Roderick Gordon

This series is turning into one drawn out infomercial. Every time it should end the writers come back with “but wait, there's more”. Are they under some sort of contractual obligation to produce 6, or heavens forbid, even more books out of this one story, so that they have to keep dropping old plot points and introducing new ones?

The real shame is that the writers write well and could have woven many more stories out of all the plot details they put into just this one. If you've gotten show more this far then it's too late to save yourself, you'll buy the next (and next and next?) to see how the story ends, just like a smoker who can't quit even as he dies of cancer. show less

Will Burrows es un chico de 14 años que tiene una particular afición que comparte con su padre: a ambos les encanta excavar en busca de tesoros y nuevos descubrimientos. Así descubre que, bajo el mismo Londres, existen túneles que no constan en ningún mapa y puertas olvidadas durante siglos. Pero… ¿adónde llevan? Un día el padre del muchacho, el Dr. Burrows, desaparece misteriosamente luego de descubrir unas raras personas que andan por la ciudad. Will decide ir en su busca con la show more compañía de su único e inseparable amigo Chester. Lo que no saben es que se encontrarán con un mundo paralelo al suyo gobernado por extraños, peligrosos y despiadados personajes... show less

This wasn't my favorite book. I should probably stop there. But I won't. I didn't stop reading when I had the chance (and I had my fair share of chances) and I won't stop now. This book is turning into my mini-Everest.

I have one shelf here labeled abandoned books. There's only one book on it. This should have been the second. The thing is, though this might be the perfect book for the right audience, I'm not that audience nor are many of the readers I know. This book was dark. Very dark for show more the market it's from. Some people will like that. Not me though. I feel like this is one of those books where the protaganists being children is what decided its market, not the work itself. The torture always seemed a bit much, too graphic, too severe. The settings were always dark, dingy, and desperate. The outcomes of every scene were in some way downers. Not a lot of fun. Mostly depressing. I'm glad it's over. show less

Tunnels is a dystopian sci-fi thriller that takes place in an alternate world beneath the streets of London. Will Burrows, a fourteen-year-old loner, and his dad, Dr. Burrows, the curator of a run-down, second-rate museum share a passion for amateur archaeological digs. They spend their free time digging tunnels, uncovering Georgian artifacts, and even an old rail tunnel. Will’s sister and mother lead peculiar and mutually enabling lifestyles – Mrs. Burrows - listless and helpless, show more Rebecca – calm, cool and efficient. Will’s father becomes secretive when he discovers a strange group of men stalking the nearby neighborhoods and spends much time in his subterranean office. When Dr. Burrows mysteriously disappears, Will teams up with Chester, another teenage outsider, to discover what happened.

Will and Chester find themselves in grave danger when they stumble upon an eerie, dark, repressive and often violent underworld.

Tunnels is an omnipresent narrative, though most of the action is told from Will’s perspective. Its chapters are divided into three parts, Breaking Ground, The Colony, and The Eternal City. Tunnels gets off to a great start in Breaking Ground, fast-paced and intriguing. The Colony, a dark and depressing interlude, bogs down a bit, but the story picks up with plenty of danger and adventure in The Eternal City.

This is a long book, and although its dust jacket claims it to be “Potteresque,” Gordon and Williams do not have J.K. Rowling’s gift for writing a book in a series that can stand perfectly well on its own. Sci-fi and adventure fans should love Tunnels, but after 472 pages, I found myself wanting a bit more closure, however, the British flair of the book is a refreshing change. William’s black and white sketches add an appropriate eeriness to the tale.

Tunnels, first published in the UK in 2007 is an international best-seller. Its 2009 sequel, Deeper, released in February, is already a New York Times Bestseller. The website http://www.tunnelsthebook.com/ is extensive and interactive. show less