Wife, by Elizabeth Hand
A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question, by Andy Duncan
Barrens Dancing, by Peter S. Beagle
Stone Man, by Nancy Kress
The Manticore Spell, by Jeffrey Ford
Zinder, by Tanith Lee
Billy and the Wizard, by Terry Bisson
The Magikkers, by Terry Dowling
The Magic Animal, by Gene Wolfe
Stonefather, by Orson Scott Card

Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings is beginning an incredible challenge on Monday that I think everyone should participate in. It's the Fantasy and Fairytale challenge. He's releasing all of the details on Monday. It's not just a normal challenge though. While the challenge is going on he's offered us Friday Favorites (his weekly art post) that include plenty of fantasy artists, essays on music, film, and books that relate to fantasy, and wonderful discussion on the topic. Can't wait for this one! I think I'll do Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn as one of my books since I always wanted to read that. Feel free to make some suggestions to me if you're a fantasy reader. Always looking for new stuff.

And last but not least, Tori Amos has released the details on her new album American Doll Posse over at her website and it looks to be another great one. A world tour is following the release.