Smoke and Mirrors: A Book Review.

Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller. That's exactly what I'm thinking right now. That's exactly what I believe. And that's exactly why I'm writing this book review: To prove that Gaiman is a really great storyteller.

The second Gaiman book I have read is Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions. And as the subtitle suggests, it's a collection of short fictions and illusions. Why 'illusions'? Read the introductory chapter and find out. I don't want to spoil your fun, your amazement, so if you're a lazy reader-reviewer type, I'd suggest that you go get a copy of the book.

To those who want to know much of the details about the book, stay.

In my opinion, Smoke and Mirrors is every bit better than any Stephen King short story compilation. To be honest, I instantly lost my interest reading the first pages of a King book. Smoke and Mirrors starts with a brilliant introduction and ends with a brilliant story. I didn't really bother flipping to various stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King.

Anyway, onto the content of Smoke and Mirrors. It definitely shows a lot about Gaiman: different story plots involving different characters with different traits. In short, it proves that Gaiman is flexible in storytelling, a feat mastered by (as far as I know) a few. I knew something was wrong when I read Rowling's books. I knew something was wrong when I read Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books. There isn't enough flexibility of the author to satisfy me. And it's this flexibility that I found in Smoke and Mirrors.

There are a lot of stories to satisfy everything people would want to read. From a unique and nice little tale about the Holy Grail being bought from a thrift shop, to Gaiman's take on the popular fairytale "The Three Billie Goats Gruff", and to the mythical tales about angels, which can surely be considered a modern myth sensation.

Granted, not every story can please. There are those people who would shy away from a story, being too explicit (you DO know what I mean). There would be those who'd like to cut to the chase and avoid long, winding intros in the story. I found myself reading most of the stories (I still haven't read the Desert Wind). But to be honest, all of Smoke and Mirrors' stories must be read if one can.

Of course, everyone has their notables. I'd list my top three short stories in ascending order here:

1. Chivalry
2. Queen of Knives
3. We Can Get Them For You For Wholesale

I also very much appreciate "Murder Mysteries", but the stories I listed are my definite favorites. Another great story is the Wedding Present, which is not officially listed as one of the stories, but Neil put it as part of the introduction. It was a pretty sweet and scary story.

To sum it up, Smoke and Mirrors lives up to any Gaiman fan's expectations. Just don't expect the stories to be as windingly complex and twisty as Gaiman's novels. After all, they ARE short stories.