This book has just been languishing on my to-read shelf forever. Finally, I read it. Not the first Fowler for me, I’ve read his work before and enjoyed it.
This is something of a seminal work for him, the one that put him on the map. And it’s easy to see why – the story hits all the right notes for making itself bombastic and notable. It’s got a cinematic vividness to it – all these people swinging from roof to roof, navigating London through the air, you can practically see their gravity defiance come alive as you read.
It strongly reminded me of another famous British book from another famous author that has people inhabiting and navigating the world below the streets of London, albeit that one was considerably more magical.
Still, this story has a magic of its own. Its own world, meticulously imagined and crafted, its own logistics. There are warring parties up above, ancient societies’ sorcery and all that fun.
We enter the world of roofs with the main character as our guide (much like in that other book mentioned), although this one doesn’t have the charisma of a leading man. More of a socially awkward milquetoast and, frankly, not much of a lead at all, although with enough good sense to team up with a kickass female character who has the skills and random encyclopedic knowledge to lead awesomely.
The two of them are originally after a manuscript for adaptation rights, but it quickly ends up being so much more for up there, on the roofs, a different world awaits them. A world of dreamers who want a different life and sinister followers of a power-mad, sacrifice-fond leader.
All in all, this was a fun adventure, though not a perfect one. It’s from the late 80s and though not especially dated in details, it has a slightly dated style and aesthetic of “this was hip in the 80s”. The main character left something to be desired. The plot got too busy at times. It read somewhat long for the page count.
Overall, though, it worked and entertained plenty. An interesting and original adventure that should really be adapted to screen and it seems it was in the works but just hasn’t been done or maybe hasn’t bene done yet. Step up onto the roof, the view is lovely. I'm going to round up this rating based on concept more than execution. Thanks Netgalley.

Characters were well developed. The plot was intriguing. Loved the descriptiveness of the book. I would like to read more from this author

The idea of a group of misfits living undetected on the rooftops of London drew my interest in reading this book and I was not disappointed. The author has a way of developing and drawing you into an alternate world and I found it a very satisfying read.

In ‘Roofworld’ a whole set of characters live and fight for their lives on the, yes you got it right, rooftops of the city of London. And like the rest of the society, there is both good and evil among them. The novel revolves around the theme of light vs dark or good vs evil. Leading the league of ‘darkness’ is Chymes. They draw on occult and drugs and intend to rule over the rooftops of the city. Nathanial is the face of their opposition; a man with his own demons to fight. Will equality reign in the Roofworld or will doom take over? Caught in between are a couple of innocent people like Robert and Rose.

The only reason I am not rating this book a stellar 5 stars is the character development in the book. I did not feel connected to any of the characters in the book, whether its Robert or Rose or Nathanial or even Chymes. Even though they are quite quirky, the characters fell a bit flat for me till it was too late. In case of Nathanial, I was never sure exactly what was going on with him and what arc his character would take. Even without the hook of an interesting character, reading the book is a mighty entertaining experience. The plot and the narrative steals the show completely. The plot has an unusual setting and takes unpredictable turns keeping the readers glued to the pages. I loved how many times I was taken by surprise by the turns the plot took. The author’s narrative style is quite interesting to say the least and it is very indulging.

I have read couple of other books by the author and have enjoyed them all, but this is the most unique work I have read in a while. Thoroughly engrossing and entertaining.

This is an entertaining enough adventure over the London rooftops of the late 1980s, and it will have a self-selecting audience based on that setting alone, apart from any readers who are coming to it as fans of the author.

However, I glean from Fowler's intro to this new 2017 edition that, putting it nicely, he doesn't count it among his best work. It's got a lot of cartoonish proselytizing, a villain who Explains Everything and whose actions and thoughts throughout the story are never kept mysterious enough to create narrative tension for the heroes, and a curiously dated take on Urban Fantasy. That is, it is urban and it is fantasy, but it never quite firmly crosses over into anything supernatural even though it seems desperately to want to. It's almost as if the original publishers demanded that that aspect be kept deliberately vague, but ultimately to the detriment of the storytelling.

Of the two heroes, only Rose is really interesting. Robert is somewhat boring. This is clearly intentional: Boring Everyman Discovers Secrets And Thereby Becomes Less Boring is a common trope. The problem is that he just always stays boring, and isn't given much internal life. There's also a police procedural element that doesn't tie in very much, or very often, to the rest of the characters' arcs. One can tell that this is an early novel, indeed.

So, overall not bad, and perfectly enjoyable for any reader aiming for completism vis-à-vis British UF fiction, but maybe not for those looking for something else.

Christopher Fowler at a solid B+ here - he's definitely exploring the kind of alternative London that he plumbs for the PCU series (not really magic, per se, but rather a London existing just at the periphery of one's vision) and with the humor and eye for detail that fans have come to expect. It just didn't capture me, however, but this is such a personal reaction that I don't hesitate to recommend it.

Author of Bryant and May knocks it out of the ballpark with his newest novel. He keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.

The topic of this book was an interesting concept. However, the characters were difficult to become attached to. Most of them weren't particularly likable. Also, the various character story lines don't mesh well at times. Many questions are left open at the end. Was there a supernatural element or was the villain just delusional?

The murder scenes are pretty gory, so I would not suggest this book for those with sensitive stomachs.

An expertly written original tale that shows why Fowler is the master storyteller of this generation.

Review: ROOFWORLD by Christopher Fowler

I first learned of this book from Paul Cornell's THE SEVERED STREETS, which highly recommended both Neil Gaiman' s NEVERWHERE and ROOFWORLD. I am glad to see the republication of ROOFWORLD, an intricately plotted novel of a civilization existing "above" London, a sort of "superstructure" invisible to the "Insects" living on London's surface (normals). Intended as an escape, a high-minded improved society, it has degenerated into vicious war and megalomania, as both sides strive to fulfill an occult potential.

A London man with a boring job and average life suddenly finds himself drawn into a side of London that he’s never seen before – a place where those who have dropped out of normal life have set up their own alternate society, where the rules are different, life is dangerous and exciting, and there’s nothing but disdain for the “normal” people. There’s a sense of old ways here, a sense that this is a way of getting back to something primal and mysterious, and maybe even magical. But our hero finds himself falling into something he doesn’t understand, and not only this new world, but our own, could be in danger.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “ooh, I’ve read that – it’s Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman,” well, you’re not wrong, really. Indeed, even though Roofworld predates Neverwhere by some time, I couldn’t help but spend a lot of the time as I read it comparing it to Gaiman’s richer, stranger, and altogether more successful novel. It doesn’t, however, really detract from Fowler’s imaginative idea, for this society lives on the roofs of the city, navigating from building to building with ropes and ziplines, and refusing to touch the ground. That’s a neat idea (I constantly found myself thinking of the navigation of Bioshock Infinite as I read), and the glimpses we get of this world are more than enough to draw you into the strange, shadowy society on the roofs of London.

It’s a shame, then, that Roofworld doesn’t have the substance it needs to support the fun and imagination that it promises in the first half. The book’s opening promises all sorts of fun, with a missing book of notes, a dangerous death cult, a series of brutal murders, and an odd couple romance. But by the time I hit the halfway point of the book, I was rapidly coming to realize that Roofworld is in desperate need of some fleshing out. Yes, it’s fun, and yes, it moves well. But the characters end up thin and generic (even now, less than a day after finishing, I’m struggling to remember much about some of them), and the plotting ends up making little to no sense, with the bad guy basically being motivated by…um…evil, I guess. (It doesn’t help that I never quite figured out the point of his evil scheme or what he was hoping to do, and it doesn’t seem like the book wanted us to, either.) It feels like a book that’s had about 30-50 pages of exposition and character work cut out of it, and the result feels like nothing so much as the weak screenplay based off of the fun and imaginative book.

Is there some fun to be had in Roofworld? Most definitely. But don’t be surprised when you end up feeling like it’s got nothing beyond a neat idea and a few fun scenes when you’re done.

I’ve read all of Christopher Fowler’s fantastic Bryant & May Peculiar Crimes Unit books, so I could resist the chance to read his debut novel, Roofworld. Roofworld tells the tale of mopey Londoner Robert Linden and the crazy rooftop gang world he discovers when he tries to track down the daughter of a murdered author.

All Robert wants is to get the rights to dramatize Charlotte Endsleigh’s one published novel, but Endsleigh hasn’t left a will and her daughter, Sarah, is estranged from her. When Robert goes to Charlotte’s flat to try to track down clues, he finds two things: an envelope with pages in it of what seem to be intriguing clues to the plot of a new novel, and Rose Leonard. Rose is the building’s caretaker and someone who, while on a night out taking photographs, caught shots of figures running over rooftops and cable zipping from building to building. One of the faces she catches in her photographs is Sarah’s.

Robert and Rose team up, and soon they are being introduced to a set of the roof dwellers, led by Zalian. Zalian’s group is being attacked by the evil Chyme’s people, and the horrifically tortured victims that Chymes drops onto the streets of the “insects” below become the responsibility of Detective Inspector Ian Hargreave and his DS (and secret lover), Janice Longbright. (For you Bryant & May fans, yes, it’s *that* Janice Longbright!)

What Christopher Fowler brings to his Bryant & May police procedurals is a love of London, both its history and its little-known nooks and crannies, as well as at least a whiff of the paranormal. Despite the presence of the Metropolitan Police, Roofworld isn’t a police procedural, but you do have that same London focus and paranormal element as the Bryant & May books. It’s not hard to see how the Bryant & May series grew out of this.

Roofworld is a debut novel, and it’s not as accomplished as Fowler’s later work. His character development is a little thin and, for my taste at least, there is too much of a focus on the horrific details of Chymes’s dirty deeds. But what is just as present and compelling as in Fowler’s later books is that feeling that there is another, darker but maybe more alive London lurking in another from the one the city’s residents experience when they go about their everyday tasks.

I am already a fan of Christopher Fowler's work, so was looking forward to reading this very much. It did not disappoint! A lovely tale of a book, a murder, a detective and two warring groups on the rooftops of London. I enjoy the knowledge of London that appears in the book, Mr Fowler has an experts perspective on the history of the city. Some lovely characters in the book, including a few members of The Peculiar Crimes Unit. Beautifully crafted book which I wasn't sure if I wanted to devour it in one piece or savour it, page by page. A joy.

Roofworld is an atmospheric book by Christopher Fowler following Robert and Rose, two unlikely heroes who are thrown together following the death of an author. Through a series of misadventures and a little detective work they discover a whole world above their heads on the London roof tops which is able to play out as no one actually looks up in London. This leads them to become involved in a war between two rival groups, one led by an enigmatic leader and the other an almost super villain with a lust for power. Throw in a feeling of adult lost boys from Peter Pan and mythology and you have an exciting and well-constructed adventure. All this is woven together with a down beat detective investigating the gory deaths of the victims of this rivalry. Definitely recommended.

Let me just say that I'm allergic to foul language. However, I really liked the premise of this book when reading the blurb on Netgalley. So I ordered it.

I could get past the language. Not so really bad. But if you'd like some very inventive and gruesome ways described to murder people, this is the book for you. The body count escalated and I really got sick to my stomach.

Before all the threads came together into some semblance of order, I had to quit reading.

The premise is really good. The writing is also very good. The character development is very slow. But the storyline is interesting enough to keep the pages turning. If you have a strong stomach, I do recommend this book.

I have read and enjoyed some of this author's Peculiar Crimes Unit mysteries and so was excited to read this as well. Although this book is very different , I really enjoyed this book. It takes place on the rooftops of London and features characters of two adversarial groups, as well as police that are investigating crimes that are related to them. I found it interesting learning how the people moved around from one building to another and their lives above the streets of London. The book had a lot of action and a supernatural aspect also. I enjoyed the book and hope you will, too.

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Hydra. Thank you.

Christopher Fowler is the author of a series of novels I'm completely addicted to, Bryant and May from the Peculiar Crimes Unit. When I saw Fowler's first novel, published in 1988, was being digitized for e-readers I absolutely had to read it. I'm very, very glad I did. I have to admit it was difficult for me to read this book without the inevitable comparisons to the Bryant and May books, but it was also a special treat to dig out nuggets of style and substance which would stand Fowler in such good stead later.

If you are approaching this novel from only having read that most popular series featuring the PCU, be prepared for things to be different in this book because it is definitely not from that series. This London focuses on the rooftops, away from the Groundes, the Insects, to the people who were so dissatisfied with their lives that they needed to get away and begin their own culture complete with rules, guidelines, laws and enforcement of their secret society. Nobody ever looks up, it was the easiest thing for them to form a society and develop various methods for transporting themselves from one building to another with complete ease and no fear. Ah, but then it began to come apart when two strong leaders found they had differing values and reasons for the roofworld to exist. Now it's war and London begins to notice as the casualty count increases.

My overall reaction to the book was to be impressed by how wonderfully it was written. All the Fowler touches which have now become so familiar were there from the beginning. Things are a little quirky; London is the host for a different world hidden in plain sight; a goodly amount of information is related regarding the architectural variations of the city; the police are trying their best to deal with mystical situations outside the covers of the books of standard legal procedure; there are some wonderful examples of black humor. But then I got to the pure gruesomeness of the killings and was stopped in my tracks. After a specific incident I approached the remainder of the book with caution hoping that I wouldn't come across anything like that again. If you are at all squeamish but still want to read this book, go ahead because you will be given ample warning that this portion is about to happen and you can just skip several pages ahead. Just naming what is going to happen will be your warning.

So I am glad I read the book. If a friend asks for my recommendation, I will say the same things I've said in this review. I do think I'll be staying with the Bryant & May books from now on, though.