Fantasy Book Club discussion

Well, I'm kinda anxious to talk about Neverwhere, and there's no area dedicated to it yet, so I thought I'd get the ball rolling. What'd everyone think? I love this book, personally. Awesome idea, that the forgotten people of the streets sort of fade into their own reality. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemmar are two of my all time favorite characters, too :-).

I'm really slacking! I own this, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I will soon though... I hope.

You definitely should, Becky. Great book. If you skip mine this month to read Neverwhere I won't hold it against you ;-).

John wrote: "You definitely should, Becky. Great book. If you skip mine this month to read Neverwhere I won't hold it against you ;-)."

Wow, John - that really shows your love for Neverwhere :-) This is a re-read for me. I certainly love Neverwhere but it's not my favorite Gaiman work. That being said, it is brilliant and Door is one of my fav characters.

In particular, I like how Gaiman throws you into the story without explaining everything up front. I prefer when an author trusts their reader to just go with it and doesn't have two chapters of explanation of "this is why" and "this is how" right up front.

What's funny, Libby, is that this isn't my favorite Gaiman, either. Heh. [Book: Good Omens] has that title.

Door is an excellent character, I agree. Fascinating ability he gave her. The fact that he doesn't explain how and why things work in his worlds is great because it really puts you in the main character's shoes. You feel lost, confused, a little afraid, and it adds a tremendous amount to the atmosphere of the shady, dangerous world.

I liked the book a lot. It kept me guessing who the bad guy was. I didn't like the ratspeakers. I think I would have enjoy the book more without them!
This is my fisrt Gaiman book and I look forward to reading more from him.

A great book, this was my first Gaiman solo work (I read Good Omens first). This was a re-read for me last week.

I love the way Gaiman narrates a story. His word choice makes it part fairy-tale, part suspense novel. He has such perfect imagery, which I'll expand on once we have some more room to discuss the book rather than the one string. I also need my copy of the book handy to quote some examples.

I like the way Gaiman combines fantasy elements with realism in his world-within-a-world. He merges humor with horror in such a way that his readers are afraid of Vandemar and Croup but at the same time laughing at them....

Chris wrote: "I like the way Gaiman combines fantasy elements with realism in his world-within-a-world. He merges humor with horror in such a way that his readers are afraid of Vandemar and Croup but at the same time laughing at them....

Agreed - I've always found it amazing how many different things Gaiman can make you feel at once. You know Vandemar and Croup are dark and sick but somehow still funny - disturbing, in a good way.

I'm almost done... and loving it! So far the dust cover advertisement (a dark Alice and Wonderland) seems quite appropriate.

This is actually my first of Gaiman's books. I will have to add more to my list...like it needed more on it!

Shannon wrote: "I'm almost done... and loving it! So far the dust cover advertisement (a dark Alice and Wonderland) seems quite appropriate.

This is actually my first of Gaiman's books. I will have to add mo..."

This is off topic but I recommend American Gods next - amazing!

Libby wrote: "In particular, I like how Gaiman throws you into the story without explaining everything up front. I prefer when an author trusts their reader to just go with it and doesn't have two chapters of explanation of "this is why" and "this is how" right up front. "

This is especially important since the primary character himself is just tossed into it with no idea. We share his state and we learn as he learns.

But then, I tend to enjoy it when things are done this way in general. I like seeing a world build around me as I read.

Although my favorite Neil Gaiman is still Good Omens (because he and Terry Pratchett brainstormed it so wonderfully!) I did enjoy Neverwhere.

It's pretty dark. I usually don't finish reading anything with finish torture scenes or anything starting with that degree of violence, and I only went ahead with this one because I knew the author would wrap things up properly at the end. The whole story is a great magical mystery tour noir.

I think the most interesting character is Hunter. She has a mystique that can't be intended to disappear after just one book.

All that being said, for me Gaiman's most enduring work so far is American Gods, which opened my eyes so wide about how much people worship death and dead things and how negative that is! He seems to say at the end, after all of Shadow's suffering, that we need to arrive at hope if we want to believe in anything.

I hope we will see more from him soon.

I'm currently rereading... I'm a little more than 3/4 of the way through... My favorite characters are Croup and Vandemar, and also the marquis de Carabas...

This is my favorite novel of Gaiman's, then American Gods and then, I think, Good Omens. Sandman might still be my all-time favorite, though. Of course, that was also the first thing I read of his, so I may be a bit biased in that regard.

*spoilers*

I loved the one line, I think by Lamia, where she references the Wizard of Oz, because as I was reading it I definitely kept thinking of the visit to Islington as similar to the trip to the Wizard. Of course the comparison as a dark Alice in Wonderland is apt, too, but I always got much more of an Oz feel to it, complete with Croup and Vandemaar as the Wicked Witch, with the running threats throughout the book...

*end spoiler*

I look forward to the various discussions as they come...


On a semi-related note, has anyone read The Arcanum by Thomas Wheeler? The only reason I ask is because there's a pair of demons in it which instantly reminded me of Croup and Vandemar when I read it, and was wondering if anyone else thought so too.

Also, has anyone watched the BBC show from which Neverwhere came? I watched it a couple of years ago, and from what I remember of it, it was pretty good.

I also have the comic adaptation somewhere, which I haven't read, yet... but I remember that the characters in it aren't drawn anything like how I imagined them... Here's the cover:

blackrose wrote: "Also, has anyone watched the BBC show from which Neverwhere came? I watched it a couple of years ago, and from what I remember of it, it was pretty good."

I've got the series on DVD. I have to admit I like the show better than the book, though both are enjoyable.

Random wrote: "blackrose wrote: "Also, has anyone watched the BBC show from which Neverwhere came? I watched it a couple of years ago, and from what I remember of it, it was pretty good."

I've got the series on ..."

Interesting - you are the second person I've heard say they like the DVD series better. I liked the book better. Guess it's just personal preference. I may have to try to series again.

I liked the book better, too, because there was more to it, from what I remember... but I'm going to have to rewatch the series now, too.

I've seen it, but I prefer the book. An interesting note is that Gaiman released the series first, then wrote the novel based on that.....

I still haven't seen the mini series, but I'm anxious to do so. I heard the production values are fairly low, but that it's still quite entertaining.

Just reread it a few weeks ago. Felt like I was reading a new book because I had forgotten a lot of details since I last read it. I love Neverwhere. It's both my introduction to Gaiman and my favorite book of his. Of course I haven't read American Gods yet, so my favorite could change. It's one of those books I wish had never ended. I agree that Croup and Vandemar are some of the best villains ever. They're so creepy. I wanted to know what they were because they were obviously not human. I love Hunter, Door and The Marquis too. I was kinda sad we didn't get to see more of Anaesthesia because I really liked her character.

I decided to rent the mini-series after I read it the first time, but I think that was a mistake. I know the mini-series came first, but I thought it was awful. I didn't even finish it. I think it would have been much better if they had a bigger budget. It was so not the London Underground I came to know and love.

I heard that they are going to make a new movie though, so I hope it's better.

That was pretty much my issue w/ the mini-series - it was pretty low budget and seemed cheesy to me. It is interesting to know that Gaiman did the book after the series. The images I get from the book just don't line up with the series. I'd love to see a movie done.

I enjoyed the book a lot. Gaiman has a way of writing that makes amazingly unbelievable things, very believable. Gaiman can get you to swallow story elements that would bring most books to a screeching halt. My first Gaiman book was Anansi Boys, it didn't blow me away but it did get me to buy more Gaiman books. Neverwhere was the second I read. As with all Gaiman's books, this would make a good movie.

I'm not expecting a great deal out of the mini series, and I'm sure it won't compare to the book, but I always get a bit of a thrill from seeing characters and places in the flesh, even when they don't match the way I thought they would appear.

I just finished... I had a lot less to go than I thought.

It's still one of my faves, even after rereading. I love how it ends... It really is a perfect ending. *sighs dreamily*

As to the low production of the mini-series - well it *is* the BBC ;)

As to the low production of the mini-series - well it *is* the BBC ;)

Good point. You know, their version of Hitchhiker's Guide is really low budget, too, but I enjoy it much more than the big-budget American version (though Mos Def does make a surprisingly good Ford Prefect).

This was the first Gaiman novel I have read, but I really enjoyed it. Especially after having visited London in college, I could picture most of the place from the London Above descriptions...like the British Museum.

I also enjoyed not being told the how's and why's of the world in the novel. That way I cen use my own imagination to how things could really work.

I liked the ambiguity of the novel. I read it last year and a couple of weeks after I read it, I realized that it was entirely possible that Richard Mayhew had really become one of those homeless people in the subway and that everything that was happening was a manifestation of his insanity.