I finished my latest reading last night. I had been reading Neil Gaiman's novel,
Neverwhere. First of all, I have to say that as a story, this novel was well done and enjoyable to a great degree. There were a few unanswered questions, though in a story this rich in fantasy, there's bound to be a few. More than anything, I was impressed with Gaiman's use of language and mastery of words. I am hard pressed to name another modern author who could stand toe to toe with Gaiman in the craft of writing. I cannot begin to tell you how excellent his descriptions were and how the metaphors and allusions were utterly powerful and beautiful.
I'd rather not go into specifics of the story itself, to avoid spoiling it for anyone interested in reading, so I'll just leave you with this:
Check it out, buy it, rent it, borrow it,
READ IT. As a writer, I was blown away with examples of how to better hone my skills. As a reader, I was taken on an incredible journey through a fantasy world nearly missing from my life since my childhood days of hiding from monsters in my closet.
For the record, I was so impressed by his writing, I've decided to begin another book by Gaiman called American Gods. That is very rare for me to do. I typically will not go looking for other books by an author just because I liked a single book written by them. Maybe this is a testament to how well received Neverwhere was with me.
