8.06.2013
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman, 336 pgs, hardcoverOverall Grade: A
The epitome of urban fantasy. Richard Mayhew is living a dull existence in London being bossed around by his fiancee Jessica. But on the way to an important dinner meeting with Jessica's boss, Richard makes the life-changing decision to stop and help a wounded young lady he finds on the sidewalk. The lady is named Door, and she is being pursued by the deliciously creepy pair of assassins Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. But who wants Door dead and why? Her search for answers will pull Richard along into the world of London Below, a dark, fantastical, and dangerous world that permeates the London we know, and which is full of the odd and deadly denizens who have "fallening through the cracks" of London throughout time.
I should probably add that I had previously heard the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neverwhere (how much that influenced my read I'll never know). But it certainly gave me a glorious set of actors' voices for most of the main cast. James McAvoy as Richard; Natalie Dormer as Door; Anthony Head as Mr. Croup; Benedict Cumberbatch as the angel Islington; Bernard Cribbins as Old Bailey; Christopher Lee as the Earl of Earl's Court. And that's only the names I recognize!
Labels: genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, media: book
