On and off, I've tended to read quite a bit. So, I thought I'd put up some reviews of books as I read them. In time, I may go back and add reviews of some of the books I read in the past. Not massively exciting, but I suppose it may be of interest to someone, somewhere (perhaps).
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
So, another book about London, but very different to The London Pigeon Wars. I'd read Good Omens and heard good things about Neil Gaiman, so I thought I'd have a go at this, and it's pretty good. I suppose it fits in the 'fantasy' genre. Well, perhaps 'fairy tale' is better. The basic idea is that there's a parallel London of the dispossessed into which the main character, Richard Mayhew, accidentally falls after helping someone from London Below. It's a grimy, magical and mysterious world, full of characters like Hammersmith, Old Bailey and the Seven Sisters. Cheesy? Yes. Highly readable? Ditto.
It's not saccharine, though. As I said, it's very grimy, and there are some top-quality baddies. And those who aren't actively evil are generally out for themselves. What really makes it run, though, is the visual quality of the work. Gaiman was a comic writer (ahem, graphic novelist ;) and Neverwhere was originally conceived as a BBC series. Gaiman apparently kept himself sane while they hacked details out of his screenplay by saying that he'd keep it all in the book. I only saw one or two episodes, and remember them sketchily, but I think they had, um, Dr. Who production values. The old Dr. Who. As it is, I suspect the book is a better TV series than the TV version. Charming and fluid.
Permalink. Posted 18:07, Sat, 09 Sep 2006.
There is also a complete index of the books.
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