I've now read Neil Gaiman's American Gods, Sandman, and Neverwhere. I've seen Stardust and am currently reading Anansi Boys. I'm finding I don't like Neil Gaiman as much as thought I did. I found Neil through the Sandman. I think the use of pictures and being such a short format kept me from seeing how depressing and futile his stories leave me. They are the opposite of "up-lifting". His stories have an undercurrent of sadness and anticlimax and dismissive cruelty. Luckily his comics being so short, it never had a chance to build too much. The story about the king of San Francisco, the story where Baghdad goes into Dream, the story about Emperor Augustus were all ultimately sad. His longer story arcs, looking back on it, were very depressing, like the one with the coo-coo killing Barbie's dream world or the death of Dream. I felt cheated after finishing American gods. It looked like it would be satisfying but wasn't in reality.
What do you all think about Neil Gaiman?

I tend to prefer Gaiman's novel-length works. I own two of his short story collections - Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things - and have read them cover to cover, but none of the stories grabbed me like his novels do. Apparently - judging from previous discussions I've had about him on other boards - you either like his short stories, or his novels. It's very rare to like both.

I like Neverwhere (I have a thing for fantasy cityscapes) and Stardust (the movie doesn't exactly follow the book's plot - there's no zombie unicorn in the movie, for example), and I like American Gods though it took me two tries to get through it - I'm less fond of Anansi Boys.

I've read Sandman (at least parts of it - getting my hands on the entire thing is expensive), and I liked that, too, but my first love is and will always be his novels.

I suppose you're right about his stories not being very uplifting. There is a lot of brutality and dreams not matching reality and a lot of ugliness in his books, and I rarely close a Gaiman book and thing "Wow, I sure feel like sunshine and daisies!" - but I love them nonetheless. Of course, I have a fondness for the more brutal kind of fantasy - George RR Martin, Steven Erikson, China Mieville - and if I want to read something uplifting, I'll go read something by another author. Gaiman has a way with language, and his descriptive passages are a joy to read.

I can't wait to read The Graveyard Book.

I like both. But I've only read a few, so I'll probably start leaning one way or the other once I get hold of some more of his work.

I agree with you both about the very depressing nature of them, but that's why I like them. It's a nice change from most novels I've read.

I liked how Sandman was carried out. It was mysterious and ultimately not depressing I thought. His novels are sort of weird. I thought American God's ending was a bit anticlimactic. I saw half of the Stardust movie and got bored and stopped watching it.

I'm not a huge fan. The ideas in his novels are okay but, ultimately, they lack the wit of, say, a Douglas Adamas or even a Terry Pratchett.

His reputation in comics is obviously built almost entirely on Sandman which - for me - is very hit and miss. Many of the stories (and it is an anthology of short stories rather than the 11-volume epic DC/Vertigo would like us to believe it is) are not especially well executed. Some of them, in my opinion, aren't really comics at all - just prose stories with illustrations. Overall, it's an "okay" piece of work given added credibility by its length and the arty Dave McKean covers.

I tend to think that the real value of Sandman is not so much its quality but the breadth of its subject matter. It has a few cameo appearances by members of DC's super hero community but first and foremost it's a collection of tales that range from fantasy to horror, from crime to the historical, from human drama to the supernatural. Gaiman may not be as great as many have held him up to be, but he did popularise a lot of the genres that we now see in the independent sector and, especially, in webcomics.

Plus he invented the characters of Death and Delirium. He deserves a medal for that alone!

Well, since I've read everything I could get my hands on by him*, I'd dare say I like Neil Gaiman.
I can't say why, perhaps it's the ideas or his way with words, perhaps it something else. I don't really care much as it is, liking or disliking an authoror is something personal, and very often it's not a logical thing.

As to his books being depressing. Well, it's not something I've noticed. I'm not saying that you're all wrong, but maybe it depends on how you see things? And I'll have to admit that the happy endings often leaves me unsatisfied, so I could just be one of the people who prefer it's not all sunshine and roses.

And the novels >< short stories thing amuses me, because I like both. It depends on what I feel like reading. Sometimes I want the long, continious story, sometimes something short. I can find good things in both. But I always suggest starting with Smoke and Mirrors, the oldest of his two short story collections, or Coraline. I find them the best "starters", and if people don't like him, then it's fine.

Personally I'm eagerly waiting for The Graveyard Book.

*Meaning mostly his books and I'm slowly getting Sandman.

Robert Smith is the prince of dreams and death is a goth chick

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I liked the Marvel 1602.