Review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Summary
What happens to those who are forgotten? What happens to things lost? In London, these things and people fall between the cracks to end up in London Below. Richard saves a girl from this otherworld and wakes up to find that everything about his life has changed. Now, he must survive this strange new world that lives in the shadows of his former one.

Commentary
Gaiman writes many interesting worlds which are at once strange and familiar. The books that I have read of his always add a twist to the modern world. This one for instance, creates a world which exists only in the shadows of London. He takes familiar things from around London and adds a dimension of other to them which makes it easy to fall into this new world.

Neverwhere has a sort of Alice in Wonderland whimsy to it albeit with a slightly more sinister and adult edge. The way he inter-meshes the two worlds is nothing short of genius. I really enjoyed reading about the Floating Market where people from all over the underworld come to trade and conduct business in very interesting places.

Despite the novelty of his work though, I find myself not loving his books. I believe this is because I feel a sense of apathy toward his characters, at least for this book that was the case. They're interesting, and I liked reading about them. But, I'm not so lost in them that I get really nervous when they are in danger; I don't feel like I'm truly rooting for them. His work is still worth reading for its detailed and ingenious world-building.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

This is one of the books I've read and reviewed for the fantasy mini-challenge. Progress 13/13 books. I'm finished!

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