The Underground

My second random fantasy/sci-fi pick was truly random - Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon. The title was intriguing (it's no surprise that I'm an Anglophile!) and the description of the book equally so. I took it home.

Mind the Gap is about a street-wise London teen named Jazz (short for Jasmine). Jazz lives with her mother, as her father died when she was little. Jazz's mother is extremely paranoid and is extremely worried about security. She has taught Jazz to always be on her guard, to always be cautious, and to always have an escape route. Jazz, as a result, has the skills of a ninja.

These skills come in handy when Jazz returns home to find that the mysterious "Uncles" in black, who visit the family on occasion, have this time visited and murdered her mother. Her mother's last message to Jazz is the chilling warning to hide forever - written in blood. Jazz avoids detection and flees into London's Underground - the Tube stations and the dark areas below.

As it turns out, underground London is a warren of unused and old Tube tunnels, air-raid shelters, and other underground domiciles. There is a vast amount of space down there, some of it uninhabited, some not. Jazz meets some of the Underground's inhabitants - Harry and his band of misfit teenagers called the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a rather successful group of thieves, and Harry recruits Jazz. Her well-developed stealth skills make her a natural thief, and Jazz begins to slowly integrate with the group.

However, life is not perfect for Jazz. She constantly worries that the Uncles will find her. She is also curious about the Underground itself: who are these mysterious ghosts that she sees? And where does the terrifying "Hour of Screams" come from? All these are clues to Jazz's mysterious past, and the unique role she must play in the present.

As the story goes on, Jazz meets another thief, Terry, who is looking for parts for a mysterious machine. This machine is connected to the ghosts and the memories and magic of London that haunts the Underground. Jazz's father is somehow connected to this mysterious machine and to the Uncles who are still searching for Jazz.

I have not tried to go into too much detail in my description of the book, and I have been deliberately vague about the ending and what happens after Jazz meets up with the United Kingdom. For a short book, there was a lot of plot packed inside it! The fantasy element of the book is interesting. When I first read the back of the book, I was wondering if it was more of a sci-fi novel - some sort of post-apocalyptic London and the kids of the United Kingdom were going to emerge and save the day. That is not so - the book is set in modern times. Other than Jazz's crazy upbringing, there doesn't seem to be any fantasy element to the book until Jazz goes to the Underground. Then, she begins to see ghosts of London's past - ghosts that are the key to the book itself.

The ghosts are really the main fantasy element of the book. I liked the idea that London has a "soul" almost - that the ghosts of London are caught in the Underground as memories of the city. I thought that was interesting and not something that has been really done before. The magic elements of the book at the end were not as interesting and a little confusing. That said, I think the transformation of Jazz the character by the end was interesting.

I enjoyed this book - it was a nice light read. I liked how the city of London itself really became a character, as opposed to just a setting. The way the book ends there can't really be a sequel about Jazz, and that's fine. There are other books in the "Hidden Cities" series, apparently, but I don't really have any great desire to read any of them. The book was an enjoyable read, but not especially memorable. I liked it, but wouldn't want to own it as I don't think I'd read it again.

That's what the library is for!