Best Fantasy books of the '00s

There's a compilation of reviews of books of the 00s put up today by Johnny of Tower of the Hand, including a few of my contributions. Following are my reviews extracted to succed or fail on their own; please also check out my co-reviewers posts: Aidan at A Dribble of Ink put in one on Perdido Street Station that I like and Adam across the pond at The Wert Zone contributed a good review on The Shadow of the Wind.  Both books have been hovering on the edges of my TBR pile but now reading their thoughts I should really read them now. Johnny, our blog host, and James from Speculative  Horizons rounded out our reviewing cadre. If you missed these books from the last decade now's the time to set things aright.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods - 2001

Any list of the best books of the decade would be remiss without including Gaiman. But which of his many works to choose? For my money,  I recommend American Gods. For me, that was the book that brought Gaiman to my attention and sent me back onwards to find the Sandman, and made me eager for anything else Gaiman ever writes. Gaiman starts with a character with a mystery heritage a'la Corwyn of Zelazny's masterwork Amber series, adds in all the fables and legends of the 'old world ' - particularly the Norse legends for which I am fond, and gently drops in elegant and mind bending atrocities and humble victories. And he ends it all with a war to end all wars, and a love story ending in a second death. Brilliant. But don't just believe me - the book garnered a Hugo and a Nebula award as well.

Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Legacy series - 7 books from 2001 through 2009

So you like your fantasy worlds well thought out and coherent? But you don't want a rehash of the dwarves-elves-humans-

halflings-and-orcs melange that Tolkien established for the genre? Check out Carey's world building skills, wherein she plays out an alternate reality of Earth, an Earth where angels were made flesh and left their progeny to do as they please - in the catchphrase of the novel, "to love as thou wilt." The geography is similar, the cultures are familiar, but everything is pushed so-slightly askew, so that for example an encounter with her world's version of Vlad the Impaler seems utterly rancid and completely original. Start with Kushiel's Dart, which introduces courtesean Phadre.  The cleverest piece of the work is how little is owed to the supernatural - similar to masterworks like George RR Martin's, there is magic and mysticism but it is rare and otherworldly, more dreamt than lived, and the characters have to get through mainly on their wits and skills.  And her sex scenes are possibly the best written of anything outside of specifically erotic literature, and tend towards the more exotic and unusual encounters. Also of interest is the thriving fan community, including readers who get body art in imitation of the characters. Final kudos: Carey's put out two finished trilogies in this world encompassing two separate story arcs, and shows every indication of completing a third trilogy by next year. She doesn't leave her fans hanging out forever waiting to find out what happens next in the Kushiel's Legacy series (but, sadly, there are no collectible miniatures either).

Neal Stephenson - Anathem - 2009

For my last pick of the group, I'll take a risk and choose Anathem, although I have yet to meet someone I've recommended it to who thanked me (although it did win a Locus Award). Have you ever read a book that, for weeks afterwards, you were reminded of in many ways? Or that inspired you to make a movie? This book is like that - I'd read something in a science journal or in the news a month later about hieroglyphs or the North Pole and instantly be put in mind of a scene in the book. Stephenson builds a intricate and complicated world, barely believable in its restrictions and interactions, and then interweaves explanations to make it all plausible. The characters start mildly enough but then become more and more interesting until finally one is reading at a fast pace to find out what happens next to them. Imagine Name of the Rose meets Minority Report (minus Tom Cruise), and you'll have an approximation of the story than what Stephenson provides, but much stupider (and neither Eco nor Dick was writing for idiots). Oh - and although I feel this book fits solidly in the fantasy genre, there's a bit of space travel and science chatter to make the science fiction reader at home.

Graveyard dalliance

I was entertained recently by Neil Gaiman's exuberant tweeting about his receipt of The American Library Association's Newbery Medal for children's literature for his novel The Graveyard Book. I recently read Coraline, and then saw the movie (in 3D!). I think this is one of the few movies that surpasses the book upon which it is based (aside from Peter Bentley's Jaws), in both cases because the author was involved with the scriptwriting - I very much liked the addition of Wybie and his grandmother, and the ecstatic puppetry. Those vampiric Scotties had me laughing out loud. So, when I had the chance to read The Graveyard Book, I took it - the coincidence of the tweets and the movie was not to be avoided.

The Graveyard Book starts out rather traditionally, with the death of the main character's mother and family - but there the similarity to Disney ends. Bod Owens, protagonist of the story, is taken in as an orphan by the residents of the graveyard; most of them ghosts, but that makes no matter to a child. Bod (and the reader) are occupied by Bod's adventures in learning ghostly skills from the dead persons in their crypts and graves; by the time he is a teen, Bod can fade from sight, strike fear into the hearts of men, and greet people in the styles of courtesy from over a thousand years. All of which is mightily entertaining - so much so, that one almost forgets to wonder whatever happened to the assailant who ended the lives of his parents and sister.

But they are not to be forgotten. In time, Bod addresses the threat to his own life and ruins the ending of a self-fulfilling prophecy. And then, the saddest part of the book - reminiscent to me of Susan leaving Narnia behind ... but I'll leave that for you, dear reader, to discover.

Kudos to Gaiman for accomplishing in one small tome two amazing feats; first, he produces a character, Ms. Lupescu, so despicable that my 8 year old son was rooting for her to be done away with when she first appeared; and shortly after that she redeems herself and he was cheering for her. Next, at the ending of the book I was quite saddened by Bod's future prospects; my son, however, read the same passages with high hopes for Bod's exciting future. That an author can with the same text move an adult to tears and a child to joyfulness was astonishing.

I understand from the NPR interview that Gaiman took inspiration from The Jungle Book, which I never read. There's a link to it below.

Coraline Movie- Enter The World Of Henry Selick's Coraline Movie

I have been very busy this past week prepping for Christmas, doing the usual shopping-cooking-wrapping routine. In the midst of this I picked up a copy of Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I was thinking of giving the book to my 8-year-old for Christmas, but I relish the prospect of solid nights of sleep too much to deal with the anticipated nightmares. This book is way spooky - a distillation and twist on every childhood nightmare I had, along with new ones I never dreamed. I stumbled upon a reference to the book on Carl's blog Stainless Steel Droppings, and love it from a marketer's perspective too - how excellent to think that the venture is sending out these inspired-inspiring boxes to dedicated fans such as Carl. Bravo.

The book will become a movie in February. Check out some preview info here -
Coraline Movie- Enter The World Of Henry Selick's Coraline Movie
and better yet, give the book a read beforehand. I'll never look at protective coloration the same way again.

Now for your further enjoyment, see Neil Gaiman's explanation of Koumpounophobia:

Hide and Seek with Neil Gaiman.

Wheres Neil? The Official site of Fragile Things, a book by Neil Gaiman offers a fun time-killer: find Neil, win a download from Fragile Things. I love this guy's writing, and am listening to Anansi Boys in the car lately.

Machiavelli in a Skirt

I recently vacationed in a wonderful little parcel of forestland here in the Hoosier heartland and it put me in the mood for a read through Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Unlike most of his books, Stardust slipped by me unnoticed when first published, so I had the unusual pleasure of seeing the movie before reading it.

I liked the movie quite well (see my Stardust movie review: but am delighted that I like the book better. In summary, the book and the movie are like to varied novels of the same subject and time; almost like reading fanfic by the original author, if that makes any sense. Gaiman himself said, "it's astonishingly faithful to the spirit of the book" and I have to agree that it was, without being redundant of the book, which was quite a trick to pull off for what I think was his first-ever adapted book.

In the book, the slave-girl Una comes off as much more of a mover and shaker than she does in the movie, where she only seems moved and shaken upon. And that's a pity; for she was one of the most marvelous of Gaiman's female creations, even better than the redoubtable Aunts of Anansi Boys. As the various plot threads came together in the book - in a way the movie bypasses - her subtle, subtle role as a shaper of the politics of Faerie and superlative schemer come to light. Only Morgaine of the Mists of Avalon has struck me in memory as more of a Machiavellian Faerie. On the other hand, the Captain Shakespeare's character was considerably more watery in the book; I much enjoyed the conflicts in the man as played by De Niro in the movie, and the interactions between he and his crew.

One pleasure I had in the reading was to get a peek into Gaiman's writing process, via his prologue that revealed that the story of Stormhold and Faerie was originally just a backdrop for a book he'd envisioned of the inhabitants of Wall, the faux-normal town at the edge of Faerie. I will look for this story to appear eventually, and hope to read more of this fascinating concept. Also, I'd love to get my paws on the Gaiman-and-Vess graphic novel adaptation to share with my sons.

Wonders never cease: a great movie

I saw the movie Stardust this weekend, based on Carl's recommendation from his blog, Stainless Steel Droppings. What a great movie and escape from the world for a few hours. The casting - Michelle Pfeffer (in a role reminiscent, to me, somehow, of Lady Hawk), Robert DeNiro as a ship's captain and closet effeminate - and the supporting roles are marvelously done.

More info:

Neil Gaiman's site info on Stardust
Wikipedia says...
And some truth from Gaiman: "Adults deserve good fairy tales, too"

I recommend this movie, and now I'm on a quest to get the book. :) I can't recall ever having seen a movie before reading the associated book, and I'm curious as to how this will turn out.

Sturdy writing in Fragile Things

I once again finished an impulse read, instead of focusing on my challenge books. I'm starting to pick up the pace on Team however, so I don't feel guilty. And Gaiman's writing is like the light to the moth for me; I just love the way he spins out a story.

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman is a delightful cascade of both poetry and prose; and, as is rare with some authors, the poetry is neither contrived nor sloppy. Two stories in particular call out for attention: The Problem of Susan and The Monarch of the Glen. In Problem, Gaiman gives us a sample of all that is best about fan fiction, and spins out a tale of Susan, and how she spends her post-Narnia years. It is touchingly reverent and explains once of the difficulties I always had with Susan in the tales, wondering if she was a stand in for Judas, or if she was a placeholder for the non-believer. Gaiman handles her story with what feels like an accurate representation of how her life might have played out (with, I warn you, some elements unsuitable to the younger reader) and also adds in his own careful contribution of what life might be like for an old, proud woman who has experienced some extraordinary times.

Monarch, OTOH, concerns an character who is in most way's Susan's opposite: the wonderful, deep-unto-caverns shadow from American Gods which is a dear favorite of mine. If you like Norse mythology or Beowulf, and admire Gaiman's Arachne-like skill at weaving together the old folklores with a modern consciousness, you *must* read this. I am a wide reader about all things Norse, and even so was surprised and delighted to be introduced to a Hulder in the story, which was entirely new to me; and her character is so dear and touching, that even her scornful disappointment with Shadow is a monument of pitifulness. Bonus points to Gaiman for developing the character of Mr. Alice, from Keepsakes and Treasures, further in this story, also. (And after reading this, I was dying to know if the anonymous aide in Monarch was the same narrator as in Keepsakes; he is.)

As for the poetry, I delight in a well written verse but tend to most enjoy haiku and limericks; nothing too long and self-centered. Gaiman's poems twist and play with a theme delightfully and spin out a yarn until the threads remain, scintillating and microscopic for examination. Look closely at Locks, a poem about a father reading Goldilocks to his daughter, and it seems as though you can witness the scene, the bright young child tormenting her father with interruptions, the father enjoying the banter in spite of his attempts to keep the story moving, all while he ruminates over the different perspective he brings to the story from the vanatage point of age.

Check out Gaiman's audio excerpt on his website, the author's reading of his introduction.

Who's afraid of spiders?

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is a fun, quick page-turner which leads to some interesting reflections on sibling relations. Gaiman, as usual, contributes an unusual perspective and canny delivery on some imaginative topics. This book concerns the efforts of two sons of the Spider God Anansi, of African myth and legend, to assume their powers and get along with each other and the world. I loved especially the interactions between the main characters and the cadre of old, wise women who serve as his extended family - watch out for the funeral scene to set the tone for their interactions throughout the book. I laughed at loud at the description of Karaoke, which was considerably more fun to read than any karaoke I've been part of has been to experience. This book isn't quite as good as the author's earlier work American Gods. I am hopeful that having covered Norse and African mythologies, Gaiman has not exhausted his gods-and-legends inspiration and will continue to delight readers in the future with another effort - I wonder what he would do with some of the Native American stories, or perhaps Gilgamesh?