Book Review – Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

December 23, 2017January 13, 2018 Ryan2 Comments

Summary

In the deft hands of Neil Gaiman, magic is no mere illusion . . . and anything is possible. In Smoke and Mirrors, Gaiman’s imagination and supreme artistry transform a mundane world into a place of terrible wonders—where an old woman can purchase the Holy Grail at a thrift store, where assassins advertise their services in the Yellow Pages under “Pest Control,” and where a frightened young boy must barter for his life with a mean-spirited troll living beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks. Explore a new reality, obscured by smoke and darkness yet brilliantly tangible, in this extraordinary collection of short works by a master prestidigitator. It will dazzle your senses, touch your heart, and haunt your dreams.

Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman is a collection of “short fiction and illusions,” originally published in 1998. From what I gathered reading it, most if not all of these stories had been published before as part of different collections or anthologies. I’ve been a rather big fan of Gaiman for a number of years now, but admittedly this is the first time I’ve read any of his short fiction outside of comic books. I was interested to see just how much a departure in format would change his style of writing, as I have recently been noticing common trends in his novels. As it turns out, his short fiction varies quite widely in terms of subject matter.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – 2017/12/20

December 20, 2017December 20, 2017 RyanLeave a comment

www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Smoke&Mirrors I’m still in the middle of Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, with just about 100 pages left to go. This is the first time I’ve really gotten into any of his short fiction outside of comic books, and I’m enjoying it a lot. I have such pleasant mental associations with Gaiman as a public figure that I often forget how dark and messed up his fiction can get, especially, as it turns out, his short fiction. It really goes to show how much range he has as a writer too. I’m a fan of his, and yet even I feel like I haven’t been giving him enough credit. I’ll hopefully have this book finished and reviewed later this week.

Recently Finished

TheButton Since last week I’ve only read Batman/The Flash: The Button Deluxe Edition written by Joshua Williamson and Tom King and illustrated by Jason Fabok and Howard Porter. It was the last comic book I wanted to make sure I read before started Doomsday Clock, which admittedly I still haven’t gotten around to. It was an enjoyable enough story, though even as someone who doesn’t regularly read any DC Comics titles I could see this book could have been skipped. I don’t regret reading it, regardless.

Reading Next

TheVisitorCover I still plan to read Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, though it’s more than likely I won’t have a review up for it until the new year. As far as comic books are concerned, I want get through some digital Hellboy volumes, by Mike Mignola and various, that I’ve gotten over the last few months: The Midnight Circus, Into the Silent Sea, and The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed. The last one is of particular interest to me, as it promises insight into a character that, if memory serves, first appeared in volume five of the main series. He and his peoples’ oversight over Hellboy’s life was left largely obscure.

Book Review – The Shoe on the Roof by Will Ferguson

December 16, 2017January 13, 2018 Ryan1 Comment

Summary

Ever since his girlfriend ended their relationship, Thomas Rosanoff’s life has been on a downward spiral. A gifted med student, he has spent his entire adulthood struggling to escape the legacy of his father, an esteemed psychiatrist who used him as a test subject when he was a boy. Thomas lived his entire young life as the “Boy in the Box,” watched by researchers behind two-way glass.

But now the tables have turned. Thomas is the researcher, and his subjects are three homeless men, all of whom claim to be messiahs—but no three people can be the one and only saviour of the world. Thomas is determined to “cure” the three men of their delusions, and in so doing save his career—and maybe even his love life. But when Thomas’s father intervenes in the experiment, events spin out of control, and Thomas must confront the voices he hears in the labyrinth of his own mind.

Disclosure: I won this novel in a Goodreads giveaway. Copy was provided by the publisher.

The Shoe on the Roof, published October 17, 2017, is the newest novel by Will Ferguson, author of the Giller Prize winning novel 419. I’ve read a couple of Ferguson’s books before, though neither of the two were fiction. I really enjoyed his previous work, however, so I was immediately interested once I learned he had a new book coming out this year. Without actually looking much into the synopsis, my brain took the title and created vague notions of what to expect, all of which were not at all like the journey into love, neuroscience, and mental health that I embarked upon.Read More »