Her interactions with the Grail, and with Sir Galahad who has come through time to find it, are just great. It was under a fur coat.' At a second hand shop. Many of the stories are wonderful, such as 'Chivalry' which begins, 'Mrs. Needless to say, this collection is first rate, except for the parts that are second rate. Neil is a great writer, and certainly worthy of winning awards, although I don't see how the World Science Fiction Award (aka the Hugo) keeps going to Fantasy books. First published in 1998, this new version from Avon includes an excerpt from 'Anasazi Boys', and I understand, a slightly re-written intro. The rest, I felt, would’ve been better fleshed-out as shorts rather than poems.Īll in all, I found Smoke and Mirrors an interesting and exciting read worth recommending to all Gaiman fans and lovers of the Strange.There is a lot to enjoy in this, the first collection of Neil Gaiman's short stories. As for his poetry, I found his sestina to be absolutely superb. To be honest, I’m not particularly keen on Gaiman’s tech-centered works or his brand of erotica (which isn’t bad, really… just unexpected), but I do love his fantasy and detective stories. By going back and forth between the notes section of the book and the actual story, one gains perspective when it comes to the shifts, improvements, and general changes in Gaiman’s writing style.Īnother thing I loved about this book is the variety it offers. Though these works aren’t arranged chronologically, you can find each story’s original publication date on the notes section of the book. I say lengthy, because there are about 30 works in Smoke and Mirrors, and a summary of each one’s backstory is carefully typed out by the author himself. 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. Smoke and Mirrors is, summarily, an interesting collection of short stories and poems from Neil Gaiman.

Smoke and mirrors neil