Book notes: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis:

“Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.

“A fantastic story that is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares” (San Diego Union-Tribune), Neil Gaiman’s first solo novel has become a touchstone of urban fantasy and a perennial favorite of readers and listeners everywhere.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I seem to be in a Neil Gaiman phase because a lot of my recent fiction books have been authored by him. I do thoroughly enjoy his works and I’m hoping that this would be just as good as the others.

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Key notes:

Chapter 1

• On their way to an important work dinner, the engaged couple Jessica and Richard came across a girl bleeding and almost passed out outside their door

Chapter 2

• The girl’s name was Door, and Richard helped stitch her up and escape the two guys looking for her

Chapter 3

• Richard became semi-invisible and forgotten in the world somehow

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

• Richard finally met up with Door and told her how a speaking rat brought him there

Chapter 6

• Door hired someone named Hunter as her bodyguard

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

• They meet an angel and were looking for answers from him. He said he watches over London Below

Chapter 11

• Door, Hunter, and Richard had to overcome three ordeals from monks to get the key they needed for the angel
• Meanwhile, Marquis was being crucified by Croup and Vandemar

Chapter 12

• Richard’s challenge was being in this dreamlike hallucination where he was talking to himself and had to face his demons. If he succumbed to insanity, he would likely kill himself
• Richard survived the last ordeal and retrieved the key they were looking for

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

• The Marquis was somehow revived after his dead body was found floating in the sewer

Chapter 15

• Lamia the guide tried to drain the life out of Richard but the Marquis arrived in time to save him
• Hunter turned out to be the traitor who betrayed them for this legendary hunting spear
• The angel Islington was behind everything 

Chapter 16

• They came across a demonic boar-like creature in the labyrinth and it fatally hurt her as she tried to attack it before it ran away
• Hunter sacrificed herself so that Richard could kill the beast using the spear
  • He inadvertently became the greatest hunter in all London Below which made her laugh
  • She also gave him her knife and told him how to get out of the labyrinth using the beast’s blood 

Chapter 17

• Islington revealed that the whole plot was to get Door to retrieve the key and free him from his prison
  • He also had her family killed because they refused to help, and then manipulated her dad’s journal to make it seem like she could trust the angel
• Door actually opened up a door with a duplicate key to what appeared to be toward a star or something with blinding light and a powerful gravity
• The angel and the two assassins were sucked in while the others held on as they were chained to the pillars

Chapter 18

• Serpentine recovered Hunter’s body and the spear with her assistants 

Chapter 19

• Everyone else got what they wanted but Richard just wanted to go back home to his normal life in London above
• The Abbot told him that the key he owns is a key to reality that could get him home whenever he wishes
• Richard got his old belongings and met with many of the people he met along his journey on his way out
• He also said goodbye to Door, who asked him to stay but he knew he had to go back to where he belonged
• Then she helped him go back to his world using the key and her abilities

Chapter 20

• Richard’s flat had been re-occupied by another couple so the company got him a nicer penthouse suite and managed to find his belongings in storage
  • He also found that he got a promotion at work
• Richard told Gary the entire story but Gary thought he might have just imagined the whole thing because of some head trauma
  • Richard then had a realization that he actually didn’t want his normal life and wanted to go back. Then eventually the Marquis came and got him and asked if he wanted to come with

Section: The story of the Marquis trying to get back his coat 

• The Marquis’ brother came to rescue him
• The Marquis used the mushroom spores from the love letter to escape with his brother from the shepherd and the guards

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Closing thoughts:

I think this was a fun story and a good read if you’re into Neil Gaiman’s work. To be honest, I kind of zoned out near the end of the first act as it felt a bit slow. Also it wasn’t one of my top works from Neil Gaiman, as it definitely didn’t have the emotional rollercoaster and gravitas of his other books like Good Omens or The Graveyard Book.

Overall a solid book, but not sure I would read it again. However, fans of his might really enjoy it so I’d say it’s worth the read regardless.

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Nutshell:

Richard, a normal man by all accounts, goes on an adventure to the hidden world of London Below with Door, a woman who has special powers and on a mission to figure out why her parents were killed.

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Similar books:

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
• The Sandman, Act II by Neil Gaiman
• The Sandman, Act III by Neil Gaiman
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

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Rating:

3/5

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