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Neverwhere: The Author's Preferred Text | 
| Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Headline Review
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £5.39
You Save: £2.60 (33%)
New (13) Used (4) from £4.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 1375
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0755322800
EAN: 9780755322800
ASIN: 0755322800
Publication Date: September 19, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 69 more reviews...
 Neverwhere December 28, 2008
An excellent read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not a book that I would usually go for - given that it is categorised by booksellers as a sci-fi/fanstasy title. It is the story of Richard Mayhew, living in contemporary London who finds his actions helping a girl who appears to be injured takes him to a parallel London to his world. The names and places throughout the story are really cleverly written.
 creepy, a bit gruesome bu enchanting! December 5, 2008
This book was my first experience of Neil Gaiman, purchased while trying to find something 'different' to read. It certainly is different to anything I have read before and it was'nt a let down. Gaiman writes in a way which keeps you hooked from page to page. This book really makes you feel that you are there in 'London under' in this creepy, scary, violent other world. A worthwhile read I loved it!
 Doesn't live up to the hype November 19, 2008
I had such high hopes for this book. Neil Gaiman is one of those superstar authors and (although you should never judge a book by its cover) the blurb made it sound like the kind of thing I'd be into: mythical beings with a modern twist, an alternative London hidden beneath our own, good contemporary fantasy.
Neverwhere had all of those things, but I was expecting it to be better. The plot is quite straightforward: a chance encounter with the aptly-named Door causes Richard Mayhew to fall between the cracks of present-day London and into a world populated by talking rats, vampires and knights in rusty armour. Soon he is on a quest to avenge the murder of Door's father before the murderer catches up with him.
Despite the enormous potential of the alternative world Neil Gaiman creates in this book, it feels as if he has merely sketched it out. The characters and their world were undoubtedly alive in his imagination, but only shadows appear on the paper. It is a perfectly pleasant read and I wish I'd read it on a beach somewhere instead of in my lunch break, but I came to the book with the wrong expectations and finished feeling disappointed. There were no complex characters or intricate plot strands and the multilayered, technicolour world promised by the cover turned out to be a bit beige.
This particular edition, incidentally, contains extra bonus material, most of which (an introduction, an alternative prologue and an interview with the author) is quite interesting and some of which (reading group discussion questions) is excruciatingly cringeworthy.
Enchanting November 18, 2008
I loved this book.
I was recommended it by someone and was initially not convinced, and I don't regret changing my mind for a minute.
Ok, me being a bit blonde took me a while to realsie the names of some of the places and people were tube stations... But was overjoyed when it ''clicked' in my head.
It's set it London but, it's not, which is the beauty of it, as this place is this other world full of magic and fantasy. It's one of those books where you can truly appreciate an authors imagination and love for creating the book.
What more can I say about it, I'm the type of person that will sit down and read a book in one single sitting if I can, especially if I enjoy it.
And I deprived myself of sleep to fiish this one.
 Simple but fun August 20, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was one of those books which I really wanted to be better than it is. I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, which I think was an incredible achievement. Unfortunately Neverwhere really suffers by comparison.
The concept of an alternate London hidden behind the 'real' one is fascinating, and as an adventure it rolls along at a cracking pace. However some of it is pretty simplistic, which came as a real surprise compared to the intricacies of the Sandman saga.
For example, having a character who has the ability to open any door (and other things) is interesting, but calling that character 'Door' is a bit simplistic.
On the whole it's an enjoyable read, just not Gaiman's finest work.
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