Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (1996) 370 pages
A wild ride of urban fantasy with intriguing and quirky characters, this adventurous novel follows Richard Mayhew as he discovers everything about the London Below.
Richard Mayhew is an average businessman living a humdrum life until he is abruptly pulled into a secret Underworld filled with assassins, bodyguards, angels, and many more magical eccentric creatures. It all starts when he decides to help a bloody stranger who appears in front of him out of nowhere. This begins Richard’s abrupt and initially awkward journey into a strange new world as he decides to help the stranger, Door, find her way back home and discover what happened to her family. Neil Gaiman creates several characters to help move this journey along. Each one has a unique, quirky personality. He also includes flowing details to describe the situations and characters. Those details are enough to create a movie-like scene in the readers’ mind. “They wore black suits, which were slightly greasy, slightly frayed, and even Richard, who counted himself among the sartorially dyslexic, felt there was something odd about the cut of the coats. They were the kind of suits that might have been made by a tailor two hundred years ago who had had a modern suit described to him but had never actually seen one.” For those who have read Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, this is a similar storyline. Neverwhere is fast paced, suspenseful, and mysterious. It is great for those who love fantastical creatures and stories, but may be overwhelming for those who do not like a large cast of characters and/or traveling through strange unknown worlds.
A wild ride with twists and intriguing characters, Neverwhere can be a wonderful escape into a magical world not too far from the real one.
Rachel, great review! I love magical realism, but have a personal hatred for Gaiman. Still, this sounds interesting as heck- and I really think you sell it super well. Maybe I'll give him another try.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so cool! I always get this title mixed up with American Gods (probably because the editions I've seen have similar covers), but this really makes me want to check it out! I really like that you noted people who don't like a huge cast or strange worlds might not enjoy this book. I haven't seen a lot of reviews with those kinds of qualifiers, and it's nice to have a heads-up for people with different tastes. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI have never read any books by Neil Gaiman but have been wanting to (American Gods is the one in particular I've intended to read), but maybe I will read this one first instead! I don't usually like books with too many characters, but the plot of this sounds really compelling to me, so I may be able to get past that part. I really love Alice in Wonderland, so your comparison to that also helped sell the book for me.
ReplyDeleteYour opening and closing lines have a great hook that draws readers in. Your summary is also spot on and contains a great quote and similar book comparisons. Full points!
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