So this is a bit of a fan appreciation post. I have recently began reading a lot of Neil Gaiman books. I started with American Gods on Audible and after a few chapters I had to go and buy a physical copy because I wanted to have a copy in hand too. For a long time most of the fantasy that I read was by authors that always stated how much of an influence Tolkien had been on them or how they were influenced by a lot of the Dungeons and Dragons games/books and Dragonlance. A lot of those authors works felt very similar and focused on a grand world ending problem.
What I found to be different with Mr. Gaiman is that he had stated that much of his writing was influenced by Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I think it is really evident in Mr. Gaiman’s writing. His stories are much more akin to a fairy tale rather than an epic fantasy, and his stories all have that innefible quality of whimsy. I have been devouring all of his books I have been able to get my hands on from American Gods, The Graveyard Book, Coraline, Stardust, and two of his short story collections. I have for sure found a new favorite author and am enjoying studying his take on the craft. Also, in all the interviews I’ve read with him he is always travelling to some friends house or a cottage in the middle of nowhere to write and that alone has a sense of whimsy to it.
Rhett Bruer 