Vandermar & Croup are freaking scary

[timepiececlock]

Was v. v. bored last night with LJ on the down & outs, and no one around to play cards with, and nothing interesting on tv.

In a moment of whimsy, I jumped in my little car went driving out in far too heavy rain to the nearest Barnes & Noble, and bought Neverwhere by Neil Gaimon. At nearly 10:30 or so, not long before closing. When I'm alreayd in the middle of about 6 other books, and textbooks on top of that.

I got home, read 107 pages (as opposed to my usual attention span of 20-40). I did the dishes, and read 30 more, and went to bed.

I read another 11 pages standing in the cashier line at my college office, waiting to buy a parking sticker.

I love this book.

Now: onward. Things to do. People to damage.

Comments

[katiedack.livejournal.com]

Is it that good? Now I feel I need to buy it. I remember when it was first published. I was intrigued and I have no idea why I didn't buy it.

Re:

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

well, it's not as good in my opinion as the Dark Tower series by Stephen King-- that's the epitome of any fantasy novel[s] written after LotR, especially dark urban fantasy. I could rec those books to a new person every day from now until my death, and I'd still want to talk about them in the afterlife.

Neverwhere is a very involving book, and I like the narrative style a lot. And its easy to read, so you can spend a lot of time in it and not realize how far you'd gone, because you were enjoying it. I think I'd like it more if I knew anything about London (which I don't at all), but I still find it amusing, dark, and very interesting. The main charcter has a sort of Arthur Dent style, though not quite as oblivious or whiny. I like him. And I love that another major character is named Door, because I have a fascination with the symbolism of doors.

[katiedack.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the explanation. I think I'll add it to my books to buy list. I remember the hardcover was quite attractive and I wanted to buy it because the description on the flap was interesting. Okay. Sold. Thanks.

Re:

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. And, you know, the last line on my original post was a quote from Mr Croup, one of the villains the book. They're a cool pair that alterate between amusing and scary, sort of like BtVS's Mayor Wilkins, only more scary and less cheery.