My Favorite Books

Gaiman's Best Works

1. Sandman: Ramadan
   Everything by P. Craig Russell is amazing, and this is the best of both Gaiman and Russell. While the epic entire Sandman run is impressive, you can sample all of its strengths in this single issue.
2. Death: The High Cost of Living
   The ultimate story featuring Gaiman's best character, the cuddly-cute-sexy Death, naive and sweet and infinite. Maybe it doesn't quite live up to this Amazon.com customer review: "It is a story, foremost, and it lives up to that ideal more powerfully than any story yet written." Maybe not, but it's very good nonetheless.
3. Murder Mysteries
   A great short story, arguably made even better with Russell again. If Jung were a religious man, he might say this is where the hard-boiled detective story always originates.
4. American Gods
   Gaiman's best prose novel, with memorable characters and all the myths of humanity framed by a classic American road trip.
5. Sandman: Season of Mists
   The best of the full-length Sandman stories, this introduces several other members of the Endless, the immortal beings that personify the forces of the universe. (Sandman himself is Dream, one of the seven, along with Death, Desire, Delirium, Despair, Destruction and Destiny.) It tells of a Lucifer that decides to quit Hell and gives Dream the key, a gift that's more trouble than it's worth.
6. Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
   Gaiman's newest book on this list (as of this writing), these short stories are even better than his last collection. And the translucent cover is really cool.
7. Neverwhere
   This novel was first a BBC TV series. It tells of a secret universe of strange characters living under London. It's very British.
8. Sandman: Brief Lives
   Another good Sandman book, this focuses on the wild-eyed Delirium, one of the most enjoyable Sandman cast members to read. She's like Tori Amos and Salvador Dali mixed in with multicolored frogs.
9. Smoke and Mirrors
   A collection of prose short stories, this book covers everything Gaiman excels at.
10. Anansi Boys
    His most recent novel, which we got signed! A more comedic style that is not exactly riveting, but at least fun.
11. The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish
    The first of two children's books created with long-time collaborator Dave McKean, this book has the right combination of childish insight and non-sequitors. I can't wait to read this to my kids.
12. Coraline
    Another kids' book, this one for slightly older children, Coraline is prose but still includes beautiful black-and-white illustrations by McKean. It's scary. Think Alice in Wonderland meets House of Leaves.
13. Sandman: The Wake
    The final Sandman book, this serves as an epilogue to the events of The Kindly Ones. Michael Zulli uses his trademark colored pencils to beautiful effect.
14. Violent Cases
    Gaiman's first work, with collaborator Dave McKean. Best in a series of short graphic novels that include Signal to Noise and Mr. Punch.
15. Sandman: A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A single issue story, this tale is the only comic ever to win a World Fantasy Award, and helped catapult Sandman to fame and legitimize comics to a new adult audience. Charles Vess creates incredibly lyrical artwork to evoke a real world of Fairie that watches Shakespeare's actors perform. What are the consequences of Puck escaping into the real world?
16. Sandman: Endless Nights
    The newest Sandman book, after a sabatical of seven years. Seven stories by Gaiman and seven incredible artistic legends. Each story is great, but I wished they wove better into a bigger theme.

Many people also really like Good Omens, a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-like comic send-up of theology, but I'm not as enamored with it and Gaiman co-wrote it anyway with Terry Pratchett, so it's not on my list.

I also was not a huge fan of the the Marvel Universe 1602, even though the art was great.

‹ Neil Gaiman