Book Review: The Gemma Doyle trilogy

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing

Author: Libba Bray
Year Published: 2003-2007

Genre: Young adult, supernatural, gothic, historical fiction

The Gemma Doyle trilogy is a supernatural Victorian boarding school story for young adults. That alone should tell you whether you want to read this series (for me the answer was, of course: hells yeah). There’s an indulgent, ‘comfort read’ quality about it despite its dark themes. While this normally would be fine for me, some of these themes weren’t your typical dramatic fantasy problems but rather actual real life issues. And that’s why I ultimately found the series problematic.

There are a number of seeming contradictions in the nature of the series itself, as if it is trying to be too many things at once. On the one hand, it's easy to luxuriate in the girly girl passages about the girls’ shopping expeditions and the social niceties of Victorian London – reminiscent of your Jane Austen type of stories, which the author references a number of times. On the other hand, there are plenty of gruesome ghostly things mentioned in the supernatural part. Then again, there are your ‘serious’ scenes describing family dysfunction, abject poverty and child sexual abuse – the latter of which I really wasn’t expecting in such a squishy sort of read.

There was so much going on that I felt that a number of these heavier themes shouldn’t have been included at all. Other than creating mood whiplash, I felt they weren’t given their proper dues. I kept thinking of the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’, as each ‘problem’ rarely transcends the scene in which it’s mentioned. For example, Gemma spouts a lot of pretty and ~profound~ insights about her dysfunctional family, but only ever seems to think about them when she’s in their actual physical presence.

While Gemma describes problems – particularly the ‘ordinary’ real-world ones – and how horrific they are, we can’t disagree; at the same time though, they’re given so little attention that there’s almost a passive tolerance of them. In this regard, it was Gemma’s musings on child sexual abuse that really made me irrationally angry – she talks as if she knows all about it, but then she doesn’t seem too bothered about it in the next scene, nor does she ever do anything about it – to be fair, I don’t know what she could do in those cases, but nevertheless I felt it made her concerns seem ungenuine.

Despite it being 1895, the behaviours and voices of the heroines are very, very modern. When the girls have ‘radical’ thoughts, it doesn’t feel very radical at all as they haven’t actually moved very far from who they already are. As for Gemma, well, her decision at the very end came as a surprise to me – her thoughts were so varied and unfocused throughout the series that it was surprising she even had that goal in mind: she never once mentioned it during the entire series.

Now, despite all my groaning, there’s still a lot you can enjoy in this series. I don’t doubt that a lot of people would be attracted to the gothic setting of the series, and there’s an indulgent pillowy quality you can get lost in – indeed, despite my misgivings I read all three books pretty quickly. This is the sort of series you let wash over you, without trying to keep track or think too much about, lest you spot the problems. There isn’t a lot of plot to be honest – it gets worse in the second and third books, where there’s more and more telling instead of showing, and the tale expands in breadth rather than depth. It seemed to unravel as things went on, and became a bit of a chore to read in the end. Be warned also that the ending isn’t exactly a happy one.

I did like that the main love interest was Indian, but I’m in two minds as to whether this series provides a positive example of non-white characters. There was surprisingly more sensuality than I would’ve anticipated, particularly given how simple the language is, so I’d probably say it’s suitable for those aged 13+. I was a little disappointed in the character development too – some of Gemma and Kartik’s relationship is retconned in the third book, and I was surprised to hear Felicity, Pippa and Ann described as Gemma’s “best friends” in Rebel Angels after their uneasy and bullying-tinged interactions in A Great and Terrible Beauty, as well as the fact that none of them seemed to actually like each other, except for Felicity and Pippa. I’m not sure what it says about me, or the book, but I found Felicity and Ann to be a lot more likeable and interesting than our heroine Gemma.

So in conclusion, I had a number of issues with this series – namely plot, character development and the handling of themes. It’s also very faux Victorian, if that’s something that will bother you. What’s left to recommend it then? Well, there’s an addictive quality in the writing, and an attractiveness in the mood and setting. There are also moments of great tenderness and poignancy, though these instances were too few and far in between. I don’t regret reading this series, but I doubt I’ll read it again.

Alex’s Rating: 2.5/5

Book Review: Good Omens

Title: Good Omens
Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Year Published: 1990
Genre: Urban fantasy, Comedy

Good Omens is about the Apocalypse – the actual biblical, Judgement Day, end-of-the-world sort, as opposed to the prelude-to-a-distopia variety. Angels and demons have been fighting to influence the fate of mankind for centuries, and this now this is all set to culminate in the Great Battle, set to take place on Saturday.

There are some, however, who don't want the world to end. The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley have formed an alliance of sorts, each half-arse-ing their jobs so as to make their own lives easier. Neither wants things to change. Meanwhile, Adam, an eleven year old boy, is simply enjoying the summer with his friends in Lower Tadfield, England. Unbeknownst to Adam, he is the Antichrist, and therefore key to the whole Armageddon thing. At this crucial time in the world's fate, Aziraphale, Crowley, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a witch and a witchfinder all find themselves drawn to Lower Tadfield.

This is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most inventive books I have ever read, and perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, given who the authors are. It's littered with random footnotes, wordplay and satire on pretty much everything. I'd recommend it based on the lulz alone – there's at least one on every page. Some knowledge about the biblical End of Days would probably bolster you enjoyment of the book. If you're religious, you should know by now whether this sort of thing is your cup of tea, though I'll just add that the book doesn't go out of its way to either insult or promote Christianity or religion in general.

My favourite parts were the bits about Agnes Nutter and the Four Horsemen – they were quirky and funny, a fresh take on an old concept. Crowley and Aziraphale also make a great odd couple. My least favourite part were the bits involving the Them, since I wasn't particularly enamoured of their cute kid discussions and found them somewhat repetitive. Further, even though the book is a pleasure to read, by the time I got to the middle I was impatient for the world to end already since the book is essentially build-up to that event.

I also have a not-quite-criticism of the way women are handled in this book. They're generally portrayed as independent and (more) capable (than men), which I guess is great and all, but at times it felt like the authors were actively pushing some sort of pro-female agenda. My impression wasn't so much that women are fantastic, but rather that the authors want us to know that they're not sexist, in which case, mission accomplished, I think? I'm probably being cynical and over-sensitive here, and I know this is unlikely to be the authors' intention, and you can call me ridiculous, but I couldn't help that this was my impression. I doubt that many others would have the same reaction – if anything, I reckon most people would be pleased that there are strong female characters at all... Another bit of side-eye I'll throw the authors' way regards how apparently, all Tibetans are Buddhist monks... but I digress.

The book loses a bit of steam towards the end, as if the authors weren't sure where to take things but had to end it somehow. Given the interesting premise, I suppose this was something bound to happen. Still, the writing is so charming that the outcome doesn't really matter and I can see why Good Omens is beloved by so many. It's held up very well for a contemporary book and its critique on pollution and body image is still relevant today. Most importantly, it's very funny, and that's the main basis on which I'd recommend it to others.

Alex's Rating: 4/5

Movie Review: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Title: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Director: Bill Condon
Year Released: 2012
Running Time: 115 minutes
Classification: PG-13
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance

In the final instalment of the Twilight series, we say goodbye to Jacob's abs, Edward's sparkles and Bella's... Bella. At this point, no one's going into this film expecting cinematic brilliance, and indeed you'd be wasting your money if you had hoped this film would be “good”. For “fans”, of which I am one, Breaking Dawn Part 2 holds a number of delights/horrors; there's a big battle sequence, creepily CG'd Renesmee and Aro's laugh to look forward to. All in all, the quality here is fairly similar to the previous movies, and after four others, Breaking Dawn Part 2 gives us a sweet finish to the whole ordeal.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) ended with Bella (Kristen Stewart) being turned into a vampire by Edward (Robert Pattinson) after almost dying giving birth to human/vampire hybrid demon child Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). We also saw Jacob (Taylor Lautner), the loser of the love triangle, “imprint” on Renesmee (kind of like falling in love, but without the creepiness, honest, because he'd never do anything like that at least not until she's legal).

In Breaking Dawn Part 2, Bella becomes an awesome vampire filled with awesome (and Kristen Stewart does look good in this movie, if you're into that), and then there's some stuff about not-telling her father, and some stuff. A vampire sees Renesmee and thinks she's a vampire, and since making children vampires is illegal, said vampire runs off to report the “crime” to the Volturi (powerful Italian vampires). As the Volturi are coming, the Cullen family recruit a bunch of X-men (only some of whom are racially stereotyped) to act as “witnesses” to prove their innocence.

The plot is pretty ridiculous and the first half or so of the movie is incredibly boring. It doesn't seem like anything is really happening, just a bunch of people standing around having conversations and it drags. Yet incredibly, it also feels rushed; we jump from scene to scene and Bella's narration is used to bridge them in a way that feels like lazy storytelling. At least the scenery looks good. I guess.

And then there's Renesmee.

(Now, there has been many an internet rant about the issues here, so I'll just stick to the movie problems.)

First, there's the whole skeevy imprinting thing mentioned above. Bella's outrage upon discovering it is pretty much token and it's the only objection that comes up in the movie (hey, it's what happens in the book). On the plus side, Jacob and Renesmee's relationship is never overtly depicted as “romantic”, unless you count the flash-fowards and some meaningful looks shared between the two that can so easily be (mis)interpreted (in my cinema, there were groans and awkward laughter during these moments, so there you go).

Second, Mackenzie Foy's face is CG'd on every actress that plays fast-growing Renesmee. And it's like.... why? Why would you do this? Why? It was creepy as hell, especially since it wasn't done very well (picture a CG-d face, semi-floating on another head, drifting slightly – just slightly – to give the impression of occasional no-chin and uncanny valley realness). Considering how well they CG'd Bella during her pregnancy and how people aren't idiots and can tell when a character is the same character despite changing actors, I just don't understand. On the plus side, it was so off-putting that it kept me awake throughout the sluggish first half.

The creepiness isn't helped by the fact that Renesmee has no discernible personality. I suppose this isn't really her fault: she doesn't really get to do anything and is often just in the background. The way she “communicates” - that is, by touching people and flashing images in their minds – comes across as some kind of brainwashing technique, and to me, she could've just as easily been an innocent child as an evil demonic creature in the guise of an innocent child. But hey, this made me enjoy the film more rather than less.

So things pick up in the last part, when the Cullens & co. confront the Volturi and their cronies. If you've read the book, you'll know how anticlimactic the climax is, and the movie manages to put a twist on it that is, dare I say, rather clever. Though it's not as epic as its soundtrack would lead you to believe, it is action-packed and unexpectedly violent. I was riveted the whole way through. It's easily the best part of the movie, barring Aro's strange laugh (see below), and for me it was totally worth watching the first half to get to this.

I can't see this movie being enjoyable for someone who isn't invested one way or another in the Twilight franchise. If you're not a fan, don't bother; if you are fan, you'll be seeing this film regardless of its reviews. Breaking Dawn Part 2 is arguably the best of the lot, but that's not saying too much. The story is what it is, the acting is so-so and the quality of the CG varies. Still, I was surprised by the whole battle sequence and I must admit that the movie overall was pretty entertaining, even if for the wrong reasons. It's certainly not a great series of films, but I couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia when the credits rolled, reminding us that non-Charlie humans once existed in the Twi-verse. And now, as the franchise comes to a close, everyone has the happy ending they were waiting for.

Alex's Rating: 3/5

(for non-fans, probably 2/5)

Book Review: The Last Dragonslayer

Title: The Last Dragonslayer
Author: Jasper Fforde
Year Published: 2010
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Comedy, Young Adult

Jennifer Strange is the fifteen-year-old acting manager of Kazam, an employment agency for magicians. Though once a noble calling, magic has gradually been fading from the Ununited Kingdoms and its practitioners are now reduced to delivering pizza and unblocking drains. Life is not easy for Jennifer: the use of magic is heavily regulated, sorcerers are a volatile lot and work is hard to come by. But it's only when a sudden resurgence of magic coincides with a prophecy of the death of the last dragon that the trouble really starts.

The Last Dragonslayer is a delightful read; it's fun, fast and doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a generous dose of humour throughout the book and I found myself rereading sentences at times out of pure glee. Literary and scientific allusions fly thick and fast and modern life is satirised, including big business and the cult of celebrity. For this reason, adults can find much to enjoy in this book, despite it being written to a younger audience. Fforde's brand of funny may be a bit “cute” for some, but I found it right up my alley.

The world is like an alternative version of ours and its history and magic system are quite detailed and interesting. Unfortunately, this results in a few info-dump/talking heads scenarios, in which things that you might have guessed are explained quite thoroughly and the action is slowed right down (hopefully, this means that sequels The Song of the Quarkbeast and The Return of Shandar will reap the benefits of past exposition). And yet despite this extensive world-building, I found that there were sometimes gaps in the descriptions – for example, in one scene, I had assumed the only people present were Jennifer and the King's men until a lady suddenly faints; in another I spent most of the time wondering where the Quarkbeast had got to. These are very minor complaints though, quite possibly caused by my own lack of imagination.

Given how early the dragon stuff is mentioned, I was impatient for the plot to progress more quickly than it did. Can't say I really minded though, since I enjoyed it the whole way through. For some reason, I had expected something a bit more epic, which this really isn't. It's more of a light-hearted adventure, best read for its prose and its quirks, rather than the plot as such.

Needless to say, I really liked this book; the world and its magic were peculiar in a clever yet mundane way and I thought it was really quite funny (though of course, humour is subjective and Fforde's may just be the sort to set your teeth on edge). It's easy to read and accessible to anyone. Recommended for fans of Harry Potter and Terry Pratchett and anyone looking for a light and witty read.

Alex's Rating: 4/5

Book Review: The Demon's Lexicon trilogy

Title: The Demon's Lexicon, The Demon's Covenant and The Demon's Surrender
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Year Published: 2009-2011
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Action, Romance


I wanted to like this series. I really did. The reasons for this are twofold: first, not one, but two of my friends liked and recommended it; second, I've lurked on the author's blog and she seems really funny (those recaps!) and nice (as far as I can tell from my observations as a creepy internet lurker). In the end, however, The Demon's Lexicon series just wasn't really my cup of tea, though I can see why it might appeal to others.

The Demon's Lexicon introduces us to the Ryves brothers, Nick and Alan, who have been running from evil magicians their entire lives. Enter Mae and Jamie, two siblings from Nick's school who suddenly find themselves in need of magical help. Various kinds of fighting ensue. The novel is told from Nick's point of view, which was not a particularly fun place to be. I mean, I get that he has an unfeeling sort of personality, but some variant of “Nick didn't care, but he did it because he thought Alan might like it” pops up on every other page and I got fairly sick of being told about this over and over again. I couldn't really get into the plot either (despite heaps of action), nor could I bring myself to particularly care about the characters. The last third of the book, however, took me by surprise. At this point, all the various sub-plots come together in a really interesting way and I finished the book relatively quickly. While I enjoyed the ending (the book works as a standalone, thankfully), I wouldn't have read the sequels had I not already borrowed all three books.

In The Demon's Covenant, we have a continuation of the adventures of our intrepid four as they continue to oppose evil magicians (but I won't say anything about the plot because spoilers). I was actually a little disappointed that we weren't in Nick's point of view any more (given the ending of the last book), but oh well, Mae's point of view proved to be an easier read (replace “Nick didn't care...” with various metaphors and similes). The plot meanders more than in the previous book, and I wasn't really ever sure where things were going, or if they were going. Though I wanted to like Mae, the fact that she (minor spoiler alert!) dates/befriends her brother's bully – despite Jamie openly hating him and despite Mae seemingly loving Jamie the most – rubbed me the wrong way. As with the previous book, I didn't find myself compelled to pick this up again after I'd put it down. Then boom. Another great third act.

The series finishes with The Demon's Surrender, told now from the point of view of Sin, a relatively minor character from the previous books. At this point, I was getting a bit bored of the whole “Market people vs. magicians” conflict, which seemed to move sideways rather than escalate (if that makes sense). Still, I found this book to be the easiest to “get into” out of all of them. The writing seems more balanced and I also found Sin to be more likeable than Nick and Mae. Coincidentally, this is also the book in which all the romantic sub-plots become fleshed out, though it did seem a bit contrived at times to have Sin present while the other couple talked about their relationship. On this note, I also didn't buy Nick's “romance”; it felt like something was missing between the previous book and this one (not in a good way) and I couldn't make the jump. At any rate, the conflict and action are better paced in book three, with major events happening in the middle rather than just at the end. The ending itself is fairly satisfying too.


As far as YA urban fantasy goes, this series is pretty original (no vampires or werewolves). The demonic aspect of Brennan's world was really interesting and the books were at their best during the times they explored this. However, I wanted more world-building from this series. It's set in Exeter and London, but I didn't really get a sense of place other than the general “urban” kind of feel and the occasional landmark name-drop. The same goes with the Goblin Market and the world of the magicians in general. While these were described in a fairly detailed way, I could only get a superficial impression of what they were. Given that all the action occurs in these places (no hopping around cities to save the world), I would have liked more depth.

My other main problem was that this was a character-driven series and my failure to bond with the characters doomed me to diminished enjoyment. Despite the changing narrators all having different personalities, there's a same-ish quality to the writing – for example, the occasional quirky hook of a sentence or pretty turn of phrase, the same kind of descriptions and so on. In other words, since the writing style is similar in all three books, what didn't work for me in the first book also didn't work for me in the second and third. Worse, I couldn't even root for the villains, as they all felt a bit two-dimensional. This, for me, diminished the tension in the books even further.

Now for a bunch of even more subjective nitpicks/comments. First there is the humour: there's quite a bit of it, it is funny, but it feels a bit like internet humour and it was therefore a strange experience to be reading it a book (see the author's website for examples of said humour). Second, while some might find the many t-shirt slogans mentioned (eg. “Romeo and Juliet Wouldn't Have Lasted”) to be a particular treat, I personally found it distracting since I could not help but think of the Author Appeal. Third, included on p206 of The Demon's Covenant is my personal berserk button: arterial blood is described as dark (seriously, is this a thing now?). In all honesty though, these won't annoy you unless you have a (read: my) specific set of stupid pet peeves.

I'm sorry I didn't like this series as much as I wanted to, I really am. This was probably my own fault, since I started the series after my YA urban fantasy craving had passed. The premise is unique, the dialogue is snappy and the way the endings came together was well done every time – there's plenty to like. But I felt had to push my way through this series, I didn't really care about anyone, and it was just not to my (subjective) taste. My recommendation, if you want to give this a shot, is to read the first book and see how you go from there: if you like it, great, go read the next two. But if you don't, then I'm betting you won't much like the others – in which case, just go watch Supernatural or something to get your brothers-fighting-supernatural-forces fix instead.


Alex's Rating: 2.5/5

Book Review: Shade Fright

Title: Shade Fright (A Valerie Stevens novel)

Author: Sean Cummings

Year Published: 2010

Genre: Urban Fantasy

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” the saying goes. I did the exact opposite. I took one look at the comic book design cover and went for it. Can you blame me?

So this story follows Valerie Stevens who was born with a unique gift to see the preternatural world. She works for the Canadian Government who sends her to locate things or people from the supernatural world.

 In this first Valerie Stevens novel she gathers the help of her zombie best friend and the ghost of a former Prime Minister of Canada to... you guessed it, save the world.

There are many books based on characters that see the supernatural and happen to be a P.I. Even though Valerie works for the Government, she’s still an investigator of some sort.

So what makes this book appealing (besides from the cover) is the normal girl Valerie. She’s not your typical “I do not remember my past, all I know is I have powers” female character, or your “depressed vampire that wears black leather and heavy eye liner”. She is a civil servant that earns her money and pay taxes just like the next person. A person you can relate to if you minus the whole seeing the dead thing.

As the first of the Valerie Stevens Novel, it does a good job introducing the characters. It gives a solid understanding of each of them so they can move forward to the next novels.

However, I wasn’t a fan of the plot/problem Valerie had to solve. For example, Valerie had to go back to the farm (the first crime scene) 3 times before finding the truth. A lot of her information was given to her rather than her finding out. Because of this, I lost interest half way through the book. It did not make me believe Valarie was good at her job even though according to the book, she’s been doing it for awhile. She’s also not a physical fighter, more of a witch, or what she calls herself, an alchemist.

I did enjoy the little time travel and the perfect balance of romance in this book. The romance is just enough for the reader to understand the position the characters are in and enough not to overflow the actual story line. Also there is no cliff hanger at the end so readers can read this book separately rather than in a series form.

If you’re looking for a light urban fantasy book, this is the book for you. If you’re looking for something dark, you might want to give this a miss. But I expect the following novels will get darker and we will see Valerie’s power improve.

The next book to the Valerie Stevens novel is Funeral Pallor.

Terri's Rating: 2/5 

Book Review: Perdido Street Station

Title: Perdido Street Station
Author: China Miéville
Year Published: 2000
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Horror


This book has been showered with critical acclaim, described as “revolutionary”, “brilliant”, “complex” and “exhilarating”; having now finished it I can see why this is so. Not being an avid sci-fi reader, I can't really say whether the ideas and world that Miéville has imagined are filled with cliches or what have you. What I can say is that they feel original and are complex and rich, having a depth that goes beyond the narrative of the book.

The story takes place in the steampunk-y city-state of New Crobuzon, a deeply realised and terrifying police state, oozing with its own life, an organism in and of itself. The apparent plot involves scientist Isaac, who is commissioned by a fallen bird-man to restore his flight. Beyond that, I won't reveal more; this is one of those books where there are a few different plot threads going on which (you realise at about a sixth of the way in) end up coming together in some kind of explosion of awesomeness. At first, the going is a bit slow, but after a certain point, everything just kind of snowballs and it becomes quite the page-turner.

As mentioned, I'm not usually a sci-fi reader; my tastes in fantasy usually run towards floaty mythical beings, pretty magicks and boy wizards. It thus came as an off-putting shock when I read that Isaac's lover was a woman with an insect for a head (causing me to have the very reasonable objection of “ewwww” and so on). But once I got past that, it was relatively easy to accept the other terrors in Miéville's world, the worst for me being the process of Remaking, whereby criminals are surgically mutilated in various creative ways as punishment. In short, this book will not be everyone's cup of tea – there is nightmare fuel everywhere.

Other concepts and entities though are simply fantastical. I really enjoyed, for example, reading about the cultural aspects of the non-human races in New Crobuzon, as well as the way magic and science are integrated (though not being nearly as clever as the author, I am out of my dept critiquing the logic of it all). My favourite parts though must be the descriptions of the entities to which the mayor appeals. Yup, I know I'm being vague here, but a large part of the joy in reading this book was in concepts like those – things that aren't explained fully, but rather just glimpsed, so you get the sense of something much greater than that which appears on paper.

The writing was another thing I had to adapt to, being dense with description, particularly with regard to the city. You feel sick reading about the churning sludge of polluted rivers, about the layers of grime upon sorry buildings. The language itself is beautiful but thick. It's great, but again, not everyone's cup of tea. If it helps, you get used to it and the writing does (objectively) get less description-heavy as the story progresses.

This isn't the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but I still enjoyed it and found it technically brilliant; it appeals to the intellect more than anything. I am wont to fall in love with much fluffier creatures and did not fall in love with Perdido Street Station. But that is a purely subjective matter and no indication of the quality of this book; I am, after all, someone who happily read through Twilight.


Alex's Rating: 4/5

Book Review: The Nightside (book series)

Series Title: The Nightside

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!

Warning: keep an open mind.

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