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Smoke and Mirrors
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories
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In the absolutely packed Act II, the dark fantasy resumes and the Sandman expands into the French Revolution, ancient Rome, 19th-century San Francisco, eighth-century Baghdad, and beyond. New and familiar characters abound, voiced by a bright mix of performers, including Kat Dennings, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Michael Sheen, Kristen Schaal, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Wright, and so many more, including fan-favorite narrators Simon Vance and Ray Porter.
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With a writer as prolific as Neil Gaiman, what do you check out next? Or, perhaps, where do you begin? Spanning Gaiman's career to date, this collection of groundbreaking, entrancing, endlessly imaginative fiction will answer those questions. Curated by Gaiman's devoted listeners around the world, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults - Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys and The Ocean at the End of the Lane - and nearly 50 of his short stories.
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The coat. It was elegant. It was beautiful. It was so close that he could have reached out and touched it. And it was unquestionably his. A Neverwhere short story from one of the brightest, most brilliant writers of our generation - the Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author of the award-winning The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
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A full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman’s celebrated apocalyptic comic novel, with bonus length episodes and outtakes. According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday in fact. Just after Any Answers on Radio 4….Events have been set in motion to bring about the End of Days. The armies of Good and Evil are gathering and making their way towards the sleepy English village of Lower Tadfield.
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Delightful and hilarious!
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Chivalry
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Mrs Whitaker just wants to have a chat with her dear friend Mrs Greenberg over homemade macaroons. But her charity shop find soon makes her the focal point of a most important quest when a handsome young man - who says he’s called Galaad - comes asking for the Grail. This sound designed, multi-voiced reading is an extended cut, including material not heard in the radio broadcast, and is introduced by an exclusive interview with Neil Gaiman.
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£1 a minute.
- By Dob on 13-08-20
Summary
This short fiction collection includes 'Chivalry', this year's Radio 4 Neil Gaiman Christmas Day special, starring Glenda Jackson and Kit Harington. This is the story of Mrs Whitaker, who finds the Holy Grail in a charity shop.
Open your mind to one of the brightest, most brilliant writers of our generation....
This definitive collection of Neil Gaiman's short fiction will haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul. An elderly widow finds the Holy Grail beneath an old fur coat. A stray cat fights and refights a terrible nightly battle to protect his unwary adoptive family from unimaginable evil. A young couple receives a wedding gift that reveals a chilling alternative history of their marriage. These tales and much more await in this extraordinary book, revealing one of our most gifted storytellers at the height of his powers.
Critic reviews
"There's no one quite like Neil Gaiman." (George R. R. Martin)
"Gaiman is god in the universe of story." (Stephen Fry)
What listeners say about Smoke and Mirrors
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- tara
- 27-03-17
I couldn't stop listening and felt empty when it was over.
I love how these short stories linger with you just enough to have to pause the next one, to take in the situations you are flung into and the horror/ memories that you go through. My favourite and least chilling is the Holy Grail story, the one that gave me the chills was Gaiman's version of Snow White, and the story with the mouse trap made me the most uncomfortable. I will be listening again soon, there's no doubt about it.
6 people found this helpful
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- Landgirl
- 30-04-15
A Gallery on An Other World
This collection of short stories offers a great opportunity to hear a writer's voice developing. The downside is that the stories can become same-y, and, inevitably, some stories resonate more with a listener. His Murder Mysteries story seems to me to be an absolute marvel--both the story and his reading. I had the same feeling of amazement as a child with a bedtime story, especially with this one but with many of the others as well. His performance of the stories is compelling.
There is much more to Gaiman's stories than things that go bump in the night although he does such stories deftly. Neil Gaiman offers us a perspective on the world that is honest and ironic, slightly cynical but deeply affectionate. Through his stories you meet a gallery of characters some familar--others perhaps that person you saw on the bus last week or that lady on the train. Through his story telling we are transported to someplace almost like here and we come back from the visit just a little bit wiser or kinder or grateful.
6 people found this helpful
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- Greg
- 14-08-18
A very mixed bag.
I came into this one cold as a fan of Gaiman's work as an Author of comic books but never having read or listened to any of his novels. As a fan of short stories and novellas this seemed like a good place to dip my toe into the water. The experience was mixed at best.
Naturally like any collection of short stories and poems there's a fair bit of diversity on show. But perhaps in some places to such an extent that I lost track of any distinct authorial Voice.
The stories that are good are often great; his lovecraft mythos stories have tons of character and even a fair bit of unexpected humour, and the tale of the troll under the bridge lingered with me long afterwards for no reason I can clearly explain.
But there's a lot of filler added that doesn't quite stand up. Some of this is down to Gaiman being the one to read his own work. The man is without doubt a talented author but he is not a natural narrator or performer. His accents come and go, when he manages a convincing one, and his listless dreamy voice works well for the whimsy but badly for anything where the blood is supposed to run a little hotter.
Gaiman devotees and completists will probably enjoy it a lot. But it's not the best introduction to his writing and I think perhaps he is best served by being read by a professional narrator or voice artist.
4 people found this helpful
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- Vee
- 17-02-20
Don't bother.The stories: rambling and forgettable
Not worth the download, unless you want to listen to background noise to send you to sleep.
1 person found this helpful
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- MR
- 28-12-13
some truely memorable stories but some forgetable
What made the experience of listening to Smoke and Mirrors the most enjoyable?
The wedding, the angle story and snow, glass, apples where very memorable and fantastic tales. Many of the others where good short tales like the American tourist who stopped in a pub, and the werewolf. But several where quite frogetable.
Would you be willing to try another book from Neil Gaiman? Why or why not?
Yes this is my 3rd Neil Gaiman book and his tales are intriguing i say it like that as his story and interesting don't feel like the right words to describe his style.
Which character – as performed by Neil Gaiman – was your favourite?
Don't think i can pick 1 from about all the tales
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
As short stories some of them i did.
Any additional comments?
Neil Gaiman reading his own book he is able to emphasise the important parts. any body listening to this be prepared for some dark tales
5 people found this helpful
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- Susan
- 24-04-15
wonderful collection
I really enjoyed listening to this on my drives to and from work. He really creates believable worlds and characters
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 08-08-22
Some great stories
I always love listening to Neil Gaiman so it was a safe bet i would enjoy these short stories. They offer some fun twists on order stories that really stick in your mind.
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- Tod Werewolf
- 30-04-22
Not his best
I am a fan of Neil Gaiman, But found this collection hard going! Not much of the magic you expect from such a great writer. Fan’s only.
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- Mrs. V. C. Bluff
- 27-03-20
Very mysterious!
Loved this book. Very eloquently written. Gives you lots to think about. Very thought provoking.
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- Just
- 02-02-20
Gaiman's First Anthology
Smoke and Mirrors is Neil Gaiman's first collection of short fiction. I enjoyed reading this many years ago and the audio version, narrated skilfully by Gaiman himself, is quite excellent. If you like short fiction and easy listens, then this is certainly right for you. Would definitely recommend.
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- Joni J Mielke
- 16-01-20
Not my favourite Gaiman compilation
I enjoyed some of stories more than I did others. The narration is excellent, with good adjustment for different characters, as well as the shifts in tone and genre. I liked the variety of stories and poems that were included in this collection. No matter the subject matter, there is always a vividness to these tales that make them almost materialise in front of ones eyes as they're conveyed with Gaiman's customary intelligence and attention to detail. A good listen.
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- Alan Parker
- 09-04-15
Too dark!
The stories are too dark for my tastes. Good narration, first section a waste of time - just talking about how the stories came about.