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Nessun dove

(London Below, The World of Neverwhere #1)

Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)

4.17 · Rating details · 405,884 ratings · 21,543 reviews

Sotto le strade di Londra c'è un mondo che la maggior parte delle persone non riesce neppure a immaginare. Una città di mostri e di santi, di assassini e di angeli, cavalieri in armatura e pallide ragazze in velluto nero: questa è l'altra Londra di chi è precipitato tra le fenditure. Richard Mayhew è un giovane uomo d'affari che sta per scoprirla: un singolo atto di ...more

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Paperback, TIF Extra, 316 pages

Published March 2002 by Fanucci (first published September 16th 1996)

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Jun 02, 2008 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I should have. I kept distracting myself with the thought, "Why the hell haven't I read more of Neil Gaiman's books?" Then I would have to tell myself to shut up, because I'm reading one right now, and I can return to berating myself later.

Neil Gaiman really understands fantasy. He understands that it isn't elves dancing in a forest and drunk dwarves mining for gold with improbably well maintained beards. No, fantasy is a reflection of reality, but fantastic. I didn't enjoy this book as much as I should have. I kept distracting myself with the thought, "Why the hell haven't I read more of Neil Gaiman's books?" Then I would have to tell myself to shut up, because I'm reading one right now, and I can return to berating myself later.

Neil Gaiman really understands fantasy. He understands that it isn't elves dancing in a forest and drunk dwarves mining for gold with improbably well maintained beards. No, fantasy is a reflection of reality, but fantastic. It isn't an alternate reality, but reality through the lens of imagination, and possibly some mind altering substances.

Not only does he capture the essence of fantasy perfectly, but he does so with the trickiness and charming language that seems to be uniquely in the realm of British humorists. He rarely describes anything in a completely straightforward manner, instead choosing to almost fool the reader into visualizing his delightful (or, when appropriate, very undelightful) characters and events.

I couldn't help but to be completely charmed by and immersed into London Below, right up until the point when some jackass started to wonder, "Why the hell haven't I read more of Neil Gaiman's books?"

==============
So, a few years later, and a lot of people seem to like this review, still. I've decided to abuse the popularity of this review to attempt to steer fans of Neverwhere towards a few other books that I think they will enjoy. Despite the theme of the review being "Read more Neil Gaiman", the books listed below are actually by different authors, since I think I've already made it clear that you should read more Neil Gaiman. So, aside from all of those, here are a few other recommendations:

1. Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart - An epic, hilarious mythological adventure.

2.Wool, by Hugh Howey - A pretty dark and serious tale of people living underground on a ruined world.

3. The Baroque Cycle, by Neal Stephenson - A globetrotting adventure set among a lovingly researched historical backdrop.

4. Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow - A nerd finds himself suddenly and unexpectedly being stalked by his own government, and doesn't think it's so cool.
...more

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Nov 07, 2013 Rick Riordan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Okay, so people have been telling me to read Neil Gaiman for ages. They assume I've read American Gods because the premise is similar to the Percy Jackson series. Well, I still haven't read American Gods, but I did pick up Neverwhere in the Heathrow airport and read it on the way back home. I enjoyed it a lot. Great fantasy, wonderful sense of humor. I can understand why Gaiman is so popular. I'll have to look up his other books.

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Nov 14, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads-giveaways, own

I won this in a Goodreads/Firstreads Giveaway! Yay!

Look at these pictures! Sorry for the darkness. We were in the sunlight but it canceled us out.

Anyhoo! I am in love with the looks of this little book! It doesn't have a dust jacket! It's one of my fav hardbacks! I love them without the dust jackets. I have added a picture of the front and back. I have also added a picture of just one of the many illustrations through-out the book and the inside book flap that isn't really a flap but they made ...more

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Jul 15, 2014 Jayson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-british, 300-399-pp, genre-urban, genre-adult-fantasy, genre-low-fantasy, read-in-2014, reviews-needing-edits

(A-) 80% | Very Good
Notes: Wherein the hero (twice) and villain share the same desire: (view spoiler)

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Feb 02, 2018 Miranda Reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-popsugar-reading-challenge, audiobook

Richard Mayhew had a perfectly ordinary life, thank you very much.

He had a job that he didn't quite hate, a fairly decent apartment and a lovely fiancee (despite what his friends thought). One night, he and his fiance stumble upon a broken, bleeding girl. The strangest thing? His fiance couldn't quite see the girl - or more like once she noticed the bleeding girl, his fiance would just as quickly un-notice her.

Shrugging that off, Richard takes the girl back to his apartment (at her insistence) ...more

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May 09, 2010 Nataliya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, excellent-reads, 2012-reads, i-also-saw-the-film, location-is-the-true-protagonist, 2015-reads, book-list-for-bri

Neverwhere was my first real introduction to the world of urban fantasy - a clever take on Alice in Wonderland, one can say, set in the semi-magical, unsubtly dangerous, and quite fantastically warped world of 'London Below'.

"Young man," he said, "understand this: there are two Londons. There's London Above - that's where you lived - and then there's London Below - the Underside - inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world. Now you're one of them. Good night."

Neverwhere is Neverwhere was my first real introduction to the world of urban fantasy - a clever take on Alice in Wonderland, one can say, set in the semi-magical, unsubtly dangerous, and quite fantastically warped world of 'London Below'.

"Young man," he said, "understand this: there are two Londons. There's London Above - that's where you lived - and then there's London Below - the Underside - inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world. Now you're one of them. Good night."

Neverwhere is one of my all-time favorite books. It has just the right amount of wild imagination (inexplicably somehow still grounded in firm reality), a healthy dose of absurdity and strangeness, remarkably colorful larger-than-life characters, unforgettable setting that is more of a character than a simple backdrop, and, of course, sufficient amount of lovely dry humor.

Besides, there is that certain 'something' in Neil Gaiman's writing that keeps bringing me back to his works - that cleverness, I guess, that boldness in his approach to writing, that apt descriptiveness that burns scenes into your mind without becoming boringly detailed or repetitive, and the bit of mesmerizing darkness he harbors in all of his works, regardless of the theme or target audience.

In Neverwhere Gaiman uses the old technique of taking a person belonging to the 'regular' world and throwing them into the midst of a fantastical reality, using the protagonist as our eyes into this world - think of "Alice in Wonderland" or "The Wizard of Oz" or its younger siblings like Miéville's "Un Lun Dun".

Richard Mayhew is a timid and perfectly average London guy who suffers from a noticeable lack of figurative backbone - and the only time in his life he does show some of that ill-fated backbone, combined with some very real compassion, he gets himself into trouble that is waaaay over his head. Let Richard tell you about it himself:

"Dear Diary," he began. "On Friday I had a job, a fiancée, a home, and a life that made sense. (Well, as much as any life makes sense.) Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement, and I tried to be a Good Samaritan. Now I've got no fiancée, no home, no job, and I'm walking around a couple of hundred feet under the streets of London with the projected life expectancy of a suicidal fruitfly."

Unwittinly having thwarted an assassination attempt on a young girl named Door and having helped her because, let's face it, he's basically a decent guy, Richard suddenly finds himself in the London Below - a place for those who no longer belong to the regular 'London Above', a place for those who have slipped through the cracks of ordinary reality. It is a place that exists outside of our conventions of time and space, touching our reality but not quite overlapping it.

"There are little pockets of old time in London, where things and places stay the same, like bubbles in amber,” she explained. “There’s a lot of time in London, and it has to go somewhere—it doesn’t all get used up at once."
“I may still be hung over,” sighed Richard. “That almost made sense.""

Just like London Above, London Below is a melting pot - except for this one is for relics and discards and misfits of all kinds of times and legends and beliefs and tales. It is a place for those who fell between the cracks - think of those you usually do not notice even if you walk past them on the street, like the homeless, for instance; they are already invisible to us. It is also a place for those who spent too much time in the company of the supernatural, and for those who don't fit in our world.

You can view it as a colorful tapestry - or more aptly, as a dirty filthy rag made of mismatched and threadbare bits and pieces that once were something grand and even now create a mesmerizing albeit puzzling effect through their sheer strangeness and unexpected combination.

And it is a place that has teeth and is ready to bite. It is harsh and cruel, full of menacing dangers lurking around every corner. Friends can quickly turn into foes, and promising a favor is a serious thing that can get you far in this world. It takes skill to survive here.

And Richard is very much NOT prepared for that.

"His life so far, he decided, had prepared him perfectly for a job in Securities, for shopping at the supermarket, for watching soccer on the television on the weekends, for turning up the thermostat if he got cold. It had magnificently failed to prepare him for a life as an un-person on the roofs and in the sewers of London, for a life in the cold and the wet and the dark."

London Below is a place populated with creatures that have enough color and flair to them to easily stand out against the drab background of life and their surroundings. Of course I'm talking about Marquis here, the not-so-honest and yet brave and loyal (for a reasonable price of a favor) Marquis de Carabas, the guy who you would ultimately want covering your back in a sticky situation (as long as you can overlook the fact that he may have had something to do with creating the said sticky situation in the first place!)

"He..." Richard began. "The marquis. Well, you know, to be honest, he seems a little bit dodgy to me."
Door stopped. The steps dead-ended in a rough brick wall. "Mm," she agreed. "He's a little bit dodgy in the same way that rats are a little bit covered in fur."

With characters like Marquis, or the enigmatic single-minded Hunter, or pretty much anyone Richard comes in contact with in this weird mixture of rooftops and sewers and underground tunnels, London Below is a confusing blur to Richard's tired and overwhelmed senses. Some things don't make sense. Others make way too much sense, are way too literal (Earl's Court or Knightsbridge, for instance). He is so out of place here, it's almost painful to read, as you wince and cringe at his pathetic attempts to clutch to what he continues to view as safety and sanity. And no, this sanity does not normally involve girls named Door or a charming scoundrel Marquis de Carabas, or Angel Islington, or outwordly hired thugs Croup and Vandemar, or Rat Speakers, or Beast of London, or the real Old Bailey, or the nonexistent British Museum underground station where Earl's Court can get you if you so please.

"Richard did not believe in angels, he never had. He was damned if he was going to start now. Still, it was much easier not to believe in something when it was not actually looking directly at you and saying your name."

But eventually Richard may, just may, start discovering something about himself that is a bit more adjusted in the world that has slipped through the cracks than "real" London. In other words, Richard Mayhew just may have gone native. Unlike Dorothy and her Toto, he may not want to just live happily ever after in his version of Kansas.

"Metaphors failed him, then. He had gone beyond the world of metaphor and simile into the place of things that *are*, and it was changing him."

After all, haven't we all at some point asked a question about what is the meaning of all that we are doing? Haven't we always wondered whether there ay be something else we may be better suited to be and do? Haven't we wanted to escape somewhere... well... else? Different? Isn't that some of the reasons we wan t to immerse ourselves into worlds of fantasy at least for a short while?

"Work. Home. The pub. Meeting girls. Living in the city. Life. Is that all there is?"

Usually, however, the point is to return home, enriched by experiences of the outwordliness, and, of course, gain some appreciation for the life we used to take for granted before. Because, of course, no matter how much we want to, we will never escape the real life. Or can we? After reading this book, I know I would want to, had I been in Richard's place. But I cannot, and so I appreciate my mundane uneventful life - but what if I didn't have to? Who knows...

.............

........

"The marquis de Carabas raised an eyebrow. "Well?" he said, irritably. "Are you coming?"

Richard stared at him for a heartbeat.

Then Richard nodded, without trusting himself to speak, and stood up. And they walked away together through the hole in the wall, back into the darkness, leaving nothing behind them; not even the doorway."

...more

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May 18, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews, the-great-shelf-of-meh

I first started reading this book and honestly wanted to just chuck it in the bin. I said very mean things about the protagonist under my breath.

Surely, I said, a Protagonist means that they are pro and totally into furthering the story. Surely, Protagonist is the similar to Proactive and Productive.

I was wrong. The word Protagonist, in its basic form is not similar to proactive. It simply, from the Greek plays, means the principle character or the first speaking character.

However, I maintain ...more

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Jan 29, 2019 emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, recommend, dark, non-ya, beautifully-written, auto-buy-authors, couldn-t-wait-to-read, reviewed, gorgeous-covers, 5-stars

this full review is now POSTED on my blog! what better time to pretend there's a magical other world beneath ours than now? find it here: https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...

-----------

As the song goes, Do you believe in magic, in a [Neil Gaiman book]?

And the answer is yes.

Well, the answer for me is yes. I cant comment on your answer. But like, if your answer is no...what is wrong with you? Read a damn Neil Gaiman book, you cretin. Allow yourself that happiness.

Anyway.

The fact that this is ...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Lyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Neverwhere!

Upon beginning a review of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman my first thoughts were to write that even a bad Gaiman novel was better than most other authors best work.

But this is unfair, Neverwhere is not a bad novel at all.

Compared to Stardust or Anansi Boys, or especially the masterpiece American Gods, it lacks the epic presence and may even be categorized as one of Gaimans lesser works.

What is present, though, is Gaimans phenomenal writing, his brilliant and original imagination and his ...more

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Feb 14, 2017 MischaS_ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: expected-something-else, english, pb, mr-croup-mr-vandemar-crime

The first half was so slow, and I was even thinking about DNFing which was horrifying to me, this is Neil Gaiman's book we're talking about! Plus I also found it was too easy to guess who the bad guys really were. These two things were the main drawbacks to the book for me.

But this book has some of the best characters ever. Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar are just the best partners in crime ever! I just need a book on the two of them. And Marquis de Carabas was another great character. Fantastic, ...more

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Jan 15, 2019 jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

yet another book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages and im so glad i finally made time to read it. if i remember correctly, my interest was first piqued when someone had posted some fan art for this and i just thought it looked so. cool. and i knew it was a world that i really, really wanted to dive into. so it makes me a little sad that i didnt enjoy this as much as i thought i would. but its definitely a case of it being my fault and not the books.

i just dont think urban fantasy ...more

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Apr 14, 2018 R.K. Gold rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow that was fantastic!

I listened to the audiobook because my brother recommended it to me. Neil narrates it himself, which I thought was really cool.

When I think of Urban fantasies this is now the first book that will pop into my head. Neil built this incredible world below London, that weaved in and out of our reality seamlessly. I think he benefited from calling on existing infrastructures like the London Underground to give a sort of map, but he worked it into the story beautifully. There ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, england

Final review: After a multilevel process of reading, commenting and then rereading (see my various updates below), here is the final summation of all my thoughts and feelings about Neverwhere: 4 stars! And read the illustrated version!
description

Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Neverwhere is a novel that improved dramatically for me on reread, which actually was a surprise to me. I originally read it about six years ago when, in an odd twist worthy of London Below, it mysteriously appeared one ...more

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Dec 28, 2016 Petrik rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5/5 Stars

Whether youve read his book or not, there is a high chance that you have heard of the name Neil Gaiman if youre a reader and most people probably loved his works. Lets just say I finally knew why. I knew about him since 2009 from watching the movie Coraline which I loved and turns out it was based on a book written by him and that movie shocked the crap out of me cause it so imaginative and scary at times, I thought it would be a family movie. Fast forward 8 years later and here I am 3.5/5 Stars

Whether you’ve read his book or not, there is a high chance that you have heard of the name Neil Gaiman if you’re a reader and most people probably loved his works. Let’s just say I finally knew why. I knew about him since 2009 from watching the movie Coraline which I loved and turns out it was based on a book written by him and that movie shocked the crap out of me cause it so imaginative and scary at times, I thought it would be a family movie. Fast forward 8 years later and here I am finally reading his first solo book. This is my first try at reafing Neil Gaiman’s work and my first try at the genre ‘Urban Fantasy’.

The plot in my opinion is good but it’s really not something great, it’s just there to move the story along which is completely fine for me but I just wish it’s something more special considering the praises Neil got. This is one of the rare cases where the blurb of the book only give the basic plot of the first 2 chapter without ruining your reading experience so if you want to know what the basic premise of the book is about you can start there.

What fascinates me the most about this book is instead the world that Neil created. The world of London Below is highly imaginative, it twisted our real world London and makes it into something resembling Hell. Consisting of bizarre characters, creatures and combined with Neil Gaiman’s storytelling skill, it made the setting a really unique place to visit (not literally.)

Here’s a fantastic artwork done by Marc Simonetti to show a comparison of the London Above (our world) and London Below (alternative world).

There’s a lot of good character here but other than the main character, Richard, there’s too little development for any of them. It’s understandable though since this is a short book and there’s not enough room for improvement other than the main character. I loved the character development of Richard, it’s amusing to see how he changed from his first appearance until the last part of the book and a plus also to the main villains Croup & Vandemar which provided their scary nature while sometimes being funny at the same time with their banter towards each other.

There’s quite an annoying problem when I’m reading this though but this could be just me. There’s a lot of places mentioned in the book which doesn’t contained any description at all! I know it’s because the setting are based on our real world but for me who never goes to London and know about it only from movies and the TV series Sherlock Holmes (THE NEW SEASON IS COMING OUT IN 3 DAYS BTW), I have to Google Image almost every places mentioned in the book otherwise I can’t imagine what the setting of the story even look like. The only places I didn’t Google are Trafalgar Square, London Bridge and Big Ben. (Btw, are all Urban Fantasy the same case as this?)

By the end of this book, I can’t help but feel I wanted a sequel and I'm looking forward to read more of Neil's work. I’ll recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast Urban Fantasy read with unique writing style. I’ll leave this review with my favorite quote in the book, which probably you won’t understand the meaning behind them but once you read this book, you’ll know why I really love this quote.

“I mean, maybe I am crazy. I mean, maybe. But if this is all there is, then I don't want to be sane.” ...more

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Nov 14, 2017 Kevin Ansbro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary-fantasy, human-imagery, gentle-humour, escapism, awesome-premise, quintessentially-english, adult-lite, urban-fantasy, recommended-by-matthew-quann

.
There are two Londons. Theres London above and then theres London below.

This book was recommended to me by genial Goodreads friend, Matthew Quann, whose effusive review sealed the deal.
I was initially reticent
Having read Gaimans The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I felt that his writing was a bit young for my own personal taste and decided that, though delightful, his books werent for this beyond-middle-aged sourpuss.
Despite my misgivings, I dived in and was immediately beguiled the story ...more

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Dec 27, 2017 Elise (TheBookishActress) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gen-sff-high-fantasy, marked-author-love, 4-star, elise-reads-audiobooks, books-of-2000s, gen-sff-specfic, z-read-in-2018

The Marquis sighed. "I thought it was just a legend," he said. "Like the alligators in the sewers of New York City."
Old Bailey nodded, sagely: "What, the big white buggers? They're down there. I had a friend lost a head to one of them."
A moment of silence.
"It was OK," gurned Old Bailey with a grin that was most terrible to behold. "He had another.

This book feels like pure magic. And wow, looks like I'm getting the Gaiman hype.

Neverwhere follows the story of Richard Mayhew, a pile of ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Neil Gaimans Neverwhere is an immersive experience in a dark and fantastical place called London Below. Our protagonist, Richard Mayhew, steps out of his daily life by helping a girl who is bleeding on the sidewalk. With this action, his old life in London Above (the world we know) ends. This old life exists side by side (or above) his new one; however, former colleagues and friends in this world no longer see/recognize him. The descriptions of London Below and some of the characters are ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Fabian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The mean guy inside of me is completely against my giving this book a four-out-of-five instead of a three star rating, but the good guy/casual reader wins out! Hey. C'mon, gimme a break. This is Neil Gaiman: He's not one of Stephen King's favorites for nothing!

Incredibly short, seemingly dippy sentences make up this whimsical phantasmagoria-- more Hollywood script/ graphic novel than novel outright. Gaiman mixes and mashes myths & monsters all for this tight, devious yarn. It must be said ...more

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Jun 08, 2018 ❄️Nani❄️ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fantasy-sci-fi

My first Gaiman and Im enchanted by the quirkiness of this book😍 ...more

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Oct 23, 2007 James rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Kids

Shelves: fantasy

Picture Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Really good books right? Now imagine if someone took the first book and mad libbed characters, settings, monsters, etc, so that you were left with the exact same story except instead of travelling the galaxy with your crazy friend and the most powerful man in the universe, you were travelling in haunted British sewers with a nerd's wet dream of a Xena warrior princess rival and a Gothic princess who can unlock doors (sigh). I don't think there is much ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Cecily by: Ygraine

Shelves: magical-realism, fantasy-faeries-magic, landscape-protagonist, ya

If American Gods (see my review HERE) is Gaimans love letter to his adopted country, this is his homage to the capital city of his natal land.

Its an enjoyable, steampunkish romp about people who fall through the cracks of society - literally in this case. It is dark but fun, and never priggish or preachy. The world-building is impressive, as is the huge array of brilliantly drawn secondary characters (and there's nothing wrong with the main ones).

Richard Mayhew reminds me a little of Arthur ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Scarlet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, most-loved, favorite-author, 5-starred-perfection, uk

Dear Book,

Why did you get over so soon?? Why did you get over at all?? :(

I could have spent many more hours exploring those underground tunnels in the company of those wonderful people, and reveling in the amazing things that some of them - especially marquis de Carabas - had to say.

I could have spent many more days reading and re-reading those delightfully formed sentences, laughing at the intelligent absurdity of it even when not-so-scary villains were doing not-so-pretty things.

I could have ...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Madeline rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

God damn it, Goodreads, when are you going to let me use half-star ratings? You had enough time to make those hideous green "want to read" tabs next to every damn book in my newsfeed; could you please throw me a bone and stop confining me to full stars? I demand half stars, Goodreads. Particularly for this review, because three stars seems unfairly low, and four stars is a bit much.

Neverwhere is early Gaiman (published in 1996), and it shows. You can see him working on the formula that would God damn it, Goodreads, when are you going to let me use half-star ratings? You had enough time to make those hideous green "want to read" tabs next to every damn book in my newsfeed; could you please throw me a bone and stop confining me to full stars? I demand half stars, Goodreads. Particularly for this review, because three stars seems unfairly low, and four stars is a bit much.

Neverwhere is early Gaiman (published in 1996), and it shows. You can see him working on the formula that would make American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Coraline successes - unassuming Everyman gets sucked into a magical, dangerous new world and had to navigate through the insanity - but not quite getting it right. This reads sort of like a first draft of his later, more well-crafted books.

The story takes place in modern-day London, and our Everyman is Richard Mayhew, who discovers a girl bleeding on the street one night. He takes her to his apartment and patches her up, and almost immediately a sinister pair of not-quite-men appear at Richard's apartment looking for the girl. The girl's name is Door, and the rest of her family was murdered. Door has the ability to open things that are locked (hence her name), and is being hunted because of this ability. Richard tags along with her, not entirely willingly, into London Below, which is a classic Gaiman world of magic and terror. And, in true Gaiman fashion, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

It's a good story, the characters and worldbuilding are magnificent, and it's full of Gaiman's signature reminders that magical worlds are actually fucking terrifying, as well as plenty of his unexpectedly funny bits, like this exchange:

"The door was opened by a sleepy-looking footman, wearing a powdered, crooked wig and scarlet livery. He looked at the motley rabble on his doorstep with an expression that indicated that they had not been worth getting out of bed for.
'Can I help you?' said the footman. Richard had been told to fuck off and die with more warmth and good humor."

But throughout the book, even as I was being alternately thrilled and horrified by the story, there was a palpable feeling that something was missing. The villains, while terrifying, were somehow not as threatening as they should have been; I saw several of the big plot twists coming a mile away (view spoiler); and somehow the big quest never felt important or developed enough. It was something involving a key - I read the book a few days ago, and already the details of the mission are slipping away - but I never felt like I really understood the importance of it all, and it just functioned as a way for the characters to keep hanging out and struggling against evil together. By the end of the book, the entire quest just felt like one big MacGuffin, and I was left feeling slightly deflated.

None of this should suggest, of course, that this book isn't good. Because lest we forget, Average-Quality Gaiman is still Really Really Good Gaiman. Even after all the mild disappointments I listed, I still found myself invested in the world of London Below, and wishing that I could read more about it. Ultimately, the book functions as a good introduction to Gaiman and why we love him, but it doesn't hold up to his later works.
...more

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Nov 22, 2013 Carmen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, traditionally-published, he-says, british-author, 2018-book-lover-s-desk-calendar, published1996

Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.

This is a very well-written and predictable book by Neil Gaiman.

Richard is an office drone.

Of course he is.

And he's dating a go-getting, beautiful woman who doesn't love him for what he is, but sees "potential" and dreams about the man she can turn him into. You know the type. Scarlett Johansson from DON JON.

And he's miserable, but pretends he's happy ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Apatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

There are four simple ways for the observant to tell Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar apart: first, Mr. Vandemar is two and a half heads taller than Mr. Croup; second, Mr. Croup has eyes of a faded china blue, while Mr. Vandemars eyes are brown; third, while Mr. Vandemar fashioned the rings he wears on his right hand out of the skulls of four ravens, Mr. Croup has no obvious jewelery; fourth, Mr. Croup likes words, while Mr. Vandemar is always hungry. Also, they look nothing at all alike.

Mr. Croup ...more

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Feb 03, 2015 P rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, urban-fantasy

Beware of Doors.

Neverwhere reminded me of Alice in Wonderland with a darker setting. The lead character is an adult confronting a world that he's never known before. The concept of Neverwhere is easily understandable even though the narrative is multi-layered and complicated. Why not ? This is exactly an urban fantasy novel without young adult materials, but Gaiman managed to throw some little things that we're so accustomed to, such as London, the lousy villains, the wise hero and MAGIC.

...more

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Oct 25, 2018 Nick marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Neil Gaiman's books are so beautiful inside and out.

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Feb 18, 2016 Brian rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I read Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" recently, and loved it. So when I saw "Neverwhere" on the cheap shelf at the local bookstore I picked it up. For a book that is only 370 pages I thought it would never end. It was Gaiman's first solo novel, so I will cut him some slack, but this text is just simply not that satisfying. The high praise for it mystifies me.
"Neverwhere" is an imaginative novel, with some interesting character ideas and plot devices. But it is not a well written novel. It verges ...more

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Mar 26, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: urban fantasy readers

Shelves: favorites, urban-fantasy, quest, angels, favorite-or-autobuy-author, fish-out-of-water, male-pov, set-in-uk, alternate-dimension-or-world, unlikely-hero-or-heroine

Neverwhere is one of those books that answers the 'what if' question about the city in which you live your days, going through your admittedly 'mundane' routines. In this case, London. What if there was a London Below, a strange world which consists of Underground railways, tunnels, sewers, and sometimes uncannily parallels the London that the average inhabitant thought they knew but didn't, and in a way that seems a lot more interesting? It's a scary place, not terribly clean and sanitary. But Neverwhere is one of those books that answers the 'what if' question about the city in which you live your days, going through your admittedly 'mundane' routines. In this case, London. What if there was a London Below, a strange world which consists of Underground railways, tunnels, sewers, and sometimes uncannily parallels the London that the average inhabitant thought they knew but didn't, and in a way that seems a lot more interesting? It's a scary place, not terribly clean and sanitary. But it's also a place of wonders. If you spent some time there, would you find yourself, and realize that the normal world just doesn't hold the same charm for you, now that you've realized the possibilities? With this book, you can ponder these questions for yourself through the viewpoint of Richard Mayhew.

The unknown is scary for us. Scary, but also exciting. You just have to find the courage to seek it out. That's one thing I love about books. They take me places that I'm not sure I'd want to go in real life. And in the process, they make me want to be braver than I am. Richard has to find that courage (the hard way), but he becomes a hero and a champion in his own right in the process of his journey. He faces pain, loss, and uncertainty, but he gains a lot more in return.

This is the third book I've read by Neil Gaiman (all on audio), and I really appreciate his writing. He has a wonderful way with humor, a grand sense of adventure and whimsy, and he finds the uncanny and fantastical in the everyday and ordinary. Honestly, that's why I love fantasy, particularly urban fantasy.

Although parts of this story were dark in subject matter and could have been too gruesome, the writing keeps the subject from being over the top in these areas. Subtlety in storytelling gives this reader enough to know just how bad the bad guys are, and without the scenes being too off-putting. And there is always hope that good will win out. I need that in a book.

Of course, living in the sewer and the underground aren't the most clean ways to go about one's business, but there was also an undeniable appeal to these worlds. I'm not saying you will see me taking off on a sewer adventure (not going to happen), but at least I can read about it, and think that it didn't sound quite as bad as I thought it would (for the most part).

I liked the diversity of this world. People of different colors, shapes, sizes and origins. That's how a big city like London truly is, not the monochromatic make-believe of some of the shows on TV (which I won't name) where you wonder how the characters can go seven seasons without ever encountering a person of color. And the diversity isn't just background filler. Diverse people have strong roles in this story. With this added appeal, it made the novel even more enjoyable.

Neverwhere was a fun, interesting novel, with some mystical, otherworldly elements right smack dab in the middle of the everyday. I loved that about this book. I am so glad I started reading Neil Gaiman. I recommend you give this book a try if you haven't read him yet.

Overall rating: 4.25/5.0 stars. ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 James rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-multi-book-series, 1-fiction, 2-fic-fantasy-and-scifi

3 of 5 stars to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, a fantasy full of quirky characters and commentary on society, published in 1996. This was another book group selection (not mine), but by someone who has very good taste in books.

I'd never read Gaiman before, but he seems to be immensely popular. We read it in 2009, many years after it first hit print, but still at the cusp of my interest in fantasy books. I think it was too much of a fantasy for me, as I tend to need some rules or boundaries, and I ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
The Procrastinato...: Neverwhere (January 2020) Buddy Read Discussion - Kyra, Isabella	3	12	Jan 25, 2020 11:06PM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Neverwhere (London Below, The World of Neverwhere #1) by Neil Gaiman - Restarting October 10th 2019	16	120	Oct 26, 2019 11:02AM
Play Book Tag: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - 3 stars	3	20	Jul 06, 2019 03:36AM
Play Book Tag: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, 4 stars [Trim]	2	18	May 12, 2019 07:38AM
Books2Movies Club: Neverwhere - book and TV	6	26	Feb 19, 2019 10:17AM
Action/Adventure ...: January 2019 Urban Fantasy Action Group Read; Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Spoilers	9	22	Jan 24, 2019 10:36AM

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