de Neil Gaiman
Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things—which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume.
In this new collection, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction—stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013—as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.
Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience A Calendar of Tales are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year—stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale The Case of Death and Honey. And Click-Clack the Rattlebag explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we're all alone in the darkness.
A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.
Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things—which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume.
In this new collection, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction—stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013—as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.
Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience A Calendar of Tales are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year—stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale The Case of Death and Honey. And Click-Clack the Rattlebag explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we're all alone in the darkness.
A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.
Critiques-
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Not every author is also a talented narrator, but Neil Gaiman is succeeding at mastering the art. It's a pleasure to listen to him deliver his new collection of short stories. He's clearly enjoying himself, and listeners will be carried along with his good cheer. Gaiman's stories are almost always spooky, odd, and disquieting, and he narrates with tense concern, calm bravado, or quiet menace, as called for. He creates terrific Scottish and American accents and softens his tones for female characters, in particular performing convincingly as an elderly woman. The only quibble with this audiobook is its widely varying volume. When Gaiman drops his voice, it becomes so quiet that it can be hard to hear in a car--listening with headphones is best. G.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
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Starred review from February 23, 2015
Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) again delivers masterful compositions and style in his third collection. His decision to include poetry is vindicated by the concrete images in "Making a Chair" and the mournful tones of "Witch Work." Among the prose pieces are two works of stark horror: " 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains...' " and "My Last Landlady." The experimental "ORANGE" and the collected internet project "A Calendar of Tales" represent the rewards of Gaiman's fearlessness in storytelling. He also includes shared-world tales, revisiting Sherlock Holmes in "The Case of Death and Honey" and Doctor Who in "Nothing O'Clock." In "Kether to Malkuth" Gaiman creates a new mythology with the flavor of science fiction, while "The Sleeper and the Spindle" is a delightful fusion fairytale that subverts tropes and creates a new sense of wonder. Both enthusiasts of short fiction and fans of Gaiman's longer works may approach this volume with confidence. Full of small and perfect jewel-like tales, this collection is a thrilling treasure. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. -
September 1, 2014
I don't have to introduce Gaiman as the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy Award- and Newbery Medal-winning author of numerous spectacular examples of speculative fiction, do I? He's back with a third collection of short pieces, including a Dr. Who story written for the 50th anniversary of the series in 2013 and a brand-new story exclusive to this anthology. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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February 1, 2015
The third collection of short fiction from a beloved modern mythmaker. Everything that endears Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, 2014, etc.) to his legions of fans is on display in this collection of short stories (and the occasional poem): his gift for reimagining ancient tales, his willingness to get down into the dark places, his humor. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, except for the new American Gods story "Black Dog" (which does not disappoint), but the collection as a whole does add up to something bigger than it seems (only partly because there's a TARDIS in it). Even the weakest of these tales have something to recommend them-an image, a turn of phrase, a mood. And the strongest are truly extraordinary. There's the grim implacability of "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains...," walking steadily on to its inevitable yet unexpected ending; there's the absurd Wodehouse-an charm of "And Weep, Like Alexander"; the haunting power of "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury"; and the skin-crawling, slow-building creepiness of the love letter "Feminine Endings." Sherlock Holmes is here, explaining the real reason he started keeping bees, and Sleeping Beauty, twice, and our old friend Shadow, and even David Bowie, in a way. Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new ones-if there's anyone out there left unconverted.COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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March 1, 2015
Gaiman here breaks his own rule of anthology structure. The 24 entries are a willy-nilly hodgepodge of contemporary horror, classic fantasy, poetry, and general imaginative musings sketched out by one of our time's most celebrated fantasy authors. For this, Gaiman asks the reader's indulgence and forgiveness in his equally meandering and captivating introduction (including perhaps one of the best and shortest of his stories). This collection will surely be absolved and thoroughly indulged in, as all but one of the included stories are previously published favorites that chill and enchant with worlds of meaning, serendipity, and intent. Black Dog is the lengthy newcomer here, taken from a director's cut of Gaiman's novel American Gods. The story caps off Gaiman's folktale-fed narratives by following a mysterious traveler through an English countryside still quietly ruled by the spirits of old religion. Those who want to greet and shake hands, or settle in for a conversational catch-up with Gaiman's delightfully dramatic minstrel's-tale-by-the-campfire style will love everything in Trigger Warning, naturally.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
