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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

16 Comments

  1. Jarl
    April 24, 2014 @ 12:09 am

    Regarding the final comment:
    Heyo!

    Reply

  2. David Anderson
    April 24, 2014 @ 12:36 am

    Could you elaborate upon Remembrance of the Daleks as a base under siege?

    Reply

  3. Lewis Christian
    April 24, 2014 @ 2:45 am

    The gag is building, shaggy dog style, to an utterly disappointing payoff.

    In true Steven Moffat style!

    Reply

  4. jane
    April 24, 2014 @ 4:08 am

    Did I hear a valve pop?

    Reply

  5. Lewis Christian
    April 24, 2014 @ 5:36 am

    I heard a cry.

    Reply

  6. jane
    April 24, 2014 @ 6:21 am

    Minx!

    Reply

  7. Theonlyspiral
    April 24, 2014 @ 6:32 am

    You seem to be confused. This isn't Gallifrey Base.

    Reply

  8. Pôl Jackson
    April 24, 2014 @ 10:17 am

    In this entry, Clara is disguised as an utterly disappointing payoff.

    Reply

  9. encyclops
    April 24, 2014 @ 1:11 pm

    Factory Showroom: I love it, absolutely love it, but I see it as a turning point too, and I confess I haven't really bothered spending much time with anything they've done since, though I've heard a few individual songs I liked. I really started being turned off circa John Henry, though, not because it doesn't have brilliant moments (it does), but because it was the first TMBG album I didn't love start to finish.

    Neil Gaiman: I was prepared to disagree with your assessment of 2001-2011 until I looked it up and remembered what was happening during that period. I really enjoyed Anansi Boys and thought The Graveyard Book was pleasant enough, but they're definitely cuddly and not all that challenging. On the other hand, I wasn't that big on Neverwhere (it's all right, but even at the time it read like self-parody to me) or Stardust (just leaves me cold), and I've never liked many of his short stories. On the other hand, I'm not sure The Ocean at the End of the Lane isn't flat out the best thing he's ever done, so there we go.

    Reply

  10. storiteller
    April 24, 2014 @ 3:21 pm

    Utter and complete agreement on the "what do writers do?" question. Also, in agreement that good interviews have to be conversations or else they come off as terribly stilted and artificial.

    As for Disney World, I appreciate its ability to construct incredibly detailed, immersive physical versions of what are normally only imagined worlds. If you go as an adult, you start really noticing the strange little things that you never notice as a child – how spot-on retro Tomorrowland is, the posters for environmental rallies against loggers on the white-water rafting ride in Animal Kingdom, and the "buzzing bee" version of Beauty and the Beast while waiting on the Bug's Life ride. Universal has started down this path with Islands of Adventure, especially in the Harry Potter area, but doesn't quite stick the landing elsewhere.

    Reply

  11. Lewis Christian
    April 24, 2014 @ 3:33 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply

  12. Dave
    April 24, 2014 @ 5:27 pm

    Shots fired

    Reply

  13. Ben
    April 24, 2014 @ 8:13 pm

    Shots downed, beers give pursuit.

    Reply

  14. Ben
    April 24, 2014 @ 8:22 pm

    I haven't read The Ocean at the End of the Lane yet, but your recommendation resonates. So far American Gods is my favorite long work of Gaiman's. Laura Moon makes up at least half the reason for this preference. In the short story department, what do you think of "Murder Mysteries"?

    As to TMBG, Give Nanobots a chance. It's got some of John and John's best songwriting on it.

    Reply

  15. encyclops
    April 25, 2014 @ 7:32 am

    American Gods was my favorite, too, until Ocean (which is a very different animal, so maybe it's not even right to compare them). "Murder Mysteries" is fine by me; it's been a long time since I read it, but I remember it was among the ones I enjoyed (P. Craig Russell helped). I started (and stopped) reading his short stories at a time when my youthful reaction was typically "This isn't as good as Sandman" (which also helps explain my initial reaction to Neverwhere), which is obviously unfair. I should go back and read some of those collections again.

    I'll check out Nanobots, thanks! I haven't really disliked what I've heard since then (except the kids' albums, which I like better in principle than in practice), I just kind of got out of the habit of following them.

    Reply

  16. Robert Lloyd
    April 25, 2014 @ 6:26 pm

    As much as I love… LOVE Neil Gaiman in general, it does seem like everything from roughly the time of "American Gods" onwards was A Neil Gaiman Story (TM).

    Sometimes ("Anansi Boys", "The Graveyard Book", much of "The Doctor's Wife") this was still a wonderful thing. Other times ("Odd and the Frost Giants", "Beowulf"), not so much. (Could his "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" BE any more head-shakingly Gaiman?!?)

    But he's still completely worthwhile, of course. I was lucky enough to see him live in Savannah back in '12, as part of a storytelling tour – he read an autobiographical story about meeting Amanda Palmer; the CD accompanying the tour had another about his son, and both were lovely in their sweetness and somewhat bewildered good humor. I haven't yet gotten to read "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" but am looking forward to it. I will probably always maintain that we are SO lucky to have him.

    Reply

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