Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman was a novel that I randomly picked while perusing Amazon one day. The reviews were good and it sounding like a very interesting read. As stated on the back cover of the book:
"Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart--and an ordinary life that is changed forever on a day he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed existed--a dark subculture flourishing in abandoned subway stations and sewer tunnels below the city--a world far stranger and more dangerous than the only one he has ever known..."
Summary
The main character in this book is Richard Mayhew, a somewhat boring man that has recently settled in an apartment in London. He has a controlling fiance whom is constantly ordering him around. He works in an office and has a collection of troll dolls on his desk. One evening Richard and his fiance are walking to London to eat dinner with her boss when they find a badly beaten young woman named Door lying on the sidewalk. Richard insists on helping the woman, but his fiance wants to leave her for dead. Ultimately, Richard decides that he should help the woman regardless of what his fiance says and he takes the woman back to his apartment. Once home, Richard offers the woman clothing, a shower and first aid because she is adamant about not going to the hospital. While at his house, Richard learns some interesting, but hardly believable things about Door. After some visitors and a favor from Richard, Door leaves his apartment. Richard then goes to work and realizes nobody recognizes him or even know he exists. Richard goes on a journey to find Door to see if she can help him get his life back. The only question is, does he really want to leave this new world he was so unwillingly thrust into?
Review
The world Gaiman has created for this book is like nothing I have ever read before. In fact, it kind of grossed me out because it just sounded really dirty. Especially since most of the time the main character Richard is tromping around in the undergrounds of London. Richard often has foreshadowing dreams that feature him in an awesome battle, however, when the battle finally commences, it turns out to be very anticlimactic. Door is an peculiar character whom has been through a very terrible ordeal. The entire time I was reading, I was trying understood the relationship between Door and Richard. I sort of wanted them to be romantically involved, but I really wasn't sure if that would have worked out.
The other characters in this book range from other world creatures, to crazy homeless people. There are bounty hunters/assansins, rats, angels, warriors, vampires, witches, and creatures that I can't even explain. The best parts of Neverwhere were the monks and the Floating Market. Throughout the book, there are slow parts that seem to drone on forever. However, there are also very suspenseful moments that make you not want to put it down. Overall, I am giving Neverwhere 3 out of 5 stars.
