Author:
Simon R. Green
Year
Published:
2003 - current
Genre:
Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction
Current titles in The Nightside series:
- Something from the Nightside
- Agents of Light and Darkness
- Nightingale’s Lament
- Hex and the City
- Paths not Taken
- Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth
- Hell to Pay
- The Unnatural Inquirer
- Just another Judgment Day
- The Good, the Bad and the Uncanny
- A Hard Day’s Knight
- The Bride Wore Black Leather
From
the first novel of The
Nightside series,
the author lures you into another fantasy world where nothing is
impossible. It could be your heaven or your hell. A dimension where
you can walk among monsters, make deals on the Street of the Gods or
if you’re lucky, get eaten by the alien that is posing as a taxi.
Not
anyone can find this place. It’s better to say the Nightside
chooses its ‘victims’.
Tempted
yet?
I
was. I expected science fiction and horror. That is exactly what I
got. This is not the typical science fiction where your hero defeats
the alien robots that have come to take over the earth. If you’re
looking for an action -packed science fiction, this is not the right
series. However, if you’re looking for a release from our reality
into a place of gore and darkness, please read!
So
not to spoil too much, it follows a man named John Taylor. He is a
detective who is made to return to the Nightside. Through the series
you meet the range of characters who appear to be John Taylor's
friends/enemies. It’s hard to tell when everyone in the Nightside
is ‘every man for himself’.
With
help from these frenemies, he solves cases and eventually discovers
his origins.
Every
novel has its own plot so you do not need to read it from start to
finish, although it will help when the characters refer to situations
that happen in previous books.
I
was attracted to the author's description of the Nightside and the
size of the book. Each book is pretty short. From the first book,
Something
from the Nightside,
I was sold. Simon R. Green does not hold anything back and obviously
has no concern over the mental state of his readers. There are no
long explanations and no long winded descriptions. Enough for you to
understand the situation and to use your imagination.
The
book has a good running pace with no boring bits, and a healthy
amount of horror. It’s not the type of scary that keeps you up at
night, it’s horror you pray you will never experience. In one book,
a thief
caught by Old Father Time is imprisoned in a painting screaming in
pain for all eternity. Another involves an extreme fan-girl being
hanged on a hook with her stomach ripped out while still alive.
Romance
is not Simon R. Green’s strongest point. There were parts in the
books where I would flip pages back to try and find the romantic link
between the characters and fail. This however did not put me off as I
did not expect romance to be a key element in his books.
This
series to this day consists of 12 books with more to come. No doubt
within these 12 books there are some areas I don’t like. After
reading the first three, I realized most of the characters, who have
their own significance in each novel respectively, have attitude
problems. Testosterone levels are high even for the female
characters. This frustrates me as it makes all the characters have
similar personalities - from an insignificant bouncer at a club to the all-guns-blazing Suzie Shotgun, one of the main characters of the books.
The
same words are used throughout the novels. “Damnation” being a
favorite.
I
have read most, if not all of Simon R. Green's novels and have realized
this is his style and appears more in his later books. Because of
this, I recommend taking a break between his novels. This will help
ease the repetitiveness of the words and character attitudes.
Having
written that, I enjoyed The
Nightside
series. Well paced, no-nonsense science fiction fantasy with enough
disturbing situations to forget about our own reality. Definitely
worth a try.
Terri's Rating: 4/5
Nice, Theresa!! I need to get onto this series!
ReplyDeleteTerri: No problem. If you would like any other recommendations on Simon R. Green books just let me know. Or if you like us to do a review on another book you know where to find us.
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