Neverwhere

Rating:
Summary: This is a fun book!
Review: I had a Gaiman-fest this autumn. I bought American Gods, Neverwhere and Stardust. While I found American Gods a bit overdone, I adored Stardust for its clearly faceted and sharply written prose and I love Neverwhere for its enjoyable setting, entertaining characters and plot speed.

That being said, I don't hate American Gods and still recommend it, but Neverwhere in my opinion is the more enjoyable ride. I do recommend visiting the London Underground as a primer - it really is its own world down there; I have great childhood memories of looking out the window of the train and seeing little vignettes of the subterranean world flash by in shades of green and red and sketchy black. That's probably why I thorougly enjoyed this read!

It is a true fantasy on the order of Alice in Wonderland, or the Matrix or any of the 'step through the gate' type tales stretching back for god knows how many centuries. It is the kind of fairyland your grandmother knew about - not all fairies are nice...that's why you wear a charm :-). The two villians who are hunting for the protagonist are truly nasty AND hugely funny too (mmm rats)!

So if you want a modern-grit, fast plotted, fun fantasy novel, pick this one up!

Rating:
Summary: Of course my bias perspective...
Review: I think Neil Gaiman is a very talented writer and I've been a fan of his work for some time. I of course had to look into this book and I hate that it took me so long to do so. I asked for the Neverwhere DVD for Christmas so I set out to read it before the day I got it so I could make a mental comparison. The book isn't "bad," but I think my bias with Gaiman actually works against him here. I really feel that I try to give credit where credit is due and while this would be a decent work by an independant writer, it does not reflect the skill of his other works. I guess I'm disappointed. I will not say that the novel medium is a bad idea for Gaiman, because I think Coraline was terrific. I just think the plot got alittle loose and in a weird way I think Gaiman got tired of writing the novel somewhere past the midline of it's creation. It kind of seems thrown together and created itself as it went along. The end result left me a bit indifferent. Gaiman has in the past done nothing but excite me. I regret giving this book mediocre marks, but I'll post a Coraline review to make up for it.

Rating:
Summary: Colorful
Review: For some reason while I was reading this book one word came to mind: colorful. Even though it's pretty much a "dark" setting, this book was able to connect each and every character to the reader with such a vibrant relationship. There is really never much of any downtime whatsoever throughout the story. The events that take place are incredibly unique, unpredictable, and always worth your time.

I was truly disapointed when I was on the last few pages of the book only because that was it. It killed me knowing that the adventure was over. Needless to say that the story was very nicely wrapped up.
Gaiman IS storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: I'm falling between the cracks...literally!
Review: Richard Mayhew is an ordinary man leading an ordinary life. He has a good job, a beautiful but self-centered fiancé named Jessica, and a comfortable future awaiting him.

Until he finds a young girl practically unconscious on the sidewalk as he Jessica are walking towards a pivotal dinner meeting for her career. The girl is hurt and bleeding, and without knowing why Richard helps her, making Jessica angry enough to break off their engagement.
The girl's name is Door, and after sending Richard off an a very odd errand into what Richard would discover was London Below, he returns with the Marquis de Carabas who has agreed to help Door. There are also two very odd and dangerous gentlemen looking for Door, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, who appear at Richard's apartment in their search for the girl.
But Richard wasn't aware that once he ventured into London Below, he would become faded in London Above, not quite invisible but pretty much ceasing to exist. Richard must return to London Below and find Door again, in order to try and get his life back in London Above.

Not so much a different world, or even truly below the London he is used to, but more of a parallel reality, London Below is a strange, wondrous, and dangerous place. Neil Gaiman has brought to life a fantastic world that is definitely worth your time to explore along with Richard and Door.
Door wishes to find her family's killers, Richard wants to go back to London Above, and Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar are closing in on both of them, hired assassins with an unclear mission and mysterious employer.

The story moves with a rapid pace through peril after peril through bizarre markets and deadly bridges and odd links between London Above and London Below, a very interesting and compelling read with a highly fueled imaginative setting and fully fleshed out characters. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Good standalone fantasy
Review: For years, I've felt that one of the chief problems with the fantasy genre is the inability of most of its writers to compose a single volume story. Driven more by commercial considerations than any true creative need, most authors compose trilogies or even longer series of novels. In fact, the last standalone fantasy I had read by a major author was David Eddings's awful Redemption of Althalus. With Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman has done what is nowadays most rare: composed a single book fantasy novel which is also good.

The story is about Richard Mayhew, an average enough guy living in London who sees a young woman - Door - lying injured in the streets and is compelled to help her. Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, the act of assisting her turns his own life to hell as suddenly he more-or-less disappears from existence. In his world, he is now invisible; instead he has become part of Door's world, a strange and magical place that lies beneath the streets.

There is plenty of adventure that follows, with Richard as part of Door's quest to stop the killers of her family. On the surface, Richard is a bit of a disappointment as a character, more of an observer than a doer, a man who reacts rather than acts. On a deeper level, however, this is actually the story of Richard's self-discovery, and how he goes from being a generic everyman to forging his own identity.

But don't let this depth intimidate you; this is essentially a fun fantasy novel with what readers of such books want: weird plances, interesting characters, scary villains and lots of action. It makes this book not only an outstanding book in a genre that has seen better days, but also a good book in its own rights.

Rating:
Summary: Its a great read
Review: Rarely does a book come along now-a-days in the fantasy genre that stimulates the imagination. It's all about wizards and knites and blah blah blah. It gets a bit repetitive. But Gaiman's novel, Neverwhere, is new and fresh and exciting. It makes you dream dreams and think of things you never considered before.
The novel revolves around a man named Richard Mayhew, who is thrown into a strange place called Londen Underground because of a girl named Door. The adventure unfolds as Door trys to discover who killed her parents, and why.
The story is fulled of twists and adventures. I enjoyed reading it a 2nd and 3rd time. Well worth your while.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Rocks! Review
Review: Neverwhere, by Neil Gainman, is a bizarre, fascinating, intriguing novel. It is the story of Richard Mayhew, a young businessman. He is living in London for the first time. Richard is enjoying relative success in his job. He also has a beautiful fiancée, Jessica. It looks like everything is going right for him.
Richard is taking his fiancée and her boss to dinner one evening when he sees a dirty young woman lying bleeding on the sidewalk. He rescues the girl and carries her to his apartment.
Next morning, two weird men come to Richard's apartment. One has rat-colored hair, and the other has fox-colored hair. They are looking for the girl. Richard doesn't want to let them in, because the girl is right there in the bathroom, but they go in anyway and search the apartment. They even open the bathroom door, but when they do, the girl is not inside. They cannot find her anywhere. Right after the two men leave, the girl mysteriously appears in the kitchen right at Richard's side.
The beautiful and mysterious girl calls herself Door. Door is looking for the reason behind the murder of her family. The two weird men were hired to kill her. They are bizarre killers who never grow old. Could they be a key to the mystery of her family's death?
Door asks Richard to help her on her quest which will take them into a place called London Below. London Below is an underground city. It is really made up of parts of historic London that people have forgotten about. The people who live in London Below have disappeared from London Above. No one knows why. They are either born there or disappear into there. They live in a strange society where there are people with titles, who are nobles, and people who are peasants and beggars, too.
Richard joins this shadow world unwillingly, trapped in this alternate dimension. Once he steps into it, his normal life disappears. Richard finds that ordinary people can no longer see or hear him. The only chance of getting his old life back is to go with Door on a dangerous mission across the Underground.
Richard and Door are guided on their journey by helpers. They find out why her father was marked for death by the rulers of London Below. Finally, Richard prepares to fight the horrible Great Beast of London. The ending of this story is quite a shock!
I highly recommend this novel. The story is both funny and suspenseful.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!!
Review: Neverwhere is an outstanding book. Neil Gaiman's detailed writing takes you into the book and makes it as if you're standing on the sidelines. There is always something happening somewhere to keep you interested and the story takes unexpected turns. It's exciting, scary, inventive, and full of imagination. It's extremely hard to put down.
"Look, Gary," Richard began. "Do you ever wonder if this is all there is? . . . Work. Home. The pub. Meeting girls. Living in the city. Life. Is that all there is?" "I think that sums it up, yes," said Gary. Richard sighed. "Well," he said, "for a start, I didn't go to Majorca. I mean, I really did not go to Majorca."
Everything in Richard's life is going well, until one night while walking to dinner with his fiancé and her boss, he finds a girl bleeding on the streets. He leaves his fiancé and her boss, and takes the girl back to his apartment to get her cleaned up and let her rest. Bad idea....or good? From then on he is taken into a world of danger, betrayal, and strangeness, a world unknown to the everyday one he lives in.
When I started to read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, I was expecting a story that would be drawn out, lengthy, but still have enough value to be interesting. I love scary books, so by reading the jacket blurb, I decided I would try to read it. I didn't expect to be able to feel what the character was feeling, whether it was frustration, happiness, or sadness, and that I could take myself into the character's mind. I loved it, and I give it five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but first chapters can be confusing
Review: I loved reading this book in Junior English in High School. At first I was confused with some stange notion that it was a book about mice in underground tunnels in London, but after the first few chapters I figured out that was not the plot. I really enjoyed this book with all of its twists and turns and its very suprising ending.

Rating:
Summary: Everywhere unseen
Review: This book has characters that keep you interested and a plot so imaginative that it kept me turning pages till my eyes hurt. It is one of the best books I have read, and I read alot. Gaiman makes his characters real enough for you to feel scared for Door and Richard. He makes the marquis come to life with his wonderful description of him.