The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Format: Hardcover
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

Three dwarves discover a sleeping princess and return to their queen. She sets out to save the princess on the eve of her wedding.

This is a clever mashup of Sleeping Beauty and another fairytale I won’t mention (spoilers, you see…), with excellent illustrations from Chris Riddell. I enjoyed the twists and the connections, and the story definitely left me thinking. My knee-jerk rating was four stars, but being a Neil Gaiman book, I’ll be musing over this story awhile, and that rates five stars.

What I do know is this: don’t go into any Gaiman book with expectations (I didn’t in this case, but he still surprised me) because whatever they are, he WILL defy them.

A very, very good book.

Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Source: Own Collection
Format: Paperback
Rating:  4 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

This book is a hilarious juxtaposition to the ordinary children’s book. In normal books, the children have adventures and the grownups don’t believe them. In this book, those roles are reversed with hilarious consequences. And no, I won’t be mentioning Professor Steg, the pirates, the space aliens (not to mention the space police) and a wonderful cast of other characters.

Highly inventive and beautifully chaotic, this tale is a romp. A very quick read for an accomplished reader, it will entertain.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Source: Own Collection
Format: Kindle
Rating:  5 Stars
Reviewer: Laurel

I finally picked this up, and what a delight. Inventive and creative, Gaiman blends English folklore and nursery rhymes with an entirely original story that is delightfully related in this fantastical tale of heroism driven by love.

Living on the edge of a magic land has its advantages and disadvantages, and that’s what the inhabitants of the village of Wall experience. When Tristran Thorn sees a falling star, he vows to retrieve that exact star for the woman he loves in order to win her hand. However, when he has to go through the wall to locate it, he begins to learn that life isn’t all he thought it was. To complicate matters, he isn’t the only one out to catch a falling star.

I particularly loved that, while I thought I had it all worked out, I found I hadn’t, which is what makes Gaiman the outstanding storyteller he is.