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Review: Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman – In which smoke causes me to break a mirror

Collection: Supernatural, Fantasy.

 I love short stories. The first collection of short stories that I ever owned was by Richard Matheson, and the first short story that I read from that collection was "Terror at 20,000 feet" because how much of a Twilight Zone fan I am.

Needless to say, I was hooked. From that day forth, I love short stories. Little bundles of information, a cool concept not worn out by the length of a novel, or an interesting character that we won't grow to become tired of because the story is too long.

No, a short story is beautiful at its core, and Matheson, primarily a horror writer, great at crafting a simple and short story, which how's off horror but doesn't overstay it's welcome like most horror movies and books.

Neil Gaiman knows how to tell a good short story. Take an idea that is interesting but will only last so long and craft a great story out of it? Check. The first story in the collection is incredible at exploring a large pond of ideas but still keeping everything in a neat ball.

Cover a multitude of genres and subjects in your collection? Check. One story has horror elements, another has romance, and yet another is just a cool story which can't really be classified. That's what a short story collection should be.

Use different perspectives, settings, and atmosphere to make each story its own experience? Check. Gaiman takes full advantage of the character and situation rollout. 

I highly suggest you pick this book up or do so once you have finished what you're reading now. Because you won't have time for anything else.

I rate it Good - Brilliant (If this is the first post of mine that you've read then this chart will explain how I rate books = Awful - Bad - Good - Great - Brilliant.) Some stories strike better than others, but all of them are good.

If you are interested in short story collections then check out my post on Kurt Vonnegut, if you are also a Matheson fan then post a comment below and take a look at my review of "A stir of echoes" some of Matheson’s less famous work I believe.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
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