Post #48: Neverwhere

Neverwhere: A Novel

Neil Gaiman

 

Post number forty-eight is for Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which has been on my to-read list for the past four years at least. I enjoyed the book quite a bit and have put the BBC production of the TV show (which was created first) into my Blockbuster queue to watch. You know, eventually. 

Brief spoilers follow. 

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Neverwhere is about a sort of dual world, London Above (i.e. the actual city of London) and London Below, which is where the people who have "fallen through the cracks" have gone. It's a sort of medieval world, with baronies and fiefdoms. Richard is from London Above. He has a stable life: a good job, a fiancée, etc. One day he stumbles upon Door, a girl from London Below, who he finds lying bleeding on a sidewalk while he's headed out to dinner with his fiancée. Against Jessica's wishes, he takes Door to his apartment to care for her, and that's when his adventure starts. 

Door is being hunted by two assassins, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. She's special because her family has a Talent: they can open things. She can basically open doors that aren't there and send herself wherever she wants to go. Richard gets pulled into the adventure against his will because, by helping Door, he becomes one of the people who falls through the cracks. 

The adventure includes a race against the two assassins and includes a cast of colorful characters, including rat-speakers, Hunter the bodyguard, and the marquis de Carabas. Richard's only hope is that he can eventually return to London Above and his real life. The angel, Islington, tells Richard that it can return him to his previous life if he'll help Door get a key from the Black Friars. There's a twist involved with this that the marquis finds out about via Croup and Vandemar. Actually, there are a whole ton of twists in this story that kept it quite entertaining and suspenseful and a lot of fun to read. It took me longer than it should have to finish the book because I've been balancing work and homework along with my reading time, but is something that, if you could devote a few consecutive hours to, you'd be able to finish quite quickly. 

I've heard grand things about Neil Gaiman and have now read four of his books, although one was a collaboration. I like his writing and his worlds, and definitely liked this book better than American Gods, which I felt dragged in some places and was rather dense. This book is kind of graphic in regards to Croup and Vandemar and some of the other characters, so that's something you should keep in mind if you do read it. But it's definitely a fun book. I look forward to seeing how the TV adaptation of the plot plays out. 

I have one more Gaiman book in my possession that I may finish prior to the end of this year, but have to admit that I'm not sure I agree with the idea that he's the best thing ever. He's good, but there have definitely been books that, imo, are better. (Although I will say that I loved Stardust.) *shrug* To each their own! 

Comments

[janicu]

I just watched the BBC production a couple of weeks ago. The book is better! The TV show kind of shows it's age. Very cheesy opening sequence and terrible fight scenes!! The rest is not so bad..