The speculative genre is not small any longer. It has countless of sub-genres and cult-symbols, its followers occupy at least half of the Internet and the movies with the biggest revenues aren’t exactly the kitchen-sink dramas of yore. However, if we take a quick look at the literary side of things, we discover that there isn’t really a lot of authors that cross their assigned demographics to become something more than the fixation of fan-boys and raving nerds (a category I admittedly belong to). Stephen King is one example, Cormac McCarthy and JK Rowling are others, but none of those can quite match up to Neil Gaiman for me. He’s without doubt one my most beloved authors, and with “The Graveyard Book”, he’s written yet another novel so overflowing with magic that you’ll never walk into a graveyard without taking a second glance around your shoulder, remembering quietly the time you spent huddled captivated over its crisp pages.

I know I will.


“It is going to take more than just a couple of good hearted souls to raise this child. It will,” said Silas, “take a graveyard.”

- “The Graveyard Book”, page 20, by Neil Gaiman

“The Graveyard Book” is Neil Gaiman’s homage to Rudyard Kipling’s classic, “The Jungle Book”, and is therefore obviously not a book aimed primarily at adult readers. The story is about a boy named Nobody “Bod” Owens who was just a child when his family was assassinated by the man Jack. Little Bod managed to get away by crawling into a nearby graveyard filled with the ghosts of the dearly departed. These souls sensed the danger the child was in and decided to hide him from the man Jack until he grew old enough to take care of himself.

“The Graveyard book” is a tale about growing up, about ghouls and ghosts and about doing the right thing, and it’s all told with Neil Gaiman’s effortless prose and magical narrative. The story is told from Bod’s viewpoint with some occasional interludes that depict important scenes elsewhere in the world. It’s also written in a manner that makes each chapter a story unto itself (Chapter 4, “The Witch’s Headstone”, received a Locus award for “Best Novellete”), but not to the degree that the book feels more like a short story collection. My favourite chapter was chapter 5 “Danse Macabre”, which I think best epitomised the chilling, yet strangely cosy feel this book had.

My biggest objection to this book is actually that I think it was too short. This may very well have something to do with the fact that I could read Gaiman’s prose from now ’till doomsday without tiring, but I still think it could’ve used a little more space to flesh out its supporting characters and the reason why the man Jack killed Bod’s family. I realize that the plot was more of an excuse for Gaiman to tell the story of a boy that grows up in graveyard, and that it’s audience won’t probably care much about all of this, but… I do. I found the revelations in the last chapter to be too rushed and, frankly, not very original. I won’t spoil you, but it should suffice to say that Gaiman doesn’t shy away from a familiar fantasy trappings, and that saddens me, ’cause I know he could’ve done something cooler if he wanted to. But he didn’t, and that’s understandable when you consider that the book doesn’t really aim much higher than where it hits.

And where is that, exactly? I’d say pretty high, all though it doesn’t go down for me as one of Gaiman’s better novels. I don’t think an adult reader will take much away from this aside from the fuzzy feeling you get when you read something that you know is very well told, but not much more than that. However, if I’d gotten my hands on this book when I was a ten years younger, I’d probably think it was the most amazing thing ever, and I’d reread it till the spine broke the pages got stained with cookie crumbs and chocolate milk (most of my childhood books are).

Summed up, I’d say you should read “The Graveyard Book” if you’re a fan of Gaiman, and then you should find a young relative to pass it onto when you’re done. It’s what I’d do if I didn’t protect my Gaiman books like Smaug does with his treasure, and I’m not letting any Bagginses near them ever. They better keep their hairy feet off ‘em, I say!

8.0/10

The Graveyard Book can be pre-ordered from any online retailer that does that sort of thing. It will be released on the 31th of October; a date perhaps better known as Halloween…