Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Neverwhere: the Illustrated Edition

Final review: After a multilevel process of reading, commenting and then rereading (see my various updates below), here is the final summation of all my thoughts and feelings about Neverwhere: 4 stars! And read the illustrated version!

Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Neverwhere is a novel that improved dramatically for me on reread, which actually was a surprise to me. I originally read it about six years ago when, in an odd twist worthy of London Below, it mysteriously appeared one day on my clunky Kindle 2, without my having ordered it. About a month later it just as mysteriously disappeared again (luckily I had finished it just in time). I was fascinated by the marvelous and imaginative setting of Neverwhere and London Below, but only mildly entertained by the plot, which ― other than the beginning and the end ― I found quite forgettable.

Still, when I was offered the chance to read a 2016 edition of Neverwhere with the “author’s preferred text” and illustrations by Chris Riddell, whose illustrations make Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle so memorable, I jumped at the chance. It was a wise decision on my part.

Richard Mayhew, the “everyman” character whose impulsive kindness toward a wounded stranger on the street upends his life so dramatically, was a more sympathetic character for me in this reread. He becomes virtually invisible to normal Londoners, like the homeless whose ranks he physically and symbolically joins. Richard takes a chance, following the path of Door, the young girl he saved, down into London Below, a Byzantine setting with a bewildering assortment of fantastically strange characters. The plot is equally disorienting, a labyrinthine quest that takes Richard and his group from one place or contact to another, as Door tries to find out who killed her entire family, and why, and Richard hopes that somehow he’ll be able to regain his normal life in London Above. They’re relentlessly pursued by Croup and Vandemar, a pair of gleefully horrible assassins, whose employer is shrouded in secrecy.

Both the plot and the characters gained clarity and cohesiveness for me on my second read, freeing me to appreciate Gaiman’s wry humor and the intricacies of the story and its setting. I smiled at the family of Lord Portico (despite their tragic fate), who all have portal-related names and the ability to open doors and locks at will. And I understood better the nature of the capricious Marquis de Carabas:

The Marquis de Carabas was not a good man, and he knew himself well enough to be perfectly certain that he was not a brave man. He had long since decided that the world, Above or Below, was a place that wished to be deceived, and, to this end, he had named himself from a lie in a fairy tale, and created himself — his clothes, his manner, his carriage — as a grand joke.

Districts and areas in London become weird characters or morph into something sinister. Hammersmith is a jeweler; Old Bailey (the London Central Criminal Court building) a feather-covered old man who lives on the rooftops; Earl’s Court is really an earl’s court, though an odd one indeed; Knightsbridge (an area of West London named after a crossing of the River Westbourne, now relegated to an underground river) becomes Night’s Bridge, a darkness-shrouded crossing that takes a terrible toll on those who pass. Blackfriars (an area in central London) is the home of the Black Friars, like Brother Sable and Brother Fuliginous. Most interesting to me was the real-world counterpart of the Angel Islington: The Angel, Islington is a historic landmark area (originally an inn called the Angel Hotel) on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road in Islington, an area of London. (The building is now a bank, but the Angel name has been adopted by an adjacent pub.) This web page is a Google map that links actual London locations to their references in Neverwhere, a fun exercise for those who’ve read this book.

Riddell’s whimsical pencil drawings add greatly to the story. Along with the full page illustrations at the beginning of most chapters, there are countless sketches that wrap around and through the text. Rats peek around the corners of paragraphs; lovely, vampire-ish Velvets eye you from the tops and sides of the pages. It’s entrancing.

This illustrated edition of Neverwhere also includes Gaiman’s aptly named 2014 short story “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back,” which should be read after the novel. In it we learn more about the Marquis’ family, and meet some characters that were only briefly referenced in Neverwhere, like the sinister shepherds of Shepherd’s Bush.

If you’re going to read any edition of Neverwhere, I strongly recommend this illustrated edition, whether you’re already a fan of London Below and its inhabitants, or are considering checking it out for the first time. Despite some weaknesses in the story, it’s well worth your time to experience this fantastical world, especially as envisioned by Chris Riddell.

Update #2: I'm upping my rating to 4 stars on reread. Neil Gaiman's mix of dark fantasy, whimsy and wry humor is really appealing, and the plot worked far better for me the second time around. Chris Riddell's pencil illustrations wrap their way in and around the text - they're very cool. I liked Richard, the main character, as Everyman, the way London Beneath worked both as a symbol for the homeless and as an amalgamation of different times and places.

Full review to come.

Update #1: So the joke's on me. Even though I only mildly liked this Neil Gaiman fantasy novel the first time I read it several years ago, when it showed up on a $1.99 Kindle sale a couple of months ago I decided to buy it (major splurge there) and try reading it again. Because maybe I read it wrong the first time?

Not four weeks later a publicist emailed me and offered me this new enhanced hardback edition with illustrations by Chris Riddell for review. I LOVED Riddell's illustrations in The Sleeper and the Spindle, so I said yes, and now it's in my hands. So I could have saved my two bucks, but all things considered I think I've definitely come out ahead. :)

We'll see if the reread + Riddell's wonderful pencil drawing illustrations change my initial 3 star rating here.

Initial review: Neil Gaiman's fantasy about a dark, magical London underworld, which exists side by side with our world, left me with mixed feels. The setting is marvelous and fantastical, and Gaiman does a great job creating it. The plot, though, about an ordinary working man who extends compassion to an injured stranger and, as a result, unexpectedly finds himself up to his neck in this strange and dangerous magical world, was forgettable, at least for me.

I read this four or five years ago and, other than the beginning and the end and a couple of cool settings (especially Knight's Bridge/Nightsbridge), I hardly remember anything about this novel. Still, it's Gaiman, and a lot of people love this book.

Interesting personal story: the reason I originally read Neverwhere is because it mysteriously appeared on my Kindle one day, without my having ordered it. About a month later it just as mysteriously disappeared again. Apparently the ebook is magical too!

I received a copy of the 2016 illustrated version of this book from the publisher for review. Thank you!!