Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

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Summary An entertaining children’s book but lacks a certain amount of finesse.

Tunnels is a children’s adventure book set in present day London and follows the exploits of Will Burrows, fourteen years old and just as obsessed with digging as his museum curator father. The first chapter of the book finds us already underground with Will and Mr. Burrows and their amazing discovery of a disused rail station. Not content with these exciting ventures with his father, Will begins his own secret digs, unaware that his father has done exactly the same thing. It is only when Will’s father suddenly disappears that Will unearths his father’s hidden tunnel that leads to a whole new world and so begins the adventure of a lifetime to find his dad.

Although Will lives in a normal house in a normal suburb, there is nothing normal about his life, notwithstanding his hobby, his family is more than a little unconventional. Is mother does not interact with the family only the television to which she appears to be addicted. His father seems only interested in his hobby so it is down to Will’s younger sister to keep house and home together. Will is similarly focused only on his hobby and his friendship with Chester, another loner he meets at school, depends on Chester participating in Will’s digging escapades.

The story of a boy finding a whole new world right under our feet is a fantastic and exciting subject for a children’s book. There are a few neat twists in the plot too to keep you wondering what will happen and some wonderful characters such as Uncle Tam and Will’s friend Chester. Will himself is a very likeable character, however, there are some elements to other characters that seem a little too stretched, even for a fantasy story that leaves certain elements of the story feeling a little contrived.

The detail given of the underground is wonderful, from the eerily replicated streets and houses to the adapted and rather strange diet that Will and Chester find themselves having to survive on.

There is so much that is enjoyable about this book, which is why I felt so disappointed that there are some elements that seem so laboured, so contrived that they were just not needed and indeed I felt detracted from the story. My main disappointment comes with the character of Will’s sister. She’s a square peg in a round whole as far as the execution of her ‘transformation’; it felt as if that by hook or by crook, regardless of the flow of the book, she was going be ‘revealed’ when there were already enough twists and turns to keep the reader gripped. I’m afraid for me it was a little bit too far for my belief to be suspended and it’s really rather a shame as the idea is a good one but maybe should have been saved for the second book in order for more character development to take place.

I still think this is an entertaining children’s book but I think is lacks a certain amount of finesse in its plot structure that children have become used to with other well read children’s authors and whilst there is now a second instalment ‘Deeper’ available, as of yet I have not ordered a copy.