Neil Gaiman’s son coming to Google

File this in the “kick-ass” department: Neil Gaiman’s son is coming to work at Google. Apple, you may have the sexy iPhone, but we’ve got Neil Gaiman’s son. πŸ™‚

And if you don’t know who Neil Gaiman is, then I feel sorry for you. But also happy, because you get to read Neil Gaiman for the first time:
– Start with the Sandman series of graphic novels.
– Then get dark and eerie with Neverwhere if you want to know the real secrets of London. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar are two of the most delightful villains I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.
– Lighten up with the hilarious Good Omens, which Gaiman wrote with Terry Pratchett.
– Round it out with Stardust, which wins my award for “Best use of the word ‘fuck‘ in small print, exactly once, in a book.” You’ll have to read it to understand.

If you see him in person, you quickly notice that Gaiman gives off this “I’m mellow enough to be game for anything” vibe. At a book signing, I asked him to sign a book “Ach Crivens” (which anyone will tell you is a Terry Pratchett-ism). He tilted his head at me for a second, maybe trying to figure out if I was right in the head, then smiled and let ‘er rip:

Ach Crivens!

So Gaiman is a good egg in my book. πŸ™‚ By the way, if you’re looking for a good non-search-engine blog, Neil’s is delightful. His posts are insightfully funny and self-effacing, and the way he responds to readers could be a case study in creating passionate fans.

43 Responses to Neil Gaiman’s son coming to Google (Leave a comment)

  1. So who’s Neil Gaiman’s son and what is he going to be doing at Google? Are you happy because he’s his son or because he’s good on his own? πŸ™‚

  2. Neil has been blogging for longer than bloggin existed, he almost invented it. I’m with Matt, Neil is as close to cool as you are going to get without actually being one of his characters.

  3. A good egg, indeed. His blog, er, journal is a great example of how to blog.

    You should also check out his books for children: Wolves in the Wall, Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.

    And, oh, they’re making a Stardust movie, too. I wonder how they would use ‘fuck’ in there?

  4. Gaiman is a brilliant auther. Neverwhere is on my “best books ever” shelf. My original copy had been so badly thumbed that I bought the new, author’s preferred text version earlier this year and it too is in need of a swift replacement.

    The Sandman Chronicles are brilliant, as are most of the books spawned by them (Lucifer is soooo good)

    I didn’t like Good Omens, but the anthology of short stories, “Smoke and Mirrors”, is un-put-down-able.

    Sean
    ps: cheers for the review of Stardust, I’ll get a copy.

  5. The Neverwhere DVD is a casebook of low budget fantasy; superb stuff.

  6. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic author and an almost supernaturally nice guy. I met him at a signing, where he not only dedicated my copy of American Gods, but took the time to draw an original picture on the frontispiece. Just the coolest thing to do.

  7. what about American gods; one of the spookiest/scariest books I have ever read (regardless of the fact that hardly anyone gets killed in the book)

  8. Yep, I loved American Gods, Anansi Boys was a nice follow up. I actually found Gaiman through Good Omens, which I bought at a Pterry signing at University (a signing which they scheduled a week after the exams, so 99% of students had already left for the summer)

  9. Neil has demon like handwriting.

    I also like his use of images on his blog as a form of self promotion, outstanding!

    Matt – Ever read a book by Dax?

  10. American Gods was an awesome read, although I thought Neverwhere did a better job of making me emotionally connect with the characters.. who wouldn’t want to save Door? I agree with you though Matt, every new Neil reader should start with the Sandman comics/GNs. At the very least, just to truly appreciate the genius of Death. πŸ˜‰

    P.S. – Sean, how amazing was that story about the Angels in Smoke and Mirrors?!?!?

  11. JohnMu, I’m sure he’s great on his own; I have no idea when he actually joins though or what he’ll be doing.

    mrak, I really enjoyed American Gods too; I loved the epic ambition of it. It didn’t hurt that it had a “hi-tech” god either. πŸ™‚

    Aaron, I have read Dax’s book. Someday I’ll post a review of that, too. πŸ™‚

  12. Does Neil Gaimons son have a name? πŸ™‚

  13. Matt, you can recommend any books to start off as an intro to Giaman?

  14. That’s awesome. I wonder how long until Neil is the first result for “best writer”

    Best intro to Gaimen is Good Omens.

  15. Teen chick on cell: “Yeah, it’s funny… Google it. Wait, do you guys even have Google in Florida?”–54th & Parkvia Overheard in New York (.com), Jan 10, 2007

  16. Not to forget: Neil Gaiman also wrote a book about Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy. The title: “Don’t panic”.

  17. I am sure he;ll contribute to G on his own, but how can you write a whole article of living person introducing him as someone’s son without mentioning his first name at least once, its rather offensive … if i am known my whole life as someone’s daughter I;d kill myself…:)

  18. For any Neil Gaiman enthusiasts in the Twin Cities, Neil & Dave McKean are actually making an appearance tonight in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Center.

    Neil can occaisionally be spotted at DreamHaven, a spectactularly geeky sci-fi/comic book store in my Mpls. neighborhood, but I’m too afraid to talk to him for fear I’ll just start giggling like a nervous groupie. If you liked Smoke and Mirrors, you will also like Fragile Things.

  19. I kind of feel sorry for ‘Neil Gaiman’s son’. But fortunately for him, there are a lot of people out there who have no idea who Neil Gaiman is including me….so I am sure he exists quite capably in his own right.

  20. Shirley, they’re all so good in “Smoke and Mirrors”” that I can hardly decide on a favourite. The Angels is good but I would say that the fighting cat is better. The Holy Grail story was quite quite silly and had me laughing for days then I re-read it immediately…
    The great thing about the book is that he (they) have made it so randomly paced that you can read a horror and a fantasy and a serious piece in one sitting (or standing or lying depending on your prefered reading stance πŸ˜‰ )

    But nothing beats Neverwhere… For those attending SES London, Please note that the nearest station is, in fact, Angel Islington. It might be better to get out one station ealier and walk.

  21. I heard that Neil Gaiman can kick Chuck Norris’ ass.

    Lily, I didn’t want to rank for the guy’s name. Imagine if you searched for his son’s name, and my fanboy post came up. πŸ™‚

    Maybe I’ll re-read Neverwhere on vacation. For the best intro, I’d do the Sandman series. Then follow the order of books I mentioned in the original post. πŸ™‚

  22. “Ach Crivens” might well be used by Terry Pratchett but I’m afriad it’s a native Scots usually seen in print in Oor Wullie and the Broons.

    πŸ™‚

  23. Hey! I love the word “fuck”… in any print – I think I should read this guy’s book. LOL

  24. I like Neil Gaiman’s “Anansi Boys”. About how to survive family it’s the story of a young man named Charlie whose father died and after his father’s funeral, was in actuality the spider-trickster god. Its funny, love story and suspense.

  25. For those who get the Sandman reference, you might be interested to know that I own the Key to Hell. I used to wear it out as my Key of Office, back when I was more active in my role as the “Gothfather of Dallas”. Not nearly so impressive to wear to work in my capacity as an aging corporategoth, so I leave it at home these days, locked away in a cabinet.

    Andrew is right – the BBC TV miniseries for Neverwhere was really awesome! Worthwhile to get on DVD, I’d imagine.

    Very cool that Neil’s son will work for Google! Even cooler if this translates into getting Neil to visit the Googleplex where you could have lunch with him!

  26. that’s so unfair. currently, i’m reading Lucifer, a spinoff from the Sandman series.

  27. β€œBest use of the word β€˜fuckβ€˜ in small print, exactly once, in a book.”

    True! πŸ™‚
    I somehow didn’t like the rest of Stardust as much as American Gods and Anansi Boys, though. My first Gaiman was Good Omens (like someone else who commented), and I only read it because it said Terry Pratchett on the cover. I rediscovered Gaiman when people kept talking about his Sandman books. And while he’ll never be as cool Pratchett, he’s still way up there.
    And now his son works at Google. *sigh* If only Google had a technology office in Bombay…

  28. I’ll second the suggestion of reading some of the books he’s written for children. Also, if you ever have the chance to listen to him either talking at a science fiction convention/panel/discussion or anywhere else come to that, take it, because he’s a seriously funny and interesting guy.

  29. Neil’s son is named mike, he’s a great guy. I recommend checking out dearinter.net which he co-developed (I have no affiliation, i’m just a friend.) He’ll fit right in at google.

  30. Neil’s blog is powered by Blogger as well. He’s hung out with some members of the team a few times when he’s come by the ‘plex for lunch. Very friendly, very funny guy. And if you ever e.g. open up a sleeping laptop in a hotel that interstitials your first HTTP request, and Blogger’s posting form complains that it can’t contact Blogger so you therefore shouldn’t try to publish just yet, that feature is for Neil.

    Also, the son, who we are apparently not naming, (hi, “M”!) is likewise friendly and smart. He’ll do good things for Google.

  31. I heard he has written few science fictions, fantasy and some graphic novels, are you planning to join him as co-author of your blog?

  32. Damned, none translated into Dutch. I understand most of the technical English but poetry it’s a little bit over my head. Why doesn’t everybody speaks English, Esperanto or whatever? But hey some people speak the same language and still don’t understand each other.

  33. Crivens a Pratchettism?
    Maybe for merkins, but for an Englishman, like Pratchett, it’s the common parlance of our brothers from North of the border.

  34. Hey Matt, sorry to bother you but do you know where I can get my hands on one of those Blue Google t-shirts that Neil Gaiman’s son is wearing in the picture on the Neil Gaiman blog?

    Have checked the google store, but cant locate it…

    Si

  35. i love sandman.. πŸ™‚

  36. I don’t know who is Neil Gaiman but I don’t feel sorry for myself. πŸ™‚

  37. I also like his use of images on his blog as a form of self promotion!

  38. I’ve actually been introduced to Gaiman through this blog and want to say thank you! I still haven’t read any of his books, but I’ve started taking up writing and so starting to learn about the different authors out there. Gaiman looks like a brilliant author, with some serious great ideas that I wish I could think up. How he manages to get so much writing done, I don’t know. And he seems to be one of the lucky few who get to do it completely full time (writing books.) Perhaps not, but I’ve added his blog to my favorites list (which, in my opinion, means he is better than being bookmarked) and I’m keen to get into the mind of a modern day writer who seems to be causing quite a storm.
    By the way, I’m also wondering what his son is going to be doing at google.

  39. It sounds like Apple has to give their best shot this time considering that Neil is around. I love competition. And I know that this time it will be a very stiff competition.

  40. Thats cool, Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I love American Gods and Neverwhere.

  41. I may be the only girl that knows who you are talking about. My father was a huge fan and I pretty much have either heard of read it all. So what is he going to do there?

  42. thanks you

  43. thnxxxx admin

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