[Closed] Neil Gaiman (and others)

Anansi Boys, esp. if you enjoyed American Gods. If you enjoy [s]comics[/s] Graphic Novels, his run on Sandman is recommended.

Other authors? Since everyone on STW is an IT geek, I'll tip Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash, Anathem, Diamond Age.

Much preferred Stephenson's Cryptonomicon over snow crash & diamond age, not read Anathem though

I have read American gods & good omens but nothing similar, that ive read, comes to mind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman_bibliography#Novels

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (with Terry Pratchett, hardcover, 354 pages, Workman Publishing, 1990, ISBN 0-89480-853-2) — Locus and World Fantasy nominees for Best Novel, 1991[2]
Neverwhere (based on Gaiman's script for the BBC miniseries, hardcover, 287 pages, BBC Books, 1996, ISBN 0-7472-6668-9)
Stardust (hardcover, 256 pages, William Morrow, 1999, ISBN 0-380-97728-1) — Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 1999[3]
American Gods (hardcover, 480 pages, William Morrow, 2001, ISBN 0-380-97365-0) — Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Fantasy Awards winner, 2002;[4] British Science Fiction Award nominee, 2001;[5] British and World Fantasy Award nominee, 2002.[4]
Anansi Boys (hardcover, 352 pages, HarperCollins, 2005, ISBN 0-06-051518-X) — British and Locus Fantasy Awards winner, 2006[6]
InterWorld (with Michael Reaves, hardcover, 256 pages, HarperCollins, 2007, ISBN 0-06-123896-1)
[edit]Juvenile and young adult fiction
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (with illustrations by Dave McKean, hardcover, 64 pages, White Wolf Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1-56504-199-2)
Coraline (with illustrations by Dave McKean, hardcover, 176 pages, HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 0-380-97778-8)
The Wolves in the Walls (with illustrations by Dave McKean, hardcover, 56 pages, HarperCollins, 2003, ISBN 0-380-97827-X)
Melinda (with illustrations by Dagmara Matuszak, softcover, 64 pages, Hill House, 2005, ISBN 0-931771-04-8)
Odd and the Frost Giants (paperback, 112 pages, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008, ISBN 0-7475-9538-0)
The Dangerous Alphabet (with illustrations by Gris Grimly, softcover, 32 pages, HarperCollins, 2008, ISBN 0-06-078333-8)
M is for Magic (a short story collection containing ten stories from the earlier collections (Angels and Visitations, Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things), with two previously uncollected stories, hardcover, 272 pages, HarperCollins, 2007, ISBN 0-06-118642-2)
The Graveyard Book (hardcover, 320 pages, HarperCollins, 2008, ISBN 0-06-053092-8) — 2009 Hugo Awards winner, Newbery Medal; British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 2009[7]
Blueberry Girl (with illustrations by Charles Vess, hardcover, 32 pages, HarperCollins, 2009, ISBN 0-06-083808-6)
Crazy Hair (with illustrations by Dave McKean, hardcover, 40 pages, HarperCollins, 2009, ISBN 0-06-057908-0)
Instructions (with illustrations by Charles Vess, hardcover, 40 pages, HarperCollins, 2010, ISBN 0-06-196030-6)
[edit]Short stories
"I Cthulhu: or What's a Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing in a Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47°9?S, Longitude 126°43?W)?" (in Dagon #16, 1987)
"Now we are Sick" (in Now we are Sick: An Anthology of Nasty Verse, a poetic anthology edited by Gaiman and Stephen Jones, hardcover, 93 pages, DreamHaven, 1991, ISBN 0-9630944-4-0)
Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany (a collection of short stories illustrated by various artists, hardcover, 166 pages, DreamHaven, 1993, ISBN 0-9630944-2-4)
"An Honest Answer" (with illustrations by Bryan Talbot, in Wiindows #21, Cult Press, 1993)
"Cinnamon" (inspired by the sculptures of Lisa Snelling, in Overstreet's Fan #4, Gemstone, 1995)
"The False Knight on the Road" (with illustrations by Charles Vess, in The Book of Ballads and Sagas #1, Green Man Press, 1996)
"In the End" (in Strange Kaddish: Tales You Won't Hear from Bubbie, hardcover, 70 pages, Aardwolf Publishing, 1996, ISBN 1-888669-01-2)
"Only the End of the World Again" (inspired by the sculptures of Lisa Snelling, in On Cats and Dogs: Two Tales, DreamHaven, 1997)
Smoke and Mirrors (a collection of short stories, hardcover, 352 pages, Avon Books, 1998, ISBN 0-380-97364-2)
"It was a Dark and Silly Night" (with illustrations by Gahan Wilson, in Little Lit: It was a Dark and Silly Night..., hardcover, 48 pages, Joanna Cotler, 2003, ISBN 0-06-028628-8)
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" (in Exotic Gothic, Ash-Tree Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-55310-099-7 hardbound, 978-1-55310-100-0 paperback)
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (a collection of short stories, hardcover, 400 pages, William Morrow, 2006, ISBN 0-06-051522-8)
Who Killed Amanda Palmer: A Collection of Photographic Evidence (with Kyle Cassidy and Beth Hommel, photographic book with related short stories, hardcover, 112 pages, Eight Foot Books, 2009, ISBN 0-615-23439-9)

Neil Gaiman - Stardust. Good read.

Others? Just getting into China Mieville - Perdido Street Station. Really good read. Recommended.

I've never really done graphic novels, but have often been tempted by the Sandman stuff.

Erm, not really very helpful there CZ, but thanks for trying.

You did ask about more of Neil's books, those are all his novels including graphic ones. Pretty straight forward list, just quite a lot of it!
Just trying to think of other, similar writers, I would absolutely recommend Neil Stephenson, his early book 'Zodiac' is excellent reading, a sort of environmental thriller, and 'Snowcrash', 'Diamond Age' and 'REAMDE' are almost indispensable. 'Snowcrash' is being made into a film, too, apparently.
Charles Stross is a terrific writer, who writes loads of excellent books in a bunch of different styles, 'Halting State' and 'Rule 34' are particularly good, then there's his 'Laundry' series, James Bond meets 'Call Of Cthulhu' , his 'Merchant Princes' series, and various other books.

Try "The Graveyard Book" which is utterly awesome, carries on from a Neil Gaiman short story 8)

Alternatively, try "A graveyard for lunatics" by Ray Bradbury.

Try A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin if you like the urban magic theme. I read it after reading Neverwhere and Stardust and really enjoyed it.

Thanks folks, I check some of those out.

JonW,thank you for reminding me of Kate's books, she's the first person I should have thought of! I've got all her Matthew Swift books, and the books she wrote as Catherine Webb, (her real name).
And I've met her a couple of times too, at book signings. 😳

I've just read the abstract of "A Madness of Angels" and it sounds like it rips off the premise of "Neverwhere" a fair bit: Does it read like that?

Robert Rankin- Hollow chocalate bunnies of the appocolypse (sp). Great and not as confusing as some of his other stuff. Assuming youve read Pratchetts books.

I was gonna give Rankin a mention..

Just in the middle of American Gods at the moment, thoroughly enjoying it!

Definitely Robert Rankin. Read the Brentford Trilogy. He's a genius.

Mikey, no, not really. There are some similarities, but 'A Madness...' is much darker, and I think it's a better book. And I love Neil's work. Kate/Cat lives and works in London and knows it intimately, and she started writing very early, her first book is very much like a Zelazney novel, but it was published when she was fourteen!

Totally agree with CZ; much preferred 'A Madness..' for deeper story and better writing (IMO, of course). My understanding is that Gaiman wrote Neverwhere after the TV series and I think it shows.

My understanding is that Gaiman wrote Neverwhere after the TV series and I think it shows.

You are half correct: I believe he wrote the story, which was then turned into the BBC series: However, he was never happy with the way the BBC treated it and decided to turn it into a proper book that was in keeping with his original intentions.

Perhaps I'll check out "A Madness..." then. Cheers.

I've never read Gaiman, but I know he himself is a huge fan of Gene Wolfe, one of his literary heroes ([url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/13/gene-wolfe-hero-neil-gaiman-sf ]short piece here[/url]) Wolfe is one of the grand old men of SF, in the twilight of his writing now really, but his body of work is spectacular and unique amongst modern SF writers. I don't know if there's much overlap with their styles, but Wolfe is certainly worth reading.

If you like Neil Gaiman (one of my favourites too), you should also try Tad Williams!

Mikey, hope you enjoy 'Madness...', there are three other books published, with two more to follow. Kate's finished them, but they still have to go through the editing/printing stages.
She has a really good blog, too; http://www.kategriffin.net/
It's not just about books, she writes about all sorts of stuff, especially her main day job, which is often very enlightening!

I'm a great fan of Gaiman and Griffin; another 'urban magic' writer I would recommend is David Aaronovitch who also bases his stories in London.

Chine Mieville? UnLunDun is sort of similar to Neverwhere, a bit confusing to begin with but rewards perseverance and turns around conventions of "characters with destiny" somewhat. City and the City is amazing.
+1 for The Graveyard Book