Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

This review refers to the author's preferred edition, published by Headline in the UK.

Book info:

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Headline Review; New Ed edition (19 Sep 2005)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0755322800
• ISBN-13: 978-0755322800

Synopsis: Under the streets of London there's a world most people could never even dream of - a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There's a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining...And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city. This title includes extra material exclusive to Headline Review's edition.

Reviews:
This book always gets compared to the TV/DVD version which of course it would, having been first a screenplay that was adapted to the book but I would recommend anyone who missed the box version to read the book first.

As with the Anasi Boys there is a dark thread running throughout Neverwhere that is characteristic of Gaimans work and which adds a real grittiness to the plot which twists and turns like a twisty turny thing keeping you hooked from beginning to end where some more traditional fantasy novels can leave you feeling like you are just going through the motions of the classic fantasy structure.

If you're not familiar with Gaiman then, like Eye on Everything you might get put off by his "weird surreal dream sequences" which are again characteristic of his style and something you just have to go with. Though I would agree with Fantasy Cafe that some of the "characters themselves are not explored in depth" - perhaps something to do with TV vs book formats - with a series you have the opportunity to develop characters in a slower progression however the main character, Richard, as the main focus undergoes an interesting and quasi-spiritual evolution that borders on socio-political comment. Those who have worked as graduates in London will pick this up no doubt. If you want to read about the TV series, until I get round to it, take a look at Piaw's blog entry.

My two cents:
This is the first book in a long time that I've read in one sitting - sitting in bed to be precise when I should have been getting my eight hours so that I could function the next day. I didn't care (almost) it was a fantastic read that kept me hooked the whole way through from beginning to end. Yes, the ending itself was inevitable but hey, you need a happy ending at 5am.