The Gnome King reviewed Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (London Below, #1)
Review of 'Neverwhere' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I apologise in advanced as this review may come across a bit gushy!
There is no doubt that Neil Gaiman is a brilliant story teller and what he has managed to do on this occasion is capture that moment you first fell in love with books. A clever story with wonderful characters that could, just maybe, possibly be true. There is enough included in the story, place names, historical events, those in society that most people try to pretend aren't there and little events like the flicker in the corner of your eye that can help you believe what you are reading is real.
One thing I see a lot of on imdb.com is "There are no small parts" and this is true here, all the characters are well developed, easy to like and they stay with you no matter how fleeting their part is. Richard is a our hero, …
I apologise in advanced as this review may come across a bit gushy!
There is no doubt that Neil Gaiman is a brilliant story teller and what he has managed to do on this occasion is capture that moment you first fell in love with books. A clever story with wonderful characters that could, just maybe, possibly be true. There is enough included in the story, place names, historical events, those in society that most people try to pretend aren't there and little events like the flicker in the corner of your eye that can help you believe what you are reading is real.
One thing I see a lot of on imdb.com is "There are no small parts" and this is true here, all the characters are well developed, easy to like and they stay with you no matter how fleeting their part is. Richard is a our hero, he is reluctant and unsure of himself but you see him grow as the story goes on. His companions on the "quest", Door, Hunter and the Marquis make up one of the best group of questers since LOTR. And as for the bad guys, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, I loved those guys, the back and forth dialogue between those two make them one of the best duos in literature.
Until I read this book I had never really thought of the names of places on the London Underground, I've always just considered it a chore to get in and out in one piece, but the names are perfect for a story, the shepherds at shepherds bush, the angel at Islington and Blackfriars, there is so much you could do with those place names.
This is a gem of a book, I loved every page of it. If you ever get stuck in a reading rut where you always seem to read poor books, I recommend reading this one, it just might be able to help you find faith in books again.
Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2022/02/21/neverwhere-by-neil-gaiman/
