h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I want to read the Sandman comics, but I have ran into difficulty getting access to the first in the series, and it has been impressed upon me to read them in chronological order.

I would like to recommend to everyone to read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, as it is one of the greatest books that I have ever read, It is the pure storytelling genius of the entire book that grabs you in. You care about the characters in their slightly surreal little world. I am waiting for American Gods on paperback, and I will then post a message about that, but Neverwhere (never seen the reportedly poor television show) is indeed a treat.

Steven.

Actually, I don't think you need to read Sandman in order (I didn't -just in the order I could get them from my local library). A lot of it consists of self-contained short stories, and with the longer tales, even if you don't know who a certain character is, that rarely detracts from the story (The exception to this is the last two books - The Kindly Ones and the Wake which wrap everything up & would be impossible to follow without knowing what came before.

Also, I know a few people who were put off by volume 1 (Preludes & Nocturnes) because it's fairly graphic horror, with less of the "magic" of the rest of the series.

The television series of NEVERWHERE is most certainly not poor. In fact, the novel (which is better, don't get me wrong) was written based upon the series. (As HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE was based on a radio play; is that synchronicity? Or serindipity? Maybe the Gods having fun; or the Endless? Or perhaps it's a meaningless coincidence. Oh well.)Anyway, the only problem with the mini-series of NEVERWHERE--sorry; SERIES of NEVERWHERE (please forgive, am American) is simply that it is a TV series--which means that the effects aren't as special as they would be were it a multi-million dollar film, or, what's better, a reader's imagination. The Beast of London is kind of a letdown visually and Islington is less angelic looking than I'd imagined, but the performances are great (the Marquis friggin rocks, and I have been in love with Laura Fraser since I saw Julie Taymor's TITUS so I was thrilled to see her play Door) and, of course, Neil's script is wonderful. The effects are easy to get over. Just turn on the "I'm watching DR. WHO" side of your brain, forgive the effects and enjoy the story and performances, and NEVERWHERE is well worth your time.