NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Cinnamon is a young princess who cannot talk.  Her parents are desperate to teach her to speak, and offer treasure and riches to anyone who can help her to do so.  Many try, but none succeed.  Until one day a fierce tiger arrives and wants to help Cinnamon.  Her parents are worried that the tiger will trick them, but they agree to let him try.

MY THOUGHTS

I may be a little biased here, after all, this story bears my name!  Yep, Cinnamon is my name, so I was stoked to stumble across this story last week when I was checking out Neil Gaiman’s website!  As with most Neil Gaiman stories, this one falls into the fantasy category of science fiction.  It was a very quick read with some great illustrations that your kids will enjoy too!

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 1,138
• Page Count: 3

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read Cinnamon for free at Neil Gaiman’s website.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

A man who is mourning his lost daughter decides to make journey to a legendary cave.  It is told that the cave is filled with gold, but that it is also cursed.  Most men are too afraid to seek the riches of the cave.  But our main character is no normal man, and he has had some unique experiences in life.  So he enlists the help of a guide, and together they make the long and difficult travel to the cave.  But when they arrive, things are not as they seem…

MY THOUGHTS

I’m ashamed to admit that this is the first story I have ever read by Neil Gaiman!  Tsk tsk…  But I am happy to announce that I now understand the cult following this famous author has acquired.  (1.5 million followers on Twitter.)

The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains was a delightful first read for me.  I enjoyed Gaiman’s writing style, and the vivid images that drifted off the pages.  This story had layers of meaning, and left me thinking about the age old saying, “What goes around, comes around.”

Although this one falls more into the fantasy side of science fiction, I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 10,517
• Page Count: 24
• About the Author: Did you know that Neil Gaiman’s first book was a Duran Duran biography?  Learn more fascinating facts about Neil at his website, or at Wikipedia.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read  The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains for free at Fifty Two Stories.

“Snow, Glass, Apples” is a 1994 short fantasy story by Neil Gaiman. It tells the all-too familiar fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves from a fresh perspective – that of the Snow White’s stepmother.

Once Upon a Time…

…there was a beautiful woman, who was fortunate enough to win the love of a king. What she didn’t realize was that her new royal life will soon pit her against the king’s monstrous daughter.

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Events unfold in a flashback, with Snow White’s stepmother recounting her story, starting with her first meeting with the king. We learn a bit about her background, and her practice of magical arts is given some context. All the familiar elements from the original fairy-tale – the dwarves, the prince, the kiss – appear in the story, with a dark and disturbing twist.

My Two Cents

This is my favorite Gaiman story. As with all of Gaiman’s work, it demonstrates not only his deep knowledge of folklore and legends, but also his understanding of what makes them work. Today, the most familiar version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is probably the Disney feature; though this version actually had its share of darkness as well, it is mostly remembered for the cheerful singing dwarves who branded the fairy tale as some sort of “family entertainment” for generations to come. In “Snow, Glass, Apples”, Gaiman appears to go against this approach, but in fact takes the fairy-tale back to its original, darker roots. At its core, this is a horror story of best kind: the kind that makes its readers shiver whenever another terrible thing happens, and yet they just can’t stop reading it. The traditional beginning-middle-end story structure – somewhat atypical of Gaiman’s writing – provides the story with a solid narrative backbone that works well in both keeping the readers fascinated and preserving the fairy tale atmosphere.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Word Count: 5035
• In Israel, where I live, the story was first published (translated to Hebrew) in The Tenth Dimension – the former magazine of the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy. The issue in which the story appeared had an amazingly cool cover illustration by Avi Katz, later also used as the cover for the Hebrew edition of Gaiman’s anthology Smoke and Mirrors. You can see it here.

Where You Can Read It:

• It is included in Gaiman’s anthology Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions.
• It is also available at the blog The Dreaming, devoted to Gaiman’s works.

Thanks to Raz for this awesome review! Be sure to check out my review of his story: Happy Birthday, Niatti by Raz Greenberg

by Neil Gaiman

• Word count: 5097
• Page count: 10

How To Talk To Girls At Parties is another excellent science fiction short story from master story teller Neil Gaiman. It is about a couple of teen-aged boys who go to a party to meet girls, only to find that the girls are much different than they imagined.

Do you remember what it was like being a teenager? Sometimes talking to members of the opposite sex was a huge challenge. In this 2007 short story (which was nominated for the 2007 Hugo award for Best Short Story) a pair of boys discover that girls truly are different than boys – just how much different they never knew.

The story follows Enn, a shy boy whose friend encourages him to just talk to girls. While at the party, with his friend away schmoozing girls, Enn talks to three very nice but strange girls. As he focuses on “making a move” on the girls, he learns some amazing things about their lives.

We both attended an all-boys’ school in south London. While it would be a lie to say that we had no experience with girls — Vic seemed to have had many girlfriends, while I had kissed three of my sister’s friends — it would, I think, be perfectly true to say that we both chiefly spoke to, interacted with, and only truly understood, other boys. Well, I did, anyway. It’s hard to speak for someone else, and I’ve not seen Vic for thirty years. I’m not sure that I would know what to say to him now if I did.

Where you can find How To Talk To Girls At Parties:
• How To Talk To Girls At Parties originally appeared in Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders – a collection of short stories and poetry by Neil Gaiman.
• You can read a nice HTML version online for free at Neil Gaiman’s website.

Neil Gaiman is a prolific and widely talented writer. You can learn more about him on Wikipedia.

If you like this story you will probably also like Neil Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald.

by Neil Gaiman

• page count: 9

A Study in Emerald, the 2004 winner of the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, is a unique blending of two literary traditions: Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.

It is a short story told from the point of view of an assistant to an extraordinarily gifted detective.The detective and the narrator help the Scotland Yard of 1914 track a killer of a most unusual victim.

As usual, Gaiman crafts an excellent tale that is extremely satisfying. If you like Neil Gaiman’s other works (The Sandman, Stardust, American Gods – among others), or you are familiar with H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos then you will probably really like this story. However, even if your not familiar with those you can still enjoy this fine piece from one of today’s most prominent writers.

Isz not to be afraid. Isz to be worthy. Isz to be a companion. That was what she said to me. Her voice was a very sweet contralto, with a distant buzz. Then the limb uncoiled and extended , and she touched my shoulder. There was a moment, but only a moment, of a pain deeper and more profound than anything I have ever experienced, and then it was replaced by a pervasive sense of well-being. I could feel the muscles in my shoulder relax, and, for the first time since Afghanistan, I was free from pain.

Where you can find A Study in Emerald:
• A Study in Emerald originally appeared in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street: New Tales of Terror!
• It can also be found in Gaiman’s collection of short stories and poetry Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
• Gaiman’s own website provides a free pdf version that is fun because it recreates the look and feel of an early 1900′s English newspaper.

If you are interested in learning more about Neil Gaiman be sure to check out the biography on his website.

If you like this story you will probably also like Neil Gaiman’s How To Talk To Girls At Parties.