Downsiders

Last updated
Downsiders
Downsiders Cover.jpeg
First edition
AuthorNeal Shusterman
IllustratorShustrman Neal
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience Fiction/Adventure
PublisherSimon Pulse
Publication date
1999
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages244
ISBN 0-689-83969-3
OCLC 45849669

Downsiders is a 1999 novel by Neal Shusterman.

Plot summary

The Downsiders are a secret community of an unknown population (either native-born or "fallers" from the topside) dwelling underneath New York City. They are a proud, noble community who get by on giving new life to things and people thrown away by the Topsiders (the surface people). Downsiders are not allowed to travel to the surface, and every contact with Topsiders is strictly forbidden, since it is said that it would lead to the fall of the Downside. Talon, a fourteen-year-old Downsider, is curious about the Topside; he travels to the Topside and meets a fourteen-year-old girl named Lindsay Matthias, who just moved from Texas to live in NY with her father after her mother went to Africa with her professor for three years to study the white rhino. After a rocky beginning, they become interested in each other and eventually fall in love. However, when Talon brings Lindsay to the Downside, the Wise Advisors (a circle of corrupted people serving as the government for the Downsiders, since there has not been a proper leader for ages) find out Talon's transgression and sentence him to death by sending him down the pipe system. Talon survives; he winds up on Coney Island "under the boardwalk," and has the time of his life, experiencing the "strange Topside rituals" for the first time.

Meanwhile, the construction workers who work under Lindstay's father (an engineer who aims to build a new, massive aqueduct for the residents of New York) end up finding traces of some mysterious people dwelling underside the city, and the Topsiders become aware of the Downsiders and want to catch them. As Talon heads for the Downside, the Downsiders meet at the city hall ("Hall of Action") and plan to take action against the Topsiders. Railborn Skinner, Talon's former friend and the person who ratted Talon out, suggests knocking out the Topside's utilities to punish them for their "ungratefulness." Talon comes back and tells the Downsiders, who thought he was dead, about what he saw in the Topside; when the Wise Advisors ask Railborn what to do, Railborn orders for Talon to be sent to the Chamber of Soft Walls (the Downside mental ward).

In the midst of the events, the Topside's utilities are knocked out (which include electricity, gas and water). However, rather than panicking, the New Yorkers decide to party instead, and the mayor passes an order that the utilities be shut down once per year in a celebration known as "The Festival of Outages". Meanwhile, Lindsay, who has become curious about the Downsiders, searches for info about the Downside's origin, and eventually finds that the Downside was created over 100 years ago by an eccentric engineer named Alfred Ely Beach, who faked his death and sook refuge to the Downside along with his supporters after being chased away by the corrupt mayor of NY. Lindsay sneaks into the Downside and gives the information to Talon, hoping that it may bring peace with the Topside. At first, Talon is angry at this information; he soon, however, realizes what to do. He demands to the guard to be released and travels to the Chamber of First Runes, where only a Most-Beloved (the true Downside's leader) is allowed in. In the secret room, Talon sees the grave of the late Alfred Ely Beach, the forgotten creator of the Downside and the first Most-Beloved, and after having a "conversation" with him, he leaves, deciding what to do with his people. At the same time, a large piece of rock impales Gutta, and leaves her severely wounded. Railborn carries Gutta to a hospital on the Topside, and they are both labelled wards of the state. At the hospital, Railborn does a ritual swearing he would cut all ties with the Downside. Once Gutta is healed, the both of them are sent to an orphanage where they begin a new life as people of the Topside.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Mark, Lindsay's father, is being blamed for the outages. The city orders his resignation, and he signs the resignation papers after rekindling his strained relation with Lindsay. As the two share the moment, an explosion is heard and felt. The explosion is actually half of the Downside, which was destroyed, and sealed up as a result, in a plan by Talon to keep the Topsiders out. The plan works, and Talon, who is now Most-Beloved, later returns to the Chamber of First Runes and leaves Lindsay's information at Beach's grave, deciding not to divulge the true origin of the Downside; he sees Beach's journal there, and though as tempting as it is to read it, Talon leaves it. Upon exiting the chamber, Talon tells the guards to never let anyone (himself included) in until a new Most-Beloved arises.

Talon and Lindsay meet up again months later. Talon takes Lindsay to the top of an abandoned skyscraper; Downsiders are now living atop them, and this area is called the Highside. Talon tells Lindsay that once the Downsiders know what all the Topsiders know and are on equal ground with them, they will reveal themselves to the world, but until then, they have to be left alone. As such, Talon and Lindsay must cease to see each other; they spend their last moments together by gazing at a beautiful sunset. The End.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Montana</span> Character in Scarface

Antonio "Tony" Montana is a fictional character and the villain protagonist of the 1983 film Scarface. This character is portrayed by Al Pacino in the film and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. Embodying the possibility of a person rising from the bottom of society to the top, Tony Montana has become a cultural icon, as well as one of the most iconic film characters of all time.

"Kick the Can" is episode 86 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on February 9, 1962, on CBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spider-Man 2099</span> Comic book superhero

Spider-Man 2099 is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, and he is a futuristic re-imagining of the original Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. His true identity is Miguel O'Hara, an Irish-Mexican geneticist living in Nueva York in the year 2099 who attempts to re-create the abilities of the original Spider-Man in other people and later suffers a related accident that causes half of his DNA to be rewritten with a spider's genetic code.

<i>Timewyrm: Revelation</i> 1991 novel by Paul Cornell

Timewyrm: Revelation is an original Doctor Who novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who novels. It features the Seventh Doctor and Ace, as well as cameo appearances by the Doctor's mental representations of his first, third, fourth and fifth incarnations.

<i>Pinocchio 3000</i> 2004 Canadian film

Pinocchio 3000 is a 2004 animated science fantasy film directed by Daniel Robichaud and distributed by Christal Films. The film is a futuristic science fiction interpretation of the classic 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, with Pinocchio being a robot brought to life by tapping into a city's power surge, rather than a puppet animated by magic.

<i>Tagore</i> (film) 2003 Indian film

Tagore is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language vigilante action film directed by V. V. Vinayak. The film stars Chiranjeevi, Jyothika, Shriya Saran, with Prakash Raj and Sayaji Shinde in supporting roles. It is a remake of the 2002 Tamil film Ramanaa. The film has music by Mani Sharma with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. It was screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, along with Pokiri.

<i>The Feast of the Drowned</i> 2006 novel by Stephen Cole

The Feast of the Drowned is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was published on 13 April 2006, alongside The Stone Rose and The Resurrection Casket. It features the Tenth Doctor, Rose and Mickey.

<i>Fire Sea</i> Novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Fire Sea is a fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It is the third book in The Death Gate Cycle series and was released in 1991. The novel explores the realm of Abarrach and the history of the Sartan through the unlikely partnership of Haplo, a Patryn agent sent by Lord Xar to evaluate Abarrach, and Alfred, a Sartan who lost all the others of his race with whom he once lived.

Jul i Valhal is a Danish television advent calendar. It first aired in the December 2005 on TV 2 Denmark television station, on TV 2 Norway in December 2006, in December 2007 on Swedish Barnkanalen and in December 2008 on Yle2. As a television advent calendar, it has 24 episodes, and one new episode was aired per day from 1 to 24 December.

<i>Lady Killer</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Roy Del Ruth

Lady Killer is a 1933 American pre-Code crime drama film starring James Cagney, Mae Clarke, and Margaret Lindsay, based on the story "The Finger Man" by Rosalind Keating Shaffer. The picture was directed by Roy Del Ruth.

<i>Singularity 7</i>

Singularity 7 is a four-issue comic book mini-series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It was published by American company IDW Publishing in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.

<i>Marvel Zombies 4</i>

Marvel Zombies 4 is a four-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics beginning in April 2009. It is part of the Marvel Zombies series. The series is written by Fred Van Lente, penciled by Kev Walker, with covers by Greg Land.

<i>Amber and Blood</i>

Amber and Blood is the third novel in the Dark Disciple series by Margaret Weis.

Vampire Beach is a series of teen vampire novels written by Alex Duval a pseudonym for the authors melinda metz and linda j Burns, published by Simon & Schuster. The series follows Jason, a human whose family moves out to Malibu. Jason learns that the hottest clique in Malibu are actually all vampires. The series was originally published in 2006, and was re-published in 2010 with updated cover art. It differs from many teen vampire series as it is told from Jason's point of view.

<i>A Wet Knight</i> 1932 film

A Wet Knight is an animated short film starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and produced by Walter Lantz. It is the 61st Oswald short produced by Lantz and the 113th overall.

<i>Shake, Rattle & Roll 13</i> 2011 Filipino film

Shake, Rattle & Roll 13 is a 2011 Filipino horror anthology film produced by Regal Entertainment, and the thirteenth installment of the Shake, Rattle & Roll film series. It is directed by Richard Somes, Jerrold Tarog and Chris Martinez, and was an official entry to the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival.

<i>Batman: Night of the Owls</i> 2012 Batman comic book crossover storyline

"Batman: Night of the Owls" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in mid-2012, and featuring the Batman family of characters. Primarily written by Scott Snyder, the arc is the first major crossover storyline of The New 52.

"The Jolly Roger" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 61st episode overall, which aired on April 13, 2014.

"A Curious Thing" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 63rd episode overall, which aired on April 27, 2014. The episode, written by series creators Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz and directed by Ralph Hemecker, was met with excellent reviews for its fast paced storyline in this outing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Voight</span> Fictional character

Henry "Hank" Voight is a fictional character in the television series Chicago P.D.. He appeared in a recurring capacity in Chicago Fire and as a main character in Chicago P.D., as the head of the Chicago Police Department's Intelligence Unit, which operates out of the 21st District. Despite Voight's reputation as a suspected dirty cop and for using underhanded methods, he commands his unit's loyalty and respect.