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Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
Neil Gaiman

This was probably a good book to read after The Thirteenth Tale. I enjoy Neil Gaiman's writing no matter what genre he chooses to take up. You will find most of his books in the Sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookstore, but I don't really believe this is fair. Certainly a few of his books may fall in that genre, but more because they simply wouldn't fit properly anywhere else. I say this so that people who are opposed to fantasy and science fiction novels might still give him a chance. His books are fantastic, but that doesn't mean you have to consider them all fantasy.

This collection of short stories ended up being more of a collection of ghost stories in my mind. Which is why it worked so well after The Thirteenth Tale. The Thirteenth Tale left me feeling like I had taken up residence in a haunted house. The bulk of the stories in Fragile Things opened the doors to rooms I hadn't yet explored in that home of ghosts. It never really let me step fully into the rooms though. In fact that may be the only thing I have against the book. If you want to fully understand a story, you probably wouldn't like these shorts. Gaiman doesn't consider having all the how what and who type of information necessary to a tale. Sometimes you want him to just stop and tell you everything. But I suppose it wouldn't be quite so ghostly then.

Gaiman prefers to write in the nooks and crannies of reality that no one has bothered dusting in a while. So he finds all the places where the strange and fantastic things have been ignored, and he brushes them off a little bit so the rest of us might get a glimpse of them and start to wonder.

I like him.

(Side note: a month or so ago, before I started this blog, I read a book that Gaiman co-wrote with Michael Reaves. Most of you are probably not familiar with Reaves' work, or if you are, you don't know it. But Reaves was one of the lead writers for the greatest tv show in the world. It was called Gargoyles. Gaiman is friends with him. This is another reason why Gaiman is one of the best living authors.)

(Side side note: Gargoyles has all new stories being written by the creator, Greg Weisman, in comic book form now. The first new stories in over ten years. WE LIVE AGAIN!!!! Rock on!!!)