Book Review: Good Omens

Book: Good Omens: The Nice & Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Author(s): Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy, SciFi, Humor (Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Comedy)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 384 (Paperback)
Favorite Character: Oh god. Mmmh. I'm going to go with two and them being Crowley and Aziraphale. Adored them and their odd friendship.

Plot: (from Goodreads)
From two delightful imaginations comes a comic masterpiece in which the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, the hound of the devil chases sticks, and the end of the world is subject to Murphys Law.

Review:
This is an amazing book and I really could not tell what part was written by which author (some parts, however, I could guess whose idea they were. And was normally right. Example, the maggots were Neil's idea). Anyway, though, this book is fantastic, I really do not think it could of been any better. It has an amazing cast of characters and an epic plot if ever I've read one. Between the Them and the Horsemen on motocycles, it was amazing.

Some of the scenes had be laughing, other biting my nails (not quite literally on the latter), and it was just amazing. If you haven't read this one, yet, I'd recommend doing so as soon as you can. I waited to write this review until a while after I had read it and yet I still am fangirling over it whenever I think about, it just perfection in book form. Satanic nuns, the horsemen I mentioned, the Crowley/Aziraphale bromance (I really don't like that word, but it describes these two well), and the prophecies, and just everything in this book is amazing.

Before, I fangirl too much more, I'm just going to say that I'm sure that you know at least of these two authors. I haven't, yet, read any of Terry Pratchett's other work, but I hope to very soon. I've read a lot of Neil's, though, and everything I've read has been amazing.

And there's a Foreword and them on each other and those were even more hilarious and made me worry about my copy. Apparently, they have signed books that have been extremely damaged and been told that friends kept stealing their copy. My copy will be kept safe... hopefully.

Book Review: American Gods

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: SciFi, Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 592 (Mass Market Paperback)
Favorite Character: Um, gods is that hard. (Gods, get it?) But I think it would have to be one of the gods, I mean I liked Shadow, but he didn't have that zing, you know? I really enjoyed Easter, she might of been one of my favorites.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace... Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman's epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.

Review:
I read the 10th Anniversay Edition and it, apparently, had 12k more words in it then the normal edition, but I can't imagine what the other one doesn't have. While I was reading this book I couldn't even think of reading another book, which I don't think had ever happened to me before. Normally I read too many books at a time to count. I start one, put a bookmark in it, and sometimes forget about it for a while. (On Goodreads it says I'm currently-reading 12 books, which is on the lower side for me.)

Anyway, about the book. This book was something else. I don't even know if I could tell you exactly what I loved about it so much. I definitely loved the characters, the gods and the mortals. This book was weird and strange and just a bit odd, really odd in some places, but it was amazing. I loved it. The characters were lovable and, maybe not relatable, but you almost still could relate to them, anyway.

And, of course, the writing was just amazing. And some of the sentences had me giggling at the randomest times. Like, at the end, there's a sentence that goes like this:

"The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies."

I don't know why, but that sentence struck me as hilarious.

Moving on, though, besides the sometimes hilarious random sentences and the amazing characters and writing, there was the plot. The plot wasn't something that I was expecting, I mean, I knew this book was about gods, but I didn't quite know where it would go with that. And the plot, which I'm not going to tell you a thing about, was done really well, perfectly even.

I'm going to stop raving about this book and just tell you to go and read it. And I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did, even though it's strange and odd and weird, it's also wonderful and brilliant. (Also, I kind of want to go visit these tourist traps that are mentioned just to see them. I should mention that this is not a Young Adult book by any standards, so be aware of that when you pick it up, but do pick it up).

Book Review: Coraline

Book: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Horror, Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy (Middle-Grade)
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 162 (Paperback)
Favorite character: the cat. I have no idea why, I just loved that stupid cat.

Plot: (from Goodreads)

Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.

Gaiman has delivered a wonderfully chilling novel, subtle yet intense on many levels. The line between pleasant and horrible is often blurred until what's what becomes suddenly clear, and like Coraline, we resist leaving this strange world until we're hooked. Unnerving drawings also cast a dark shadow over the book's eerie atmosphere, which is only heightened by simple, hair-raising text. Coraline is otherworldly storytelling at its best.


Review:
I loved this book, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was amazing. I had only seen like clip of the movie and I was glad, I feel like that would of made the book's impact less, I'm not sure why. I really loved Coraline, the main character, and her parents. Her normal parents, that is. And the neighbors, really, I just really liked all of the characters.

This was my first Neil Gaiman book and I really loved his writing style and the way he described the way things were happening and the surrounding was just so very good. There are also some creepy drawing in this book that I really loved, they also added to the book a lot more then I thought.

Overall, I'd defiantly recommend it to anyone who likes a good creepy book.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Book: Stardust

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Fantasy Adventure

Rating: B

Plot:

This story starts off in the small city of Wall. Tristan Thorn lived in wall all his life. One night Tristan and the women he fancied, Veronica were taking a stroll when a star fell from the sky. Veronica said that if Tristan received the exact star that she would give him anything his heart desired. Thought to get this star he would have to cross over the wall that stands between his normal suburban life and the land of Faerie. On this journey, he is not the only person searching for the star, which leads to many problems.

SPOILERS SPOILER SPOILERS SPOILERS

Review:

I did see the movie first and then read the book so my review might be slightly biased.

When Neil Gaiman wrote this book it was obvious he was trying to make a fantasy fairy tale for adults and show them anyone can enjoy fantasy. Because he did this I found this book shifting between adult and children. For one you have the cute little tale of the boy, Tristan, going to win the affection of his true love then you have very disturbing images like when the Witch cut apart the unicorn. There are also a few sex scenes, which in a fairy tale you just don't expect to be reading about how the main character was conceived.

While some parts of the story I found obvious there was also the quick and surprising action scenes that I really did enjoy. Like when the Star ends up at the inn with Primus. I also really enjoyed the character development between the Star and Tristan. Their constant banter gave the book the humor relief it needed.

The land of Faerie was describing beautifully and for a minute you really do believe a land like this could exist somewhere. The way the market was described and how they went into detail about the things being sold there really just made me want to go. I wouldn't mind owning a glass flower or a bottle of dreams. A coat of night would also be pretty cool.

The one thing that really changed this rating from an A to a B was the characters. You will find this out very quickly but when I read a book I need to be attached to a character. I need to care about where they are and what happens to them. In this book i didn't feel that for any of the characters. Tristan slightly annoyed me at times and the Star never really stood up for herself and what she wanted. She also doesn't really have a name until almost the end of the book.

Overall, I really would suggest this for a teen audience (as long as you don't mind sex scenes) and for anyone that loves fantasy and learning about a new land. Also you must like adventure a lot of this book is Tristan traveling, but traveling also means new people. So there are a lot of characters to go around. Stardust is magical and intriguing, a really great read.

-- Haley

p.s. I never really introduced myself. My name is Haley and I am the other blogger here. Nice to meet you! :) Also this is my first review ever. So be nice! :P