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Neverwhere: Was originally a six part mini series for the BBC, running in September and October of 1996. Frustrations over things being taken out of the script and poor effects (the climatic scene where the heroes fight The Great Beast of London is ruined by the fact that the Beast is obviously a cow) caused Neil to write his own, director's cut of the series in the 1996 (1997 for the US version) book of the same name.

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
Heh. Knowing that that is how the series will end is making me want to skip to the last episode.
 

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Posted by Chizpurfle (Member # 6255) on :
 
I read Neverwhere before and I had very high expectations as well. It was a great idea but the characters were too bland and flat. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a bad book- it was okay- but I kept waiting for it to get better but it never did.

I liked his other book written with Terry Pratchett though: Good Omens.

[ March 24, 2004, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Chizpurfle ]
 

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Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
 
I got the miniseries for Christmas, and I was pretty disappointed with it. I can see why Gaiman decided to write the book instead, because that seems far better to me.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
The book to that is excellent!
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
My fiance watched this one weekend while I was studying. I watched a couple of scenes and thought them terribly overwrought, but I didn't have a way to put them in context so this opinion is probably based on insufficient data.
 

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Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
 
I've pretty much enjoyed everything I've read by Gaiman. The fact that the BBC miniseries might be awful would come as no shock to me, though. I wasn't exactly a giant fan of the BBC miniseries version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Actually, so much of the book rests on the imagery that I think it would be extremely difficult to make a good screen version of it, even with modern technology and a decent budget. The reason the book works so well is that it has a very fantastic, fairy-tale-like quality to it. It had flavors of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and the film Dark City for me. Also the viewpoint is absolutely critical to the story, and I think that film often has a hard time with things like that.
 

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Posted by Emp (Member # 5955) on :
 
I loved the novel. It was one of my most captivating reads since His Dark Materials.

[ March 24, 2004, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: Emp ]
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Props to you for having such excellent taste and loving hHis Dark Materials. you rock!

I did dl that series off winmx... It was... ok... But it seemed so... soap opery. With more money it would have been smashing. It should have been glossier, though the people they picked to play each part were rather cool.
Sometimes, though, I wish they'd stop making movies and series out of books simply because I like my interpretation in my head better.
 

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Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
 
I haven't finished the book yet, but the miniseries was, I agree, very soap-opera-y. I liked it, but I like cheesy things. The book is so far a lot better.
 

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Posted by :Locke (Member # 2255) on :
 
I first read the book, and loved it to death. Then my dad and my brother, who I had convinced to read it, found the mini-series and ordered it on Amazon. I vowed not to ever watch it, as it would spoil my own conception of the book.

Well, I watched it the day we got it, and I liked it in much the same way many rabid Tolkein fans liked Peter Jackson's film trilogy-- there were points that were absolutely the exact scenes from the book, and other times that made me cringe. All in all, and considering the low budget, I was fairly impressed with the series.

EDIT for spelling. Because I care.

[ March 24, 2004, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: :Locke ]
 

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Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
 
The book was my intro to Neil Gaiman. I think I liked Stardust better, though.

The two evil guys in Neverwhere kept me awake for WEEKS.
 

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Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
 
I read the book. I blogged about it here.

Then, to be fair, I watched the miniseries, which I blogged about here.
 

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Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
 
I'd like to see HBO do American Gods. I think that'd be great.
 

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Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
 
I loved this book. I wonder about the two guys though. They seem to pop up in other places as well, like in Terry Pratchett's The Truth and in this one short story I read once that I can't remmeber author or title of, although it involed the wonders of dental floss. Does anyone know anything about those figures?
 

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Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
 
In a video interview on my Neverwhere dvd he said that he originally written Croup and Vandemar when he was 19 years old... They were sitting in a basement in London during the middle ages eating a puppy that had been killed by the plague.

When I pictured them, they looked like the guy from the Magritte painting... You know, the guy with the apple in front of his face? I think I'm cultured enough to know the painting exists, the name of the painting is too much.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Are there any sandman fans here?
I love sandman. It's responsible for me meeting many of my college friends.
And if you like that, You'd love Kabuki by David Mack.
 

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Posted by Emp (Member # 5955) on :
 
Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar scared you?

I mean, I admit that that they were supposed to be nearly invincible, what with having survived centuries of assassinations and having a simple and complex brand of evil and all, but come on. The way Gaiman wrote the two characters outside of any action or pseudo-action scene made much less frightening.
 

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Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
 
They were pretty funny, if you ask me. I think that they were the two classic villains from children's fairy tales: the big bad wolf and the mean ol fox.
 

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