My favorite author currently working is Neil Gaiman.  There are many others I like better, but unfortunately death has impeded their writing output.  Gaiman is a master storyteller in any writing discipline. He writes fairy tales for adults and writes them better than anyone putting pen to paper (or fonts on a blank Word screen….you get it).  His Sandman series is widely regarded as one of – if not the best – comic book series of all-time.  His prose is just as good without pictures.

In novels like Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Gaiman demonstrates an ability to create worlds that exist just out of the corner of our eyes and unlocks the door separating the adult from the child.  Speaking of children, Gaiman has also written several books for a younger audience, from the YA novels Interworld and Coraline to picture books like The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish (If the image looks familiar to you, Counting Crows nabbed it for one of their album covers).

With the exception of Stephen King, no one has done more to preserve the short story than Gaiman.  He’s released several of his own collections (Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things, M is for Magic) and contributed to and edited dozens more.  This versatility is one of my favorite things about Gaiman (he even performs his own audio books).  In my top 5, I’ve tried to skim the top of each of the fields in which Gaiman excels.  In the last three decades, he’s put together an extremely diverse portfolio of work.  All of it celebrates the extraordinary; the wonder and danger that lurk in everyday life.  A new release from Gaiman is cause for celebration, whether it’s a children’s picture book, a guest issue of Batman or an epic novel.  Here are my five favorite examples of his work.

1. Sandman

 2. Neverwhere

 3. Stardust

4. Smoke & Mirrors

5. The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish