George Whitefield

1- Who was your favourite character and why? My fave character was the Marquis de Carabas. He was the most fun character. Had a bit of a dark side but was ultimately good. 2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest? I didn't really feel The Ordeal was all that bad, and some other parts were a bit meh. Saying that, the imagination of Gaiman in this novel was what I enjoyed most and the way he led your imagination on a journey along with the story. 3- Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? This was the first book I've read by Neil Gaiman, although I had decided I had wanted to read his Sandman series before reading this book. Its just made me want to read them more. I'd also like to read Coraline before the film comes out. 4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I felt a few ideas were a little childish, but it didn't really lessen my overall enjoyment of the book. The imagery was all very clear, even simplistic at times, but that made the weird nature of book more accesible, and gave you a bit of the feel of the wizard of oz and alice in wonderland. You felt like you were reading a children's fantasy book for adults, which was what Gaiman was aiming at. 5- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Definately really enjoyed reading this book. Took me no time at time to finish as I took it nearly everywhere with me to try and read a bit here and there and keep up with the story. At the end the book stayed in my mind for days, which I feel a good book should. I'd recommend the book to anyone with a good imagination and who likes the slighty dark and weird.

For those of you who don't know who Neil Gaiman is, he's the author of, among others, Stardust (as in the book behind the recent film), the Sandman series, and Coraline (the book behind the new Tim Burton film). He originally wrote Neverwhere as a TV series in the early 90s, but wasn't totally happy with the story (TV being unable to convey all that a book can) so he rewrote the story in book form. To best describe where Neverwhere is, I'll use the description from the back of the book: "Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks." Gaiman admitted to being inspired by the likes of Wizard of Oz, Narnia and Alice in Wonderland as a child, and since then wanted to write his own adult version. The story follows Richard Mayhew as he stumnbles across and helps a Neverwhere resident, a young girl named Door, and in turn accidently finds himself caught on a journey into Neverwhere, one in which he doesn't want to be but finds himself drawn into and unable to escape. I really enjoyed Neil Gaiman's simplistic yet imaginative style of writing, and after this book am going to try more of his work, in particular Coraline and his Sandman series. I like Kirkus Reviews description of him: "Exuberantly inventive... a postmodernist punk faerie queen!" If you're into the popular modern type of fantasy fiction, such as Twilight, Pullma, Pratchett etc (I'm not a big fan but never mind) I'd definately recommend this book. Its a really enjoyable read, and while some of the ideas are a little childish, some of them are quite mindblowing and the book really takes you on an unexpected and exciting journey into an unknown world as it does with the story's main character. After I'd finished reading the book it stayed on my mind for days and days, as I feel a good book should. It really caught hold of my imagination. I'd give it 4.5 out 5, as though I thought the book as a whole was excellent, there was still one or two little areas that I felt could have been better, so I can't give it a perfect rating. Still, its the best modern fantasy book I've read in a long time and have been encouraging all my reading friends to try it! Anyone else read this book? I haven't seen much mention of Neil Gaiman on the forums which surprises me a little.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Pilgrim's Progress. Its one of my favourite books and it still astounds me everytime I read it. I don't imagine all that many non-Christians would want to read this book, as it is pretty "in your face unapologetic Christianity" but at the time, and since then really, this book and John Bunyan have both been considered literary greats of their time. The fact that its a retelling I'm guessing means that its a modern translation? The original is much better. What gives this book another level, in my opinion, is the fact that the story came to Bunyan in a dream during his time spent in prison for being a evangelical preacher. Its pretty incredible stuff really, but we all have our own tastes and opinions!

Good thread! The only book I ever bought at a charity shop, and it cost me a whole 50p, was Celia Brayfield's White Ice. I still couldn't tell you why I bought it. Its about a Russian ballerina, and her next 2 generations after the revolution, but the story was incredible. And again, I can't explain it, but it just captivated me! Worth checking out if ya fancy something a little different.

I'm 26 and am only just getting into graphic novels. I gotta be honest, I love them! I was never massively into comics when I was younger, though like most kids I enjoyed them. Its only recently thought that I've become to really appreciate them. The first reason was probably because of Batman - I always loved the dark imagery of Batman, and how you always felt that there wasn't really much sepearating him from the bad guys, just his all-consuming desire for vengeance. Frank Miller's books in particular are fantastic. V For Vendetta is just the most mind blowing book I've ever read. I've read about 5 times this past year and each time I read it I get more and more out of it. It's just phenomenal. While I'm reading the book and for a while afterwards its all I'm thinking about, whether at work or in leisure, its on my mind! I'm also just getting into the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse series which is also fantastic. I dunno why I've gotten into them all so much though, it just captures something in my imagination that I can't let go off. I'm trying to write a superhero book, but a straight forward novel, as oppose to the grahpic novel. I've done about 8 chapters so far. It's quite a bit different from the standard grahpic novel ideas, but it contains a lot of influences from the genre too. Not that that's particularly relevant here!