Rating: Summary: An extremely entertaining light read... Review: These books (and the ones that follow it) are an entertaining and fun light read. They are definitely not earth-shattering literary masterpieces, but they are prefect little books for reading on a rainy day when you just want to be entertained. They also aren't terribly original; the main villain in this first book is straight from a Fritz Leiber story, and they read like a cross between Dashell Hammet, Neil Gaiman and Robert Adams - but that's a good thing
Rating: Summary: A worthy beginning for a cool series Review: This book caught my attention right after the release of the third book in the series. I wanted to start in order, and it was definitely worth it.
I really didn't see the twist at the end coming at all, and I usually have those pegged about 3 chapters in. It was definitely unique.
If you can handle gross, eerie and just plain imaginative, then I think this book, and the rest of the series for that matter, is worth a look.
Rating: Summary: Stay away from the Nightside Review: This book starts off as any un-original detective story would, with a beautiful woman entering a shabby office. From there, it just gets worse. The main character goes on and on ad nauseum about the Nightside. Instead of letting us find out about it gradually, it's stuffed down our throats. Cryptic retorts are a constant. Every other sentence ends with "in the Nightside." After about the fiftieth "in the Nightside" (about 46 pages in), I said to hell with this. There are plenty of magic/vampire/supernatural being detective stories in existence. Pick one. It's bound to be better than this by far.
Rating: Summary: I have fallen in love with a new series! Review: This is a wonderful new series. If you like the Anita Blake Series, Tanya Huff and Jim Butcher series, you will love this new series by Simon Green. This is the first book in the series. John Taylor is a private eye in London. He is not originally from London though. He grew up in The Nightside, which is a secret world where nighttime never ends, and where every fantasy character you can imagine you will find from sleezy clubs, to demons, to the most interesting cast of characters I have read about in a while. John Taylor left the Nightside five years ago with no intention of ever returning. Then along comes a missing persons case that he cannot say no to. John has a special gift. He finds things. He can pretty much find anything that you are looking for. Well his new client's daughter is missing and the last place she was seen was the Nightside. I do not want to spoil the story, but this is a world you will LOVE. I highly highly recommend.
Rating: Summary: really 4 1/2 Review: This is my first Simon R Green book, and I was vey impressed. I havent been this excited over reading a book since Stephen King's the Gunslinger. John Taylor was a wonderfully drawn complex and mysterious character. I couldnt believe how interesting the nightside actually was, new things poped up all the time making for a fascination experience. My only complaint is after this book I read drinking midnight wine, which seemed to have many similar element to this book. SPOILERS: In both books there is a supernatural private eye. In Midnight Wine it is the descenedent of Thor. In this book People are afraid John Taylor because he had a human father but a Mother who was not. He has never seen his mother and doesnt know who she is. In midnight wine. The Hob has a human mother, but a Father who is not, who he has never seen. And in Both books a person who has been out of their former world too long is leading someone around a strange and mysterious place. Dont get me wrong, I loved both books still. Something from the nightside is part of a trilogy, which will be coming out this November, I cant wait.
Rating: Summary: More Please! Review: This is one of the better fantasy-horror I have read in a long time and also my first book by SR Green. I am greatly impressed and has secured Green's other books available in Amazon. "Something from the Nightside" may be a trifle short but it has much more than I bargained for. A near perfect blend of fantasy and horror with more than its share of excitement, I just could not put it down. The protagonist is an enigmatic character and wonderfully appealing. I hope Greene will extend this into a series.
Rating: Summary: Not original but still a good read Review: This little novel attempts a whole lot. It starts off in classic noir fashion. A private investigator operating out of a dark, run down office finds work a little hard to come by. But in walks a blonde broad (sorry, I'm having Bogart flashbacks here) with a cold countenance and a lot of money. Someone near to her has gone missing and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get her back. So, the reluctantly good-hearted PI takes the case, and the novel changes. A windowless subway train takes the reader into a fantasy world similar to, though not nearly as well-drawn as, Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'. The Nightside is another version of London Below. (Only maybe a little more openly vicious.) It would appear as though Simon Green has tried to combine Gaiman's atmosphere with Jim Butcher's (of the Dresden Files fame) mystery/PI world. Green's novel is good, but... Because it's components aren't original the story perhaps isn't as good, or rather can't be appreciated as much, as it might otherwise have been. John Taylor has the potential to be a strong character, which may mean that any future titles in (what seems to be) this new series could be better than 'Something from the Nightside'. Fortunately for Green, Taylor is his own man. His issues are similar to those of say Harry Dresden, but there's something in his thought process, something in the way he acts and figuratively walks, that makes him different. After finishing this first title, I want to know about his mother just as much as he does. In that regard, Green has obviously done something right. The secondary characters, often very important to a novel/story of this sort, are interesting if not particularly compelling on their own. I don't want more of their individual histories and it wouldn't bother me so much if they didn't appear in any future John Taylor title either. However, as a group, they do add something and you just know that they are going to influence the course of John Taylor's life drastically. And as far as the setting goes, the Nightside is an interesting enough place. Gaiman's London Below is far more imaginative and engaging, but Green has created a believable enough fantasy world. In and of itself, 'Something from the Nightside' isn't wonderful, but if it is indeed a series and does continue with some of the plot points raised in the first, I will read them all. (3.5 stars)
Rating: Summary: Part sci-fi, part horror, all fun! Review: This was a fun book, it was easy to read, short and to the point. It had humor, suspense, mystery, and horror. What more could you ask?
Taylor is a PI who is from another place called the Nightside. It is a strange place and not for the faint of heart, or the weak. Taylor's father committed suicide after finding out what Taylor's mother really was(she wasn't human). We still don't know what she was and I hope that future books will reveal this mystery for us. Taylor can find anyone, a gift he can only use in the Nightside. In our world he functions just like the rest of us. When a rich woman comes to him asking him to find her runaway daughter, Taylor finds out the daugther has stepped over into the Nightside, so back home he goes, with mother in tow.
This book was so well written there is not much to say. It speaks for itself once you read it. The characters were a fun bunch. I don't want to spoil anything for you but you won't regret reading this one. And hey, even if you don't agree with me, it's only 230 pages long. I think you'll like it.
Rating: Summary: Editor Needed Review: While I enjoyed the concept and found the main character interesting, I was distracted by the poor writing style. If I didn't know better I would think this was the author's first book. Green repeats himself over and over again. The phrase "in the Nightside" is used frequently - up to five times on one page! This type of repetition is not necessary, it slows down the narrative and distracts from the overall story.
Rating: Summary: MISSING IN THE NIGHTSIDE? Review: While the Nightside books by Simon Green are not numbered, this appears to be the first one at least in terms of publication date and in terms of tone and style. Private Investigator John Taylor, with a psychic/magical gift to be able to find anyone or anything, is living in London, having left the Nightside five years ago, determined never to return. A wealthy woman named Joanna shows up at his office requesting Taylor to find her runaway daughter Cathy. She claims that she has runaway to the Nightside. The Nightside...where it is always 3 AM...always dark and always deadly.
Taylor is reluctant to return to that dark world within a world where magic works and all manner of creatures mingle side-by-side, but then Joanna makes him an offer he simply cannot refuse. Taylor returns to the Nightside accompanied by Joanna but soon finds that his gift only provides a brief glimpse of the girl then he is shut out. Someone or something is keeping the girl hidden from him. What's more, Cathy is not the only person who has disappeared in the seedy spots of the Nightside.
Taylor visits old haunts like Strangefellows, the world's oldest bar to meet with friends Alex, owner of Strangefellows and the ghoul-like Razor Eddie, Punk God of the Straight Razor, one of the more dangerous powers in the Nightside. Forced to use old fashioned detective work, Taylor and Joanna get closer and closer to the missing girl. Later joined by another of Taylor's old pals, the Rambo-like Shotgun Suzie, they eventually come face-to-face with the power behind all the disappearances and they literally have to fight for their lives.
Simon Green combines elements of horror, sci-fi, dark fantasy with a bit of film nourish detective elements to give readers a very unique world and a main character who is sort of a psychic Phillip Marlowe. "Something from the Nightside" moves at a bit of a slower pace than "Agents of Light and Darkness." It comes off as more of a detective story than the more action packed and wildly chaotic storyline of that latter book. However one important plot thread that comes out of this book is a revelation that John's pursuit to find his lost mother COULD result in the total destruction of the Nightside in the future.
While not the best of the Nightside series it's still a very good dark fantasy and at 230 pages a quick read. Highly recommended!
|