Odd and the Frost Giants
by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury, 2008); audiobook read by Neil Gaiman (Bolinda, 2018)
A gentle fairytale that foregrounds, in its young protagonist, a healthy, happy-go-lucky open-mindedness and lack of preconceptions. Through Odd, Gaiman subtly modernises the genre’s worldview, bringing clarity and self-awareness (plus a certain phlegmatic Britishness) to the endlessly fascinating characters of Norse mythology.
Good Omens, Series 2
by Neil Gaiman & John Finnemore
dir. Douglas Mackinnon (Amazon Prime, 2023)
Without source material tangling its roots, Good Omens blossoms into a gloriously satirical excoriation of biblical schtick and the whole good versus evil dichotomy. Aziraphale and Crowley make for one of TV’s great odd couples. Michael Sheen puts in a bravura performance.
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron
ed. Jonathan Strahan (Random House, 2012)
audiobook read by Katherine Fenton & Jay Villiers (AudioGO, 2012)
Seventeen mostly YA tales at the borderline between long short story and novelette (plus a token Neil Gaiman poem) offering imaginative takes on the witchy theme. Unfortunately, very few repay their length. Charles de Lint, Tim Pratt and Margo Lanagan stand out.
Books of Magic: Moveable Type
by Kat Howard, Neil Gaiman et al.; ill. Tom Fowler et al. (DC Comics, 2019)
A dark story with plenty happening both visually and plot-wise. The human characters are drawn with a certain grotesqueness, the colours at the visceral end of the spectrum. Engaging enough though very much a first instalment and difficult to judge in isolation.
Good Omens
created by Neil Gaiman (Amazon Prime, 2019)
Good Omens is slow to find focus, following the madcap novel perhaps a bit too faithfully and blossoming only with episode three’s shift in emphasis to Azariphale and Crowley’s relationship. Nonetheless a gleefully irreverent miniseries, buoyed by David Arnold’s main title theme.
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury, 2002); read by Neil Gaiman (Harper Audio, 2003)
A dark modern fairy tale, dreamlike, eerie and grounded in odd little incidental details. Gaiman reads the audiobook himself, his delivery evoking a calm avuncular foreboding while (unsurprisingly) bringing out every nuance of the text. Sadly, this is a little too drawn-out.
Fortunately, the Milk
by Neil Gaiman; audiobook ready by the author (HarperCollins, 2013)
A whimsical little story, very English, as notable for its subtleties in phrasing and delivery as for the wildly fantastic, freewheeling plot of alien abduction, time travelling stegosaurus and fatherly determination to return home with milk. Gaiman’s audiobook reading comes highly recommended.
Hansel & Gretel
retold by Neil Gaiman; ill. Lorenzo Mattotti (Bloomsbury, 2014)
Neil Gaiman retells Hansel & Gretel with gentle fairy-tale prose and an eye for the framing details (war-begotten famine). The impression conveyed by Lorenzo Mattotti’s shadowy illustrations is one of dark despair; apposite, yet hardly cause for more than a lingering glance.
Good Omens
by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
radio dramatisation by Dirk Maggs (BBC Worldwide, 2014)
Dirk Maggs has adapted Pratchett and Gaiman’s comedic novel of the apocalypse with apposite exuberance, yet for all the well-pitched sound design and the cast’s astute voice work, this zany and enjoyable dramatisation does perforce forego the original book’s drollery of prose.
Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Collection
(Puffin, 2013)
Doctor Who doesn’t lend itself well to short fiction. This collection of stories — one each for the Doctor’s first eleven incarnations — is pleasant enough, but only Neil Gaiman’s darkly imaginative ‘Nothing O’Clock’ moves beyond nostalgia into the realms of original, broadcast-worthy adventures.