All that holds it back is that it’s a little on the short side. Without a doubt, this is one of the best Neil Gaiman books for its beauty and originality. It’s a thrill of a story that feels both fantastical and contemporary. It respins the helpless damsel and the brave hero dynamic into something fresh, modern, and very exciting. This is exactly what a reimagining of a fairy tale should be. The storybook format the gorgeous fairy tale cover made it clear from the start that this was a different kind of Neil Gaiman book: an illustrated fairy tale for adults. As a Neil Gaiman fan, I was very surprised when I first picked it up. The Sleeper and the Spindle is a very different beast. Consider this a top ten Neil Gaiman books and it begins with The Sleeper and the Spindle. The bottom five are good books but either flawed or lacking the spark of his better books. We’re really getting into Neil Gaiman’s best books now. Trigger Warningįrom here on, everything is good. And no book with a stegosaurus scientist in a hot air balloon can actually be a bad book, can it? 14. It’s a sweet tale with a charming premise and a stegosaurus scientist in a hot air balloon. He recounts this tale to his child after returning home from an adventure that should, actually, have been a quick trip to the shops for milk. To him, readers are readers and he caters to both seamlessly.įortunately, the Milk…is a children’s book, heavily and beautifully illustrated by Chris Riddell, which tells the whimsical tale of a father’s journey around the world. It’s also lovely because it demonstrates how well Neil Gaiman is able to adapt his ideas to an audience of children rather than adults. This is a real flexing of this writer-artist pair’s imagination muscles. This is still a lovely Neil Gaiman book, in part because Chris Riddell’s illustrations are utterly gorgeous. I also read this book at the age of 23, knowing that the target demographic is very young children. It feels a little mean putting this at the bottom but, honestly, Neil Gaiman has never written a flat-out bad book. We’re starting with his worst and moving down to his best. So, if you’re wondering where to start reading Neil Gaiman, or you’re simply looking for the very best Neil Gaiman books, here is my own ranking. If it’s good Neil Gaiman prose, it’s on this list. This list of the best Neil Gaiman books includes his novels for children, his novels for adults, and his short story collections all ranked from worst to best. You won’t find Sandman or any of his work for Marvel and DC here. What you’ll find here is my ranking of the best Neil Gaiman books. The Best Neil Gaiman Books, Ranked: Worst to Best The Best Neil Gaiman Books, Ranked: Worst to Best.

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