Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
Book Review: Ehh
Summary: 3 Stars
The stories in this collection were lukewarm. None were original or frightening whatsoever. I give it three stars because two or three of the stories were pretty good.Book Review: Ohmygod GOOD short stories
Summary: 5 Stars
Like good conversations, good short stories (especially in the sci-fi/fantasy realms) are increasingly hard to find. It also seems more and more that good ones are buried in theme collections about Martian Vampires in New Orleans or something. Thankfully this is not the case with Mr. Gaiman's work, mostly short and sweet, his stories fascinate, horrify and elate. Usually on the same page. Nicholas was... is a perfect example. Read it.Book Review: it works
Summary: 5 Stars
There must be many reasons to write short fiction. Mr Gaiman's is that the stories are meant for short fiction. You don't drink shots of beer and you don't read encyclopedias of one word repeated. The depth of imagination and knowledge is incrediable. To use smoke and mirrors to perform magic is one thing, to use words as mirrors and imagination as smoke is a combination that has yet to be bettered.Book Review: not very entertaining
Summary: 1 Stars
I could not find any story that made me think or remember why i should read this book. I think i laughed once . Maybe it was the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" rewrite that left my boredom temporarily. Do not read this book if your expecting extreme or fascinating stories.Book Review: Best damn short story collection I've read in Years
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book because of the review on SFSITE, at www.sfsite.com where the readers poll picked it as the best book of the year. After reading it I can see why. The stories range from funny to scary to sad to just plain strange.This is what it said at SFSITE. "He made it on the SF Site Editor's Best of 1998 list in the # 2 spot with Smoke and Mirrors. Last year he topped the Best of 1997 list with his first solo novel, Neverwhere -- which grabbed the #4 spot this year in paperback. Is there any doubt at all that we like Neil Gaiman? Gaiman's rep as a modern spinner of fairy tales is well deserved. But Smoke and Mirrors gave him an opportunity to perform on a variety of stages, and prove to his audience that he's far more than just the author of The Sandman comic, or even just a gifted fantasist. This collection of thirty short stories and poems (some of which were previously published in the small print-run volume Angels and Visitations) was the first opportunity he's had to demonstrate his true range, and he didn't waste it. The collection opens with "Chivalry," the story of a widow who discovers the Holy Grail in a secondhand shop; other tales include "Nicholas Was," a disturbing look at the legend of Santa Claus. For Lovecraft fans there's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" and "Only the End of the World", both of which pay hilarious tribute to both the Cthulhu Mythos and classic horror film conventions. The poems include "Bay Wolf," which manages to mix Beowulf and Baywatch. All in all, Smoke and Mirrors is perhaps the most surprising and rewarding book of the year - one to be savoured and treasured."
Warning: I don't think you would like this book if you have no imagination or sense of wonder.