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Smoke and Mirrors (Paperback)

by Neil Gaiman (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Smoke and Mirrors + Fragile Things + Neverwhere: The Author's Preferred Text
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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Review (19 Sep 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0755322835
  • ISBN-13: 978-0755322831
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4,674 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Short Stories
    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Short Stories > Science Fiction
    #10 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Gaiman, Neil

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Best known for his Sandman graphic novels about Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, Neil Gaiman has also written the standalone books Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett), Never Where from his BBC TV series revealing a fantastic realm under London, and Star Dust, a poignant fairy tale. His shorter fantasies are regularly picked for Year's Best collections. Smoke and Mirrors assembles 36 of his favourite stories, prose poems, and verse pieces. Among the imaginative inventions here are a murder mystery set among angels in heaven; the discovery of the Holy Grail at Oxfam; warped retellings of fairy tales and folklore, including a Snow White that's black beyond belief; several clever variations on vampirism; a firm of contract killers with a very remarkable discount scheme; homages to Michael Moorcock and H.P. Lovecraft (one splendidly funny) that avoid mere pastiche; an SF world of rapid and reversible sex changes; Beowulf retold as a Baywatch episode; a tasty amalgamation of computers and black magic; a new final book of the Bible; and the grim wedding present that's simply a manuscript telling a bleakly different story of the recipients' unfolding marriage. SF/fantasy professionals themselves envy Gaiman's perpetual flow of new ideas and ability to put a fresh spin on old ones. Smoke and Mirrors is a dazzlingly varied and rewarding collection. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Time Out

‘Funny, scary and perverse by turns... A class act and a rich and interesting read’
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Treasure Trove!, 5 Mar 2006
By kehs (Hertfordshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
Neil Gaiman is a master story teller, IMHO, and this selection of short stories by him is the perfect showcase for his talents. An incredible assortment of tales awaits the reader in this marvelous book - an old lady that finds the Holy Grail in an Oxfam shop for 30p - a little boy that meets a troll - the shortest but most haunting Xmas story I've ever read - the Jack-in-the-box that no-one played with......oh, so many and all are pure genius. My personal favourite is the very last in the book, which is a re-telling of Snow White and because of N G's version I will never think of her in the same light again. I feel that several of these stories have the potential of becoming full length novels one day - I'll just have to wait and see. One warning, if you haven't read any of Gaiman's work before you will soon become addicted after reading this book.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Unsettling but enjoyable, 4 Jan 2004
By Migratory (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions (Paperback)
This is a collection of some of Neil Gaiman's short works. You could say there were poems and stories in the book, but saying there is prose, a rondel, long verse, short verse and some peculiar mixtures of obscure types of writing would be a better description.

A few of the stories are the conventional type but many of them are not. Most of the stories have a fairly dark subject matter - indeed some of them are truly horrible - but all are marvellously written, and most extremely original.

There's also a long introduction to the book with a small commentary on each piece plus an extra bonus story.

This isn't a book I'd buy as a present for someone unless I knew their tastes extremely well. It's not the type of book that everyone would enjoy - there are sexual stories, there are dark deeds and just the layouts of some of the pieces make them more different than some people would feel happy with - but I thought it was brilliant. Not every piece will hit the mark, but it's not the type of fluffy read you'll wonder why you bothered with. It's full of stories that stay with you for a long time.

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest Modern Storytellers., 19 Mar 2002
This review is from: Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions (Paperback)
There is something so absolutely compelling about everything that Neil Gaiman seems to write. I don't know quite how he does it, but I always find myself picking up one of his books and being drawn into regardless of my own freewill or choice. Here in this collection of Short stories stands a fine example of something that many writers these days do not always succeed in - Gaiman shows us how a story should be told. These tales may be short but each of them is complete in their own way, and even at their darkest they can be amusing, and totally engrossing.

I would recomend to anybody with a few hours to kill that picking up this volume would be a couple of hours very well spent. Right from his introduction Gaiman makes the reader feel a part of these little worlds he's created and somehow you just have to read them all. If you haven't discovered this guy yet - it's about time you did.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun and varied collection of literary illusions
This is a collection of short stories by Gaiman published 10 years ago, mainly reprints from magazines he has submitted to in the past. Read more
Published 18 days ago by L. R. Richardson

5.0 out of 5 stars Smoke and mirrors - a review
The breadth of subjects in this collection of short stories is truly impressive and shows Mr Gaiman's imagination at its very best. Read more
Published 4 months ago by sb

1.0 out of 5 stars No Magic Here!
Although I'd never read Neil Gaiman before, following the predominantly favourable reviews on Amazon, I decided to read "Smoke and Mirrors". Read more
Published 7 months ago by Harry Alongo

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as bad as I was expecting
I'd never even heard of Neil Gaiman before I opened this book, and literary, or even semi-literary, fiction really isn't my scene at all. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Peter Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment
Having read other Gaiman books and really enjoyed them (Graveyard Book, Coraline, Good Omens, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Stardust), I was looking forward to this one. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Stargazer

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Dangerous
Dark and edgy. This collection boarders on nightmareish horror at times but still retains beauty in Gaiman's writing. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. E. K. Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars A great place to begin
If you've not read this author before this is a really great place to begin, not all the stories featured are written in the same style or for the same purpose, there are stories... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lark

3.0 out of 5 stars The Good The Bad and the Crappy
the story with the terrorized cat was good, another about -very short this one- JACK was its name, that was good. Read more
Published 20 months ago by B. J. Crossley

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding
Just fabulous.
It was this book that first pitched me headlong into the strange and scary world of Neil Gaiman's writing -- now I am a huge fan. Read more
Published on 20 Jul 2007 by C. L. Askew

2.0 out of 5 stars Upon Reflection - A Little Disappointing
Reading the good reviews I thought to myself - at last some short stories with teeth!
How wrong could they be? Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2007 by Mr. John Frank Herbert

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