Today, we have another guest review by Katie from Rhinoa's Ramblings. Unfortunately, it'll be the last one for awhile, as Katie will be switching to classics reading :) And guess what? The book she's reviewing is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman! Enjoy!
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Published by Review (2005)
Rating - 4/5
Genre - Fantasy, gothic, fairy tale
Neverwhere by Neil GaimanPublished by Review (2005)
Rating - 4/5
Genre - Fantasy, gothic, fairy tale
"Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters, and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.
Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapuls him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: neverwhere."
This is the first full length novel I have read by Neil Gaiman (I have read Smoke and Mirrors which is a collection of his short stories as well as The Sandman graphic novels) so I was intrigued to see if it would be any good or not! It follows Richard Mayhew who is your typical bloke having moved from Scotland to London. His life is forever changed after helping a young woman who is badly injured one night when going out to dinner with his fiance. He is dragged into London Below which is a whole other world underneath London as we know it, where the people who have slipped through the cracks live.
Below he meets Rat-speakers, murderers in the form of Mister Vandemar and Mister Croup, Old Bailey, the Marquis de Carabas, Hunter and the girl he saved Door who has the inherited ability to open any door she comes across. Door sets on a quest to avenge her family who have been killed by Vandemar and Croup on behalf of an unknown employee and Richard finds himself tagging along to see if he can uncover a way back to his life in London Above.
The prose wasn't the best I have to admit, however I loved the imagination and creativity behind the story. The fact that I live in the London and use the Underground most days made it seem more real to me. The use of the Underground names and the play on words Gaiman does was great (eg Seven Sisters are seven actual sisters, there are a bunch of Black Friars, Islington is an Angel and the Earl holds Court). It's funny that I didn't realise Terry Pratchett was doing a paraody of Vandemar and Croup in his book The Truth with Mr Pin and Mr Tulip in their manner of speaking, their characteristics and their love of fine artwork!
Very dark, I can also see where Holly Black took some inspiration for her novel Valient. I am looking forward to reading more of his novels.
3 comments:
I loved Neverwhere. Such a great book. Gaiman just has a way with words. In my opinion, he can't write a bad story. Croup and Vandemar were just plain creepy! I recommend American Gods. It's my favorite Gaiman and deals with gods from all sorts of mythology in modern day America. Great book!
It's a great review and this book is definitively on my TBR list... I did borrow it from the library, but had to return it without reading it, because of time constraint...
Ignoring the 'prose wasn't the best' comment, great review! ;) Gaiman does seem to get better with each book, but I love the way this book is written. I have no perspective though, my infatuation with this book makes me want to overlook any criticism. Overall it sounds like you really liked it though and I'm glad. It is such a great book.
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