A Spoiler Free Re-read Review
I'm not sure there's a lot to say about Neverwhere that hasn't been said already, especially considering it's about 27 years old at this point and fairly well known... I think anyway. This is also at least my third reread of the book and I'm not sure what my original thoughts on it were. I probably won't have anything profound to say. I will say upfront that I recommend Neverwhere to a) anyone who hasn't read it yet, b) any fantasy fan, an c) any fan of Neil Gaiman's work.
Neverwhere is one of my favorite "Portal Fantasies." It takes the reader from the everyday mundane London Above to the fantastical and actual quite frightening London Below. And boy, does that world-building skill of Gaiman's really pop here. I don't think I've been more immediately immersed in a world or wanted much, much more of that world than when I picked up Neverwhere. London Below is a gift that keeps on giving and enticing you with what could possibly be around the next corner, even if you don't know much about London itself. For those in the know, I'm sure there are Easter Eggs I've missed out on.
The story of Neverwhere is no slouch, either. We largely follow Richard Mayhew as he's basically dragged kicking and screaming into London Below through no real fault of his own. I mean, I guess one could say he's too kind for his own good, but I'm not sure that's exactly the case... turns out, Richard's got more backbone than he even gave himself credit for. Anyway, Richard journeys through London Below alongside Door, Hunter, and the Marquis de Carabas (Jack Sparrow eat your heart out), each of whom are fully fleshed out in their own rights. They are followed, attacked, and harried, seemingly at random to them, by the main antagonists, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar, a pair of utterly despicable but slightly charming? assassins. All this toward the ultimate baddie, who I shall not name because of spoilers, but it's not a spoiler to say there is one as Croup speaks with this Big Bad on several occasions.
I'm at a loss to really discuss Neverwhere past this point. I'm just so floored every time I read it and think about it. Neil Gaiman's world-building and character-building are just amazing. Each new place or person Richard comes across jumps off the page with a life all their own. You can feel the backstories of each character just lurking in the background, waiting to be told or just imagined. I'm truly in awe.
All of that said, London Below is not Narnia. It's not safe in any sense of the word. There is violence and a rather frank attitude toward death. Neverwhere is definitely not a book I'd hand to a child.
Pretty sure I've just run out of things to say about Neverwhere. Gonna go ahead and close this out with a GO READ IT.
Favorite Lines
"Nice in a bodyguard," lectured the Marquis, "is about as useful as the ability to regurgitate whole lobsters. He looks dangerous." - The Marquis de Carabas
"But you must never imagine," he continued, "that just because something is funny, Messire Marquis, it is not dangerous." - Mr. Croup
On Another Note
The following description reminded me of the Pokemon: Furret
"Upon her arrival, it comes through the underbrush, a fury of brown and of white, undulating gently, like a wet-furred snake, its red eyes bright and peering through the darkness, its teeth like needles, a carnivore and a killer. The creature is extinct in the world above: it bears a similar relationship to the mink, and to the weasel, to that which a timber wolf bears to a Yorkshire Terrier. It weighs almost three hundred pounds, and is a little over fifteen feet long, from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail."
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