Comments on: Books about underground locations?

Question: Books about underground locations?

highfidelity — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:06:26 -0800

I'm looking for books set in subterranean locations. Caves, sewers, underground cities, hollow earth, etc. Non-Fiction or fiction.

I've recently developed a fixation with everything related to life underground. I'm not too picky about the subject matter of the book, I prefer Sci-Fi or non-fiction topics, but really any recommendation is welcome. Anything goes as long as it takes place underground.

I wouldn't mind some movie suggestions either, I just prefer book choices as I have access to a wide selection of books for free.

By: TheManChild2000

TheManChild2000 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:16:31 -0800

I read Vonda McIntyre's book THE EXILE WAITING over and over again when I was a kid and would gladly take another pass if I didn't have two years of unread books on my shelf. SF (although it's barely a factor) and published in '75.

By: nkknkk

nkknkk — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:19:33 -0800

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere comes instantly to mind.

By: j1950

j1950 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:22:13 -0800

The classic is Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.

By: BigLankyBastard

BigLankyBastard — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:24:46 -0800

I seem to recall that Frank Herbert's Hellstrom's Hive was mostly set underground.

By: effigy

effigy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:25:31 -0800

Non-Fiction, The Mole People.

By: jammy

jammy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:25:33 -0800

Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface by David Standish is a very fun read.

By: timetoevolve

timetoevolve — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:26:30 -0800

The City of Ember - it's more young adult, though, but at least it's a quick read. :) I believe there's a forthcoming movie, too.

By: 8dot3

8dot3 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:28:32 -0800

Blind Descent by Nevada Barr.

By: clearlydemon

clearlydemon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:39:23 -0800

Tunnels might be the next Harry Potter.

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:41:42 -0800

Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green-Sky trilogy. (More fantasy than Sci-Fi.)

China Mieville's King Rat is in several ways an interesting counterpart to Gaiman's Neverwhere.

Several of Asimov's Foundation-related books feature Trantor, a planet where city covers the entire surface of the planet, and people rarely - if ever - see the sky.

Iain M. Banks' newest book, Matter, takes place mostly in a type of hollow world called a Shellworld.

By: Nelsormensch

Nelsormensch — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:41:42 -0800

Non-Fiction, The Mole People.

There's a fictional book based on this called Reliquary. It's the sequel to Relic and if you're into Crichton-esque fiction, they're fantastic.

By: le morte de bea arthur

le morte de bea arthur — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:44:22 -0800

Dark Universe the first novel by Daniel F Galouye, is one I remember reading many years ago. I believe it was nominated for a Hugo.

By: buriedpaul

buriedpaul — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:54:36 -0800

I know you asked specifically about books, but the documentary Dark Days seems especially up your alley.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:00:01 -0800

"Level 7" by Mordecai Roshwald -- a post-apocolyptic novel set underground.

"The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. -- a key section takes place in an underground society. I've never heard anyone draw this parallel before, by I think Wells' novel influence a section of "Watership Down."

By: Clyde Mnestra

Clyde Mnestra — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:01:35 -0800

Doesn't The Time Machine qualify?

Also, John Hodgman is preoccupied with mole-men, in The Areas of My Expertise and (I think) a video too. I'm having a Google issue, but let me know if you can't find it (and want to).

By: notyou

notyou — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:19:50 -0800

House of Leaves?

By: Squeak Attack

Squeak Attack — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:21:52 -0800

The second Borrible book, The Borribles Go For Broke, by Michael de Larrabeiti takes place in part in an old river running underneath Wandsworth.

The first Borrible book is a pretty nasty satire of beloved children's book characters the Wombles, who live in burrows on Wimbledon Common.

And since all my references are fantasy books from my childhood, a second mention of Watership Down which deals with rabbits living underground in their warrens.

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:29:54 -0800

The Secret People by John Beynon Harris (aka John Wyndham.) (Great call on the Galouye novel, le morte de bea arthur -- I remember enjoying that one back in the day.)

By: cider

cider — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:46:22 -0800

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld takes place partially underground.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:47:06 -0800

Many of the stories of H.P. Lovecraft involve exploring vaulted caverns of unimaginable size below the surface of the earth. Stephen King wrote a short story "Jerusalem's Lot" (I think) in a similar vein about a man who discovers a world under his castle.

Also, House of Leaves.

By: jontyjago

jontyjago — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:51:33 -0800

Another Iain M Banks one - the last third of Consider Phlebas takes place in a huge underground railway network.

By: highfidelity

highfidelity — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:58:52 -0800

I should mention I'm perfectly fine with any genre other than Science Fiction also. Movies recommendations are welcome also, I just prefer books. My only real problem with underground movies is that it turns into me feeling like I'm just spending the whole time watching a black screen trying to figure out who is talking.

Level 7 sounds interesting, I also enjoy post-apocalyptic settings. Several of these books were on my list to read already (Mole People, Blind Descent, Reliquary) but I'm excited to have several more now.

By: tallus

tallus — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:00:27 -0800

The Last Magician: A Novel by Janette Turner Hospital features a colony of the homeless squatting in tunnels and underground quarries beneath the city of Sidney in Australia. Oyster by the same author is set in the opal mining fields of Australia where people sometimes live underground.

By: Z303

Z303 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:09:50 -0800

Some London Underground non-fiction:
London's Disused Underground Stations and Abandoned Stations on London's Underground: A Photographic Record

and here's two website on the subject just for completeness, London Underground History and London's Abandoned Tube Stations

And a book on Las Vegas Beneath the Neon, which I've yet to buy but look good, here's a bldgblog post about it.

By: Ms. Saint

Ms. Saint — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:11:22 -0800

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami spends ages in a complex underground area.

By: highfidelity

highfidelity — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:15:00 -0800

Wow, my to read pile is going to get a whole lot bigger, I can't wait to dig into these.

Thanks and keep them coming!

By: Palmcorder Yajna

Palmcorder Yajna — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:30:07 -0800

Steven Millhauser's Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer takes place in turn of the century Manhattan and features an enterprising entrepreneur who decides to take an inverse approach to the sky scraper.

By: jontyjago

jontyjago — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:39:45 -0800

253 is set on a London Underground train.

By: Jonsnews

Jonsnews — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:24:08 -0800

Ted the Caver is one of my favorite things of all time.

By: maurice

maurice — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:26:37 -0800

Bone by George C. Chesbro is a thriller in which the tunnels under New York City play a significant role.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:40:11 -0800

Some movies:

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (2009)

Things to Come (H.G. Wells movie)

Unknown World (Scientists use a gigantic drilling machine for an expedition to the center of the earth.)

The Last Wave

Descent

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:41:53 -0800

Oh, you might also want to check out the following:

"Ace in the Hole" (a.k.a "The Big Carnival") -- Billy Wilder movie, based on the true story of Floyd Collins, a man trapped in a cave.

"Floyd Collins" -- a musical based on the same story. There's no movie version, but the original cast album is fantastic.

By: Melsky

Melsky — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:46:46 -0800

Not a book, but Ted's Caving Page is a good read.

By: WPW

WPW — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:50:10 -0800

The definitive study of the imagery of the undergorund in literature is Notes on the Underground: An Essay on Technology, Society and the Imagination by Rosalind Williams. You may be pleased to hear that MIT has just brought out a new edition with a new afterword. Scores of books and stories are discussed, mostly from the 19th century. You might find it interesting to get some critical insight into why you want to read about the underground ...

As jontyjago suggests, 253 by Geoff Ryman is excellent. It's non-linear fiction, 253 biographies of 253 train passengers, each 253 words long.

By: jammy

jammy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:50:19 -0800

"Set in the distant future, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub is the horrifying first-hand account of a bureaucratic agent trapped deep within the subterranean bowels of a vast underground military complex."

yet another amazing novel by Stanislaw Lem

By: ShooBoo

ShooBoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:00:16 -0800

I wouldn't call "Ace in the Hole" (which I just watched and highly recommend) based on the the story of Floyd Collins. In fact, the main character (played by Kirk Douglas) is an unscrupulous 1950's newspaper man who is quite aware of the media circus that was created around Floyd Collins thirty years previously and mentions him as the reason he quite purposefully creates his own media circus about a man in a similar situation trapped in a cave in New Mexico.

By: mumkin

mumkin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:05:33 -0800

Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel is set on an earth where everyone lives underground, and suffers from crippling agoraphobia if they should ever emerge. Actually, I don't think it's clear whether the cities are completely underground or are just opaquely domed modern cities that have expanded downward ... doesn't make much difference to the occupants, however.

By: of strange foe

of strange foe — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:50:15 -0800

R. A. Salvatore's "Homeland" from his Forgotten Realms trilogy is about one dark elf's attempt to escape the underworld. Parts of Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" qualify as well.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:52:43 -0800

Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" offers an overview of the underground's importance to various occult groups. Entertaining stuff.

Part of Chris Marker's short film, "La Jetee," takes place underground; watch it here (it's in Google video).

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:40:53 -0800

The Descent by Jeff Long is nearly all set in caves and the like.
The Day Before Midnight by Stephen Hunter has a several underground sections

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:43:49 -0800

Death Line / Raw Meat takes place in the London Underground

I should add the novel Descent above isn't related to the film of the same name (although they have a similar premise)

By: leibniz

leibniz — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:59:43 -0800

How about The Silver Chair? The sixth book in C.S. Lewis's Narnia series?

By: jammy

jammy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:10:30 -0800

and another: the film Delicatessen features the Troglodytes, a subterranean gang of militant vegetarians - great movie

By: davemack

davemack — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:20:08 -0800

How about a book on legal philosophy? I kid you not: Peter Suber, The Case of the Speluncean Explorers: Nine New Opinions (Routledge 1998). See the author's website: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/cse.htm#pref

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:58:28 -0800

You might want to check out this decidedly non-fiction website: The Sandhog Project.

From the site: "As you read this, urban miners, known as sandhogs, are 800 feet below Manhattan excavating 500 million-year old rock to provide fresh water to the city. The Sandhog Project is a multi-media site that explores the simultaneity and dependency of the above-ground city life and this subterranean world."

By: ch1x0r

ch1x0r — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:35:53 -0800

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanDerMeer is not entirely subterranean but has some really cool parts that are (and some crazy mushroom characters).

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:23:55 -0800

A good part of the oddball Raw Shark Texts takes place underground.

By: purenitrous

purenitrous — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:45:56 -0800

Sewer Gas Electric: The Public Works Trilogy by Matt Ruff; funny book, sci fi, and much of it takes place (surprise!) in a sewer.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:47:11 -0800

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:28:11 -0800

A little late to the party here, but I just got done watching the dystopian black comedy A Boy and His Dog, which fits what you're looking for pretty well. It's about a boy named Vic and his caustic talking dog Blood foraging for food and women in the ruins of post-World War IV Arizona. A good chunk of the story takes place in the subterranean city of Topeka, a strictly-ordered nightmare vision of 1950s suburbia swathed in a perpetual underground night.

You can watch the film for free here, or read the original short story by Harlan Ellison in any of his anthologies.

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:24:55 -0800

The closing section of Herbert Read's novel The Green Child is set in an utopian underground community.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:36:09 -0800

Veniss Underground by Jeff Vandermeer

I wouldn't reccommend The City of Ember, it is very much a children's book.

By: awenner

awenner — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:46:32 -0800

Sphere, by Michael Crichton. Takes place underwater.

By: timepiece

timepiece — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:50:42 -0800

New York Underground

By: fedbybirds

fedbybirds — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:29:03 -0800

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson is about the Duke of Portland, who built a whole underground section to his stately home, including a ballroom and a railway, and lived down there.

By: jeni

jeni — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:22:27 -0800

Large parts of the Death Gate Cycle take place underground, under water, and in other such exotic locales.

By: uauage

uauage — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:01:00 -0800

One of my favourite movies: Underground By Emir Kusturica.