Customer Reviews

Neverwhere: A Novel

5 star:		(283)
4 star:		(100)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This story is a really great tale of magic but for a mature audience. I completely identified with the hero's frustrations with regular life, and the snide comments about our society ring true.
For those just looking for a fun read this is no less of a treasure, think of this book as Alice In Wonderland if it had been written by Stephen King with Douglas Adams type humor.

I have loved this book for so long now. I would almost beg for a sequel. The characters perhaps the best developed of any Gaiman has done keep this story fresh even years after the publication. I recommend the story highly. A true orginal.

**Spoiler Alert!** If you plan on reading the book, do not continue reading this review. ... Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Richard Mayhew is just your everyday Average Joe who moved to London to procure a number-crunching job. He meets a girl and becomes engaged. Life seems to be great. However, Richard is an absent-minded person. He forgets his keys, loses track of time, etc... On the way to dinner with his fiancee (with a reservation he forgot to confirm), where he was supposed to impress her boss, Richard stops by a rag girl who is exhausted, frightened and hurt. Jessica (who is most definitely a woman who prefers her way or the highway) demands he leave her for someone else to take care of. And when he picks up the girl to take her home, Jessica (her name isn't Jess) threatens to end their engagement. Richard disregards her statement and takes the girl home to mend. Little did he know how bad life was about to get.

"Door" can open doorways without keys, can open doors where there are none. It was her ability that helped her escape her would-be assassins, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, and brought her to London Above. But Richard doesn't understand her meaning. No worries, reluctantly, he soon will. Her would-be assasssins manage to track her down, but Richard manages to get rid of them. With her face now plastered on Missing posters throughout the neighborhood, Door sends Richard for help and he brings back the Marquis de Carabas. As she leaves, she apologizes. Little does Richard know how deep that apology actually goes. For Richard's life, as he knows it, is now over. Jessica broke their engagement and refuses to see or talk to him. When he arrives at work, his possessions are removed from his desk. His flat is leased to another couple - while he's in the tub! Richard is gone. It's as if he never existed. He can be seen, but is immediately forgotten. Throwing some of his belongings into a duffle bag, he sets off to find Door, wanting answers, wanting his life back. There's only one way he figures he can find her. Start with the very place she'd sent him before for help.

And help he gets - from unlikely characters. For under London lies London Below, filled with shady characters, talking animals, tunnels, sewers, hidden passageways and a mysterious market that's never held in the same place twice. A market that provides, but people barter, and not with money. Money means nothing in London Below. For Richard, this isn't reality. He wants to go home.

Door is on her own quest. She wants to find her family's muderer. She wants to know why. And only the Angel Islington can help. But after finally finding him, she is sent on a quest to retrieve a certain key, and when she returns, he will tell her all she needs to know. Richard, reluctantly, is along for the ride, for afterwards, the promise is he'll be sent home and his life will be as it was.

But Door was warned; they have a traitor in their mists. The Hunter is hired to bodyguard her from the assassins who are after her. Richard deals with more than he bargained for. And just when they think they have the story right, how wrong they were.

An enjoyable read, it was an adventure. Places where people have no business being. Strange and shady characters, some you enjoy, some you dispise. A solid mystery that leaves you asking questions until you finally get the answers you seek. For me, it was missing just that little "oomph", that little "spark" to make the story completely believable. While I could picture a different world of London Below, I couldn't really picture some of the characters and what they did. I enjoyed the banter with Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. And I felt, at heart, how Richard came to care for Door. Definitely an entertaining story to read.

Richard Mayhew is a normal guy. His girlfriend's a bit obsessive, and his career seems to be going nowhere. But then he meets Door--a young girl he finds on the street, bleeding. Richard takes Door back to his apartment, where he lets her rest and get better.

Before long, a couple "men" come looking for her. They are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar--two wisecracking, charming, thoroughly sadist and bloodthirsty individuals. They promise to tear out Richard's liver and feed it to him...and they mean to keep it.

In an effort to protect himself, and to find out why he seems to be disappearing from the normal world, Richard tracks down Door...and finds something he never suspected: London Below, a world BELOW the city of London, where the phrase "Mind the gap" at rail stations means something entirely different...where a beast stalks a huge labyrinth...and a fallen angel plots a dastardly scheme...

Neil Gaiman is a thrilling, imaginative author. "Neverwhere" will hold you rivited to your seat with its action, suspense, and the perils of Richard Mayhew and his naivity. It's a must for fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and good old adventures.

Neil Gaiman has discovered a hook, line, and sinker theory with Neverwhere. The thought of "Where do forgotten things go?", answered in detail with the theory that they go to a bits-and-pieces city underground, is so captivating, that even if this novel was undescriptive and boring (which it isn't), it would keep you reading even if it was 700 pages long, just to find out more about the concept of a city that is entirely unknown to us, that exists right beneath us, and consists of all the riffraff and the people who have, as Gaiman so cleverly states it, "fallen through the cracks". The character quirks that Gaiman manages to think of are so ludicrous, and, indeniably, real, that it gives the characters a whole new dimension. Gaiman invents characters that often seem to be just for the humor at first, and manages to shape them into vital parts of the story, that either teach a valuable lesson to the protagonist and hero, Richard Mayhew, or provide a much needed "favor" (a special currency of London Below). This book is, no-questions-asked, a winner. Your Lord and Master,
Wade Redfearn

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is a highly imaginative, chilling tale of a normal man who's life is changed forever when he helps Door, and he is sent into the London Below.

This book is an awesome representation of London, showing the poor and forgotten people and slums in an interesting way (as the London Below). Very entertaining and impossible to put down! 5 stars all the way! :)

This is the first Neil Gaiman book I ever read. It was recommended to me by a friend years ago, and I'd never even heard of Neil Gaiman before, but after reading this I am madly in love with him, or at least his work.

This idea is just so original. The idea that the people we barely enough notice make up an entire subculture in a world that we are unable to even see...
Words are not enough to describe how absolutely brilliant this book is. You just have to read it. I have absolutely no complaints about anything in this book. I love the sardonic humor, the random allusions...

I have to stop talking now before I start swooning or raving.

Read this book.

This story was built with a rich imagination. I loved reading about what odd scenario the characters would find themselves in next. It was clever, interesting, and quite a page turner. The characters, however, especially Richard and Door, were too shallow. I never took to them the way I wanted to. I didn't long for their success. Door had so much potential, but the details just never came out, and Richard, well he was mostly a doofus. If this author could make us really care for the characters, this would be world-class storytelling.

Richard Mayhew, a quiet, rather mundane man, finds an injured young woman on a London street. She's reluctant to be helped, but he seeks to restore her to health anyway. The appearance of two mysterious men seeking her brings an immediate tension, little helped by the woman's apparent disappearance. When she re-emerges from wherever she'd hidden, it begins a string of amazing adventures. The young woman, "Door" seems to possess bizarre powers as she leads Richard into a new, wholly unanticipated realm - below the city's streets.

Although Door is on a quest that would place Richard, and herself, in grave danger, she leads him through this bizarre society. She's young, vulnerable and clearly frightened. It doesn't matter that she's from a respected family. They have all been slaughtered and Door's protectors are few. They aren't always effective, either. As a newcomer to this world, Richard is not placed to act as the fantasy hero. Gaiman paints him admirably, a terrified city man who yet manages the flash of courage and insight. More importantly, Richard Mayhew cares, and the novelty of that feeling in this environment proves strangely beneficial.

Gaiman's prose gifts, combined with a vivid imagination, have produced a sterling example of "modern" fantasy. What does lie below the congested streets of Britain's capital? Gaiman proposes a mix of ancient spirits and semi-human beings who have formed societies, alliances, meeting places and residences. There are those who communicate with the rats, a major population segment, as expected. The author creates an amazing melange of figures, including, even at these depths, an angel. Among the most important aspect of this realm is the Floating Market. Never fixed in time or place, the Market provides a location for exchanges of services as well as goods. The bustle and chaos of any large bazaar are present, as is an element of peace. When the Market is running, there is the Market Truce, protecting the innocent and malign alike. With many of Gaiman's characters bent on exterminating their fellows for a wide variety of reasons, this haven is essential.

This complex tale, which could be set in Toronto or Montreal, mixes elements of ancient legend, modern business dealings and some innovative aspects. The combination keeps the reader's attention firmly captured as you are led through a string of the unexpected. Friends betray and enemies become allies - before shifting back again. The true hero is a woman - a self-appointed guardian who expects no reward but acknowledgement of duty properly exercised. This is a fantasy land, but the telephone becomes a significant element. There is a background manipulator of events who remains enigmatic to the end. With all these aspects carefully depicted and developed, Neverwhere will remain a major work in the fantasy genre, while sustaining its unique qualities. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This book is a good read from a good author. It started very strong, but then seemed to lose steam a little bit. I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman's imagination, I like that he comes up with things that are unique and interesting. When I started reading Neverwhere, I could barely put it down. I had to keep reading because I just *had* to know what was going on. But... partway through it started losing my interest because the story seemed to be starting to drag and wander. Overall I definitely enjoyed the book, but the first half was definitely better than the second. I also didn't find that very many of the supporting characters excited me very much. I liked American Gods and Anansi Boys better.