Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
"For a moment, upon waking, he had no idea at all who he was. It was a tremendously liberating feeling, as if he were free to be whatever he wanted to be: he could be anyone at all -- able to try on any identity; he could be a man or a woman, a rat or a bird, a monster or a god. And then someone made a rustling noise, and he woke up the rest of the way, and in waking he found that he was Richard Mayhew, whoever that was, whatever that meant."
This was my first experience with his writing, and I couldn't have imagined how much I would come to love it. Gaiman creates a world so intricate and playfully strange that you are morphed into the sewers of London and enjoy the scenery.
The story centers around a man, Richard Mayhew, who isn't particularly likeable or even special...yet. He manages to piss off his bitchy fiancee after helping an injured girl he came across on the streets of London. He had no idea how much trouble this act of kindness would cause. Shortly after he brought her back to his apartment, two men come looking for the girl and Richard knows that they are up to no good. The next day, no one seems to realize that Richard exists. He can't hail a cab, no one will talk to him, his apartment is being rented by someone else, and even his desk at work is being carried away. He then starts on a journey to find this injured girl called Door and find out what happened to him and how he can get his life back.
This adventure is non-stop amusement for the readers, and even after I finished the book I found myself craving more of this world and more of the characters that I had come to enjoy. There are beasts, angels, rat-speakers, velvet women, and so many more types of people and animals to look forward to discovering and I can't say enough how much fun I had reading this. I look forward to the next time I read Neil Gaiman.
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