by Cyn Bagley

Created on: January 20, 2009   Last Updated: December 07, 2011

Neverwhere as written by Neil Gaiman is  the shadow, the crossed line, into the darkness. It is the land of the helpless and hopeless, but also a land of adventurers under the city of London. In this world anything can happen and does. You can walk through a gateway and lose all your companions or gain allies. It is a world of magic and of blood.

Neil Gaiman became interested in underworlds with whole civilizations under huge cities. At one point, he had felt a little slighted that no one had made a "Magic City" under London. So in 1991 when Lenny Henry asked him to write a TV series on this same subject, Neverwhere was born.

Fortunately, we are discussing the book "Neverwhere" instead of the TV series because I have only heard of the series. Although from reading the book, I am very sure that the series was pretty good. The book was copyrighted in 1996, 1997 after the series had been completed.

In the book there are two protagonists-Richard Mayhew, a young professional in London, and Door, a young gate opener from Neverwhere. These two protagonists meet while Door is being chased by some thugs who is trying to kill her. These two thugs are the bottom of depravity and enjoy hurting insects, animals, and people. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, the thugs, enjoyed killing Door's family. All of these people could open doors to other places and dimensions.

Because Richard Mayhew saves Door one time, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar's boss uses his influence on reality to throw Richard into the Neverwhere. Neverwhere is the land of throw-away people. Once you are in Neverwhere, no one can see you unless they are citizens too. So Richard wanders London. His flat (apartment) is rented. His bank account disappears. Even his co-workers don't remember him. His fiance has no idea who or what he is.

So Richard goes into the London Underground to find Door. As he meets everything from the rat people, who talks to rats, to a king on the railway. He learns that even in the most dangerous conditions there is love and loyalty.

In Doors case, she finds that she has friends in the most unlikely places. Because of her family's ability, she is a kind of royalty in the Neverwhere. And in the end, Richard is her loyal companion and not the friends that she thought that she could trust. Both Door and Richard grown up from soft young adults to hardy strong adults.

The way Neil Gaiman left the story, I thought that there would be a sequel. Unfortunately, he has not written another Neverwhere. If so, I would suggest that he take the rat-girl who was stolen on the bridge on an adventure and that she shows up in another city, another  Neverwhere. Any one of the secondary characters would make wonderful protagonists for other stories of pain and conquest.

As I have said before, the best books I have read are the ones that put the characters into extreme peril and watch them scramble out-sometimes successfully and sometimes not so successfully. Gaiman has done a wonderful job.

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