Gaiman makes the reader’s journey easier by writing a lengthy introduction that discusses the origins of each work. In creating a pastiche of past works, the author creates a roadmap to his success-success being defined within the confines of this paragraph as finding one’s voice and reaching a specific caliber of writing. I suppose this ‘unveiling’ of ‘never-before-seen’ works, this illusion of exclusivity, is all part of this book’s allure.īut to me, what really makes Smoke and Mirrors an irresistible piece of fiction is how it shows the development of Gaiman’s writing. Though most of the works in the collection have been published in magazines and anthologies, a handful of these gems have never appeared in print. (Nov.Smoke and Mirrors is, summarily, an interesting collection of short stories and poems from Neil Gaiman. The intriguing world behind these pages is indeed smoke and mirrors, just a step or a word or a story away from our own.
Demons take over London in ""Cold Colors,"" because the devil has learned how to network and God can't get ""saintware"" up and running.
In ""Chivalry,"" a woman finds the Holy Grail in a secondhand shop, and Galahad must trade something for it that will look just as good on her mantle. Because the characters treat the unreal as ordinary, the eeriness of what unfolds has all the more impact. Their prose is simple yet evocative, and Gaiman's characters are textured with well-defined personalities. The bizarre and disturbing essence of the stories is highlighted by their background of absolute normalcy. and tell him the truth behind Lucifer's fall (""Murder Mysteries""), and nonchalant assassins can be found in the Yellow Pages under pest control (""We Can Get Them for You Wholesale""). The narratives follow a dream logic: The angel Raguel, the Vengeance of the Lord, can bum a cigarette off a youth in L.A. Then it moves on and the apparition is hidden away again, but not forgotten. Each entry skirts the edges of a puncture in reality through which something dark and mysterious peeks.
Imaginative twists on old legends and frightening glimpses into the impossible combine to form this impressive collection of 30 stories and poems by the author of Neverwhere and co-creator of The Sandman graphic novels.
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