The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I'm actually shocked to be giving a Neil Gaiman book anything other than 5 stars. I can't tell if it's too much anticipation for the first “adult” book by my favorite author in about 8 years, that I just don't fully “get” it, or a combination of these.

In part, I know I was expecting this to be somewhat of a companion to American Gods. I read (erroneously, I realize now) somewhere that's what this was, but it isn't. That's yet to come. . . . So I was definitely expecting something else. Sure, this has elements of myth, but what Neil Gaiman story doesn't? In the end, as many reviewers have already stated, this book feels more similar to the Graveyard Book than any of his books for adults.

I think, also, that this was a very personal book for Gaiman to write. It's not much of a stretch to imagine Gaiman as the lonely boy who trusted books more than people. And of course,there's the image of himself on the back cover as a young man doing something the unnamed protagonist does in the book. Some have said that reading his wife's review of the book helped the puzzle pieces fit together (http://amandapalmer.net/blog/20130618/). Maybe you have to be an Amanda Palmer fan for that to work, but for me it didn't really offer any other clues.

All that said, this is a decent story. At turns so deliciously creepy and so very melancholy. It's worth a read. But if you are new to Neil Gaiman, don't start here.