Unnatural Creatures: Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman by Neil Gaiman (PDF)

Description

Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds—collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman. The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying. Magical creatures from the werewolf, to the sunbird, to beings never before classified will thrill, delight, and quite possibly unnerve you in tales by E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries. Sales of Unnatural Creatures benefit 826DC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students in their creative and expository writing, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Stories and scripts aimed to explore memories, emotions, and wit. Even better, proceeds go towards charity. A double win in my book.

⭐What a fun compendium of fantasy short stories, selected by one of the masters of the genre, Neil Gaiman himself (who also submits a great little tale).What sets this selection apart from so many others is what it’s not: It’s NOT dark, gritty, “urban” nor a “paranormal romance”. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but it’s refreshing to read something not aimed at kids which gets outside those current “hot trends”.Now, I said “not aimed at kids’ but certainly Middle-schoolers and even advanced grade school readers will enjoy this collection, and a parent could supply this without a qualm to such.You have undoubtedly read a couple before, and that’s fine as there are many other gems here which have not seen the light of day since first published (I love the Edith Nesbit selection!), others which are recent, and two that are new here.Now, I did say the tales weren’t dark & gritty. But come-on, Neil selected them, so yes, they are sometimes more than a little macabre & weird.And what’s cool is that your purchase will help nonprofit 826DC, which fosters student writing skills. Fell good by buying, feel better while reading!

⭐Hmmm, it’s odd to write a review for this book. The stories ranged from fascinating to, well, boring. It really shows Neil Gaiman’s diverse tastes in short stories. Due to the “strength” of the really good stories, I say the book is a solid 4 stars. I preferred the short story anthologies that gaiman wrote himself.

⭐I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good short story. I never read anything quite like it.

⭐I have been a big fan of Neil Gaiman since an old friend introduced Sandman to me as a young teenager. Ever since, I always buy his new novels or collections of stories he puts out on the market. This one, however, is a bit different because, outside of one story which is already in Fragile Things, the others are from a wide range of new and old authors. Don’t let this deter you because Neil Gaiman has collected an eclectic group of short stories about creatures that hide in the back of our imaginations. I have already purchased three books by Diana Wynne Jones due to her wonderful story about Chrestromanci which resides in these pages. As a wonderful bonus, you get introductions to each story by Gaiman and beautiful artwork by Briony Morrow-Cribbs. You will also feel good about your purchase due to the money going towards 826DC’s cause which hopes to help mold a new generation of creative writers.

⭐As I view more of Mr. Gaiman’s work and choices for this collection, I feel that I share his sense of the absurd, and that enhances my reading experience. I tend to read now episodically over some time, delaying the end of works for my enjoyment.. Often I read on airplanes or while waiting, using my Kindle when I have the time. Mr. Gaiman, it seems to me, writes independent scenes which makes it convenient to experience a vignette satisfying in itself without having to keep reading right away.I had read none of the pieces selected for this compilation, and I felt as though I were sharing an inside view of some of the best writing of this nature out there, not that every piece was five stars–at least not right away–but that I’m still thinking about some of them, the way I do about other artistic experiences.

⭐Anyone who enjoys Neil Gaiman will enjoy this work. This is a collection of short stories with tidbits from Gaiman on each story, including personal experiences with the various authors. I found authors I had read before and other I hadn’t. I really enjoyed most of the works, especially “The Sage of Theare” by Diana Wynne Jones. This story is geared to a young reader, but offers thought provoking philosophies, including questioning social norms in government and religion. I like giving books with multiple authors to my nieces, nephews and friends’ kids. It gives them the opportunity to make their own choices in writers. I discovered Edgar Allan Poe this way when I was 10 years old. I own all his works now.

⭐The creativity of Neil Gaiman has always moved me in many ways. I loved this collections of stories from all different authors with the same creative passion.

⭐Compiled by fantasy-scribe extraordinaire, Neil Gaiman, this exceptionally enjoyable anthology of short stories that make up this volume is bound by the subject of fantastical creatures – the ones “that only exist in our minds”. The writing is eclectic; there’s the noirish “The Compleat Werewolf” by Anthony Boucher, which boasts Nazi spies, a femme-fatale Hollywood starlet, a magician, and of course a werewolf; the 19th-century tale of “The Griffin and the Minor Canon” by Frank R. Stockton, where the titular Griffin learns of his carven image on the church grounds of a small village and comes to see his likeness, throwing the lives of the parishioners and a young canon into disarray; and the contemporary YA story by Caribbean writer Nalo Hopkinson that interweaves the perils of teenage parties with an age-old myth in “The Smile on the Face”.Gaiman too, contributes his own piece “Sunbird” (found also in his earlier collection “Fragile Things”), about a group of epicureans who have exhausted their quest for every known kind of animal, and still seeks for more. Gaiman credits children’s author E. Nesbit for introducing this creature to him, and I was pleasantly surprised to read her story, “The Cockatoucan; or Great-Aunt Willoughby”, in this collection. I have never associated her with fantasy writing, being more familiar with her children’s classics like “The Railway Children”, though I had read her trilogy about five children and the mythical “psammead” as a child. Elsewhere in the collection are also tasty nuggets by familiar names like sci-fi writer Samuel R. Delany, Diana Wynne Jones, and even Saki, whose “Gabriel-Ernest” make up the other werewolf story in this collection.In a collection about fantastical creatures, it seems fitting that the last story “Come Lady Death” by Peter S. Beagle is about death, which Gaiman acknowledges as “the most natural of all unnatural creatures”. A bored and aging socialite Lady Neville has grown tired of her own parties, fine as they are, and she decides to invite Death to up the ante, so to speak. The result is a truly engaging tale with a chillingly unexpected conclusion.Highly recommended by anyone who has even a vague interest in imaginative fiction.

⭐I don’t usually read fantasy fiction, I just bought this as Kindle deal. It is a collection of 16 stories by different authors about fantastical creatures.Initial impressions were not great, the first story was not a bad idea, but really needed an edit, there seemed to be some random text and it fluffed the ending by being a bit garbled. Subsequent stories seemed to struggle on, each with an underwhelming resolution. By the half way point the standout story was by Saki, and surely anyone who enjoys reading has read all the Saki stories already. But from the midway point the quality of the stories seemed to be on a constant upward trajectory, with quite a few that would warrant the purchase price on their own.If you are less inclined to persevere with dull stories, then probably best to just read a few pages per story to decide whether you want to stick with it.

⭐I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman and was interested to read the authors that influenced him. It was particularly gratifying to find that he and I share a love for the same authors, like Peter S Beagle.The book itself is attractively presented and arrived well packaged and on time.But while packaging past stories by other authors and putting a very popular name on the front may help the readership find new writers they haven’t considered before, it’s still, to my mind, lazy publishing. The publishing world needs to find and promote new names – we can’t and shouldn’t go on living in the past!

⭐I just love Neil Gaiman. I love the stories he writes, and I also love the stories he likes reading that are from other authors. This book is no exception – it’s packed full of wonderful short stories about creatures that exist in other worlds (at least I hope some of them do) and the authors transport you to great places full of adventures.A perfect way to get to know new authors, read good stories and understand a little of what Neil Gaiman finds inspiring. So what’s not to like?

⭐i’m rubbish at reviews, but loved this book of short stories. It introduced me to many different authors, some that I have avoided, plus others that I have enjoyed in the past. The stories are pretty off the wall, all featuring some kind of animal or hinting at one. As I bought this for a Kindle, I cannot ‘dip in’ and give you a list of the authors, it takes far too long to navigate around 🙁 .Read all the positive reviews, then just go and buy this book.

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