I’ve become a fan of Neil Gaiman in recent weeks. I suspect that, for some time, I had been a fan of Neil Gaiman without really knowing it. I adored the film adaptation of Coraline
and Stardust
and, generally, have a soft spot for the oddly dark yet humorously quirky side of contemporary literature.
I had just finished The Graveyard Book
and was looking for something like it – while maybe a touch more adult. (Note: Not “adult” as in “she pulsed as his member throbbed against her thigh” but “adult” as in “oh look, there might be a grown ups engaged in a death-defying race to save a world”.)
Neverwhere provided this in abundance. In a world that resembles Alice in Wonderland
(only in so much as it takes places somewhere below here), littered with people who a rational person might label insane and yet it is entirely possible that the crazies are right all along and we, the rational, are the cuckoopants, Gaiman takes us on an adventure through London Below. Part love story, part out-of-love story and part “I so wish this were actually possible”, Neverwhere is an adventure of the kind we all wish we could have.
I can’t say much more, without revealing key plot points which, if known, would ruin the story for you. So I will simply end with: Get it, read it, love it.
Tommy Karr 