Dark Cities Underground

I first read a novel of Goldstein's several years ago, The Dream Years, her second book, a fantastic fable of surrealism and the Paris revolution that stuck in my mind. This book is equally compelling. Jeremy Jerome Gerontius Jones is now a 50-year-old trying to forget his notoriety as the child hero of his mother's famous Neverwas children's book series of the 1950's. Turns out that the land of Neverwas is real, intimately connected to the world's subway systems, and that the mother took stories her son told her about that land for the books she wrote. Now a single mother and writer, Ruthie, has met Jerry Jones for her work on a biography of his famous mother, just at the time that forces of the lands underground are locked in battles for control. Goldstein speculates engagingly on the relationship of authors to their child muses in a contemporary, fast-paced, never sticky combination of mystery, fantasy, and adventure. (She does allow her aboveworld characters to languish in annoying confusion and density long after the reader has dummied up, however.) A great read.

Lisa Goldstein is one of the finest storytellers of our generation, and "Dark Cities Underground" shows this in vivid detail. Who else do you know who can weave together the themes from favorite childrens books sucha as "Alice in Wonderland," "Peter Pan," "The Wind in the Willows," and even "The Hobbit" to create an excursion through the archetypes that form the Dark Cities Underground? Add in enough Egyptian mystery via the tales surrounding Isis, Osiris and Set -- and you have yourself a potent little tale that is hard to forget. If you like the works of James Blaylock or early Tim Powers, then this is one you should give a try. The characters are well developed, the themes are fascinating, and the book is thoroughly entertaining. Highly Recommended.

If this had been the first novel I ever read by Lisa Goldstein, I think I would have loved it without reservations. Unfortunately, as much as I love the ideas presented in this book, the plot seems less coherent than those of her previous novels, despite being somewhat simpler, and the characterizations just don't seem as rich as those in earlier novels.Each of her novels has been very different from every other. Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon is a brilliantly realized Elizabethan fantasy, Summer King Winter Fool is classic high fantasy, Tourists is a haunting novel about modern American travelers in a strange land where all the rules are different, and Walking the Labyrinth is an eerie but fun "exploring my family's mysterious and magical past" type of novel. I would give any of these novels five stars.With Dark Cities Underground, Goldstein seems to be going further into Charles De Lint urban fantasy territory, where there is magic all around us, if only we can open our eyes to see it. I do enjoy books like this sometimes, but Goldstein's earlier books all seem much more lyrical to me, and oddly much more evocative of the strangeness in everyday things.I still recommend reading this novel. The story is wonderful, and it's fun the way it connects so many of the best-loved stories of childhood. But if you enjoy this novel, do yourself a favor and check out any of Lisa Goldstein's other novels. Each of them is a uniquely beautiful fantasy masterpiece.

This book will become an "underground" best seller (pun intended)! The author ties in history, myth and literature to create a timeless story. A fast paced and exciting roller-coaster ride. No, make that a fast paced and exciting subway ride! You'll get my meaning when you read the book.No, I'm not going to tell you the plot. That would just spoil the fun. And shame on those reviewers who do tell you the whole story instead of just wetting your appetite. So, here's your hors d'oeuvre... Could there possibly be a connection between Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit and Wind in the Willows? Could they all be stories that were told, not by the authors to their children, but rather by the children to their parents? Could they all be about the same place, a fantastic world that only children could enter and return to tell stories about? When a struggling journalist is hired to do a biography of A. E. Jones, the author of the classic children's series "Jeremy in Neverwas", her suspicions are aroused. Especially when she meets the author's son, now a disturbed, middle-aged man, who has become estranged from his mother for stealing his childhood. As she continues her research into truth behind Neverwas she never expects that her own daughter will also be drawn into this fantastic world. A world far more dangerous than any children's book.

Who would have figured that all the subway systems of the world were part of an enormous conspiracy--and that the secret to the conspiracy could be found in children's children's literature. I enjoyed this book enormously! Original, well-written, and entertaining.