After helping a strange girl, Door, by the side of the road, Richard Mayhew’s world is turned upside down. He discovers a world underground called London Below that co-exists with the London we know. In order to restore his life to normality, Richard embarks on an adventure with a range of interesting characters, whilst being pursued by the greatest assassins in the universe, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar.
What was most prominent in the story was the range of characters I got to know. All of them were vividly pictured and original. I had no trouble distinguishing them from each other as they were all memorable. Richard Mayhew is an everyman character. He is completely relatable and therefore very sympathetic from the start of the novel, as he is thrown into a world he didn’t even knew existed. Though he wasn’t as brave as the other characters, and not a typical hero, he represented what we would be mostly like in his situation. Many times, we read books about courageous heroes and we want to be them. But I for one know, I would struggle just as much as Richard. Also, it was told from an interesting perspective, third person omniscient, but this did not stop me from connecting to Richard throughout the story.
Even though they were villains, I particularly loved Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar. Throughout the novel, you never really find out what creatures they are. They’re certainly not human. But they were almost a double act, and though cruel and sadistic, they were oddly humorous. However, I found the two characters merged into one character at times, I found it had to distinguish a difference between them.
The only character I was not sure about was Door. Throughout the novel, her character wasn’t as strong as Richard’s, Hunter’s Mr Croup’s or Mr Vandemar’s. Her nature was neutral and a little bit lost in the conflict despite her involvement in it. However, towards the end of the book, she grew on me, and at times, I admired her.
Neil Gaiman is particularly talented when it comes to portraying a right balance and harmonious blend of the fantastical and the everyday. In fact, I’ve been wanting to read this type of story for ages and Gaiman has given me it. He seems to have an imagination that has no limits. There were also a number of twists and turns that took me by surprise and I was completed invested in the storyline.
Since I’ve enjoyed Neverwhere so much, I am determined to read more of Gaiman’s books. Many people like to draw a number of similarities between Gaiman and Pratchett and with good reason too. Both have mind-blowing imaginations but wit in their prose. If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett’s work, I would recommend Neverwhere. Even those who enjoy Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, I would also recommend Neverwhere a worthy read. Or if you want to get into fantasy, but don’t want to plunge head first into high fantasy, Neverwhere is the book to read.
Overall, I would give it a 9/10
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