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Adventurous,
Brilliant,
Fantastic

4 reviews

Neverwhere: A Novel
by Neil Gaiman

Published: 2003-09-02
Paperback : 400 pages
2 members reading this now
16 clubs reading this now
8 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 2 of 4 members

Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, ...

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Introduction

Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.

"A fantastic story that is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares" (San Diego Union-Tribune), Neil Gaiman's first solo novel has become a touchstone of urban fantasy, and a perennial favorite of readers everywhere.

Editorial Review

Neverwhere's protagonist, Richard Mayhew, learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of London Above, and joins a quest through the dark and dangerous London Below, a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times. His companions are Door, who is trying to find out who hired the assassins who murdered her family and why; the Marquis of Carabas, a trickster who trades services for very big favors; and Hunter, a mysterious lady who guards bodies and hunts only the biggest game. London Below is a wonderfully realized shadow world, and the story plunges through it like an express passing local stations, with plenty of action and a satisfying conclusion. The story is reminiscent of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but Neil Gaiman's humor is much darker and his images sometimes truly horrific. Puns and allusions to everything from Paradise Lost to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz abound, but you can enjoy the book without getting all of them. Gaiman is definitely not just for graphic-novel fans anymore. --Nona Vero

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Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Susan K. (see profile) 12/21/23

 
  "Surprisingly unfulfilling and disappointing-It was OK."by Stephanie L. (see profile) 09/12/13

Knowing this has a cult following, we went in fairly eager, but we all agreed that seemed like a rough draft. I bet we said "unrealized potential" 10 times. The ground work was there, we kept thinking,... (read more)

 
  "Neverwhere"by Becci S. (see profile) 07/22/11

 
  "Neverwhere"by Catherine L. (see profile) 12/03/10

I would never have picked this book off the shelf which is one of the reasons I love book club. You get to read books you wouldn't normally pick. With this story (and it has been a while since I read... (read more)

 
  "Neverwhere"by Stefanie C. (see profile) 12/02/10

I thought it was going to be more exciting than it was. I didn't find myself liking the main character that much.

 
  "Just not my flavor"by Debby J. (see profile) 04/14/09

This book reminds me of a dark cartoon. I can see why his graphic novels are so popular. I just couldn't get in to it.

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