Green, Simon R. Books

Something from the Nightside (Nightside, Book 1)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Superficial story for *very* light reading 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Having just read the Man with the Golden Torque (pretty good book by the way) by the same author I was interested in reading more of his work and came by this series. The story and characters really have a lot of potential for being really good. I like what the characters could be though the bottom line is they never really reach their potential.
John Taylor is a Private Eye who has a gift for finding things when he's working in the inner heart underground supernatural world of Nightside which he has of course exhiled himself from for the past 5 years. He's down on his luck when he's approached by a woman with a daughter who has been missing for a month. The whole book is really a prolonged search for the daughter while explaining all the wonders and terrors of nightside. This is what all the conversations are about including 5 minute explanations for every person that John Taylor introduces to his client.
The bottom line is it's not a story with characters that you can connect with because there really isn't anything deeper to them than what's on the page. But if you really want a 30 minute read to pass some time and like the neon noir urban fantasy scene you're probably going to like this book. I'm just hoping that he digs a little deeper in the following books.

Editorial Review:

John Taylor is not a private detective per se, but he has a knack for finding lost things. That's why he's been hired to descend into the Nightside, an otherworldly realm in the center of London where fantasy and reality share renting space and the sun never shines.

For John Taylor, there's no place like home...

The Man With the Golden Torc (Roc Fantasy)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Ok, but not as good as the others 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

First I read the Nightside series and that was great; it was his best work and that made me a Simon R. Green fan. Then I read (what books I had) of the Deathstalker series; it was very good at parts, but tiresome at others. It was no Nightside. Now, I'm reading the man with the goden torc. It's Ok, but it seems as if the books are going downhill; Nightside is the best, Deathstalker is in second place, and now man with the golden torc. It seems as if he's trying to make another Nightside; same story, diferent people.
It would be great if he did what he's trying to do and write another Nightside, but instead of doing the exact same story with different people, the the Drood line has been going for centuries, so make an earlier version of the family. Have them have cruder versions of the high tec weapons and make them have more limitations on their stuff that they have to work out. Maybe set the whole thing set a few hundred years before they "discovered" America.
Just a thought.

Edward C. Jones III

Editorial Review:

For ages, Eddie Drood and his family have kept humanity safe from the things that go bump in the night. But now one of his own has convinced the rest of the family that Eddie’s become a menace, and that humanity needs to be protected from him. So he’s on the run, using every trick in the book, magical and otherwise, hoping he lives long enough to prove his innocence...

Hex and the City (Nightside, Book 4)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Nightside stories 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Simon Green has invented a nasty little piece of work called The Nightside. You will be reminded that it is called the Nightside on practically EVERY PAGE. He will not let up with repetition so get used to it. Strangely enough, he has created some strong and interesting characters. Then he kills them. Lines them up and shoots them down ( or rips their limbs off ). For a pulp serial fiction, they are rather entertaining, just be sure of the correct order to read them. Each book usually contains an individual story line but there will be occurances in each edition that will be brought up again in later novels. Unfortunately, there is no sequencing published on the cover and little listing available inside.
The series in a nutshell:
Cliche Private Investigator with supernatural power solves cases in a grim "otherworldly" location congruent to London. Mix liberally with time travel and forces of Good and Evil vying for supremacy and add a dash of zombie horror snuff film and Voila! You have THE NIGHTSIDE.

Editorial Review:

Lady Luck has hired John Taylor to investigate the origins of the Nightside--the dark heart of London where it's always 3 A.M. But when he starts to uncover facts about his long-vanished mother, the Nightside--and all of existence-- could be snuffed out.

Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Search for Nightside's Origins 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Paths Not Taken (2005) is the fifth urban fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Hex and the City. In the previous volume, John Taylor finally discovered the identity of his mother when she visited Strangefellows, but quickly regretted the knowledge. Walker and his minions invaded the bar to destroy Taylor, but are defeated by Taylor's friends and relative.

Bad Penny stabbed Taylor and was permanently banished from Strangefellows and everywhere else. Merlin even nullified the Speaking Gun. Then Taylor tipped his mother out of the bar back the way she had come.

In this novel, Taylor has a visitor at the office. Unfortunately, he is actually present at the time. When asked his complaint, Eamonn Mitchell says that he is being hounded by other versions of himself. Then such other versions appear, armed with change wands, and make a mess out of Cathy's carefully filed paperwork [snigger]. Taylor and Tommy Oblivion -- another Nightside PI -- track down the man behind the plot and reason with him.

Taylor is impressed by Tommy's talent and invites him along on a trip back through time. Suzie Shooter invites herself into the party. Old Father Time sends them into the far past, but not quite far enough.

In this story, Taylor and associates find themselves in the Nightside of sixth century AD. Taylor figures than Lilith has interfered with the time transfer and gets VERY angry. After he cools down enough, they decide that their best chance to go further back in time is Merlin Satanspawn.

Failing to locate Merlin at the Londinium Club, they next try the current version of Strangefellows. Taylor recognizes the exterior view of the Avalon from a prior experience. They find Merlin inside and shortly thereafter Nimue the witch appears.

Nimue is a bubbly little golddigger. A former Druid, she had run away and then convinced Merlin to teach her real magic. Now Taylor talks her into helping them, but their plans go dreadfully wrong. Despite all this, Taylor and Suzie go back further in time, but not quite far enough.

Taylor finds someone, or something, else to send them even further in time. Finally Taylor gets back to Nightside's origins. It's not much like his expectations, but he does have a confrontation with his future mother.

This story parallels the previous novel. He meets people, or things, that he had encountered in the previous novel during his excursions back in time. Naturally, these persons or things have some memory of Taylor when they later -- or earlier -- meet him in the future.

Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of tough detectives, various magics, and a personal quest through time.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Editorial Review:

John Taylor just discovered his long-gone mother created the Nightside--the dark heart of London--and intends to destroy it. To save his birthplace, he will have to travel back through a very distant--and probably deadly--past.

Agents of Light and Darkness (Nightside, Book 2)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Horror x Pulp x Mystery (+ a Travelogue of the Strange) 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Welcome to the Nightside, where everything macabre and strange not only exists, it thrives. Resident PI John Taylor has a gift for finding things, and in this installment, he's been hired to track down the Unholy Grail (the cup Judas drank from during the last supper). He's not the only one looking, though, and he must find the grail before angels from both sides of the fence destroy the Nightside in their pursuit of it.

I read the first Nightside novel about a year and a half ago, and I mostly thought. . ."eh." It was a short, strange book, and there were some things about it that bothered me. The phrase "in the Nightside" was used way too much, many of the characters had campy and bizarre names (Suzie Shooter, Razor Eddie, etc.), the descriptions were often over-the-top, and John frequently went off on tangents, describing people and past events at random. (I wasn't sure what purpose these detours served, but they often ended with the dreaded phrase "in the Nightside.")

I picked up this second novel on a whim, and for some reason I enjoyed it a lot more than the first. It's still quirky, still over-the-top, the phrase "in the Nightside" is still used quite a bit, and some of the randomly-introduced characters still feel more like window-dressing than fully-realized people. But I'm starting to think that that's the point. The Nightside itself (and all the weird and wonderful things it contains) is as much a main "character" as John is. And as PI Taylor seeks out folks with information on his latest case, he guides the reader on a twisty little trek through London's violent and magical underbelly, throwing out cautionary anecdotes (and occasionally killing his informants) along the way.

Agents of Light and Darkness is a quick and pulpy read. The author mixes campy, gory, tongue-in-cheek oddities into the action of the tale, and he appears to be having a great deal of fun with it all. This time around, I did too. Give the Nightside a chance (or two); see if it sticks. I've definitely decided to pick up more of the books and find out where they lead.

Editorial Review:

The New York Times bestselling author takes readers back to the Nightside.

A quest for the Unholy Grail-the goblet from which Judas drank at the Last Supper-takes private eye John Taylor deep into the secret, magical heart of London...called the Nightside.

Nightingale's Lament (Nightside, Book 3)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Super Reader 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

John Taylor might have a thing for lost daughters it seems, as he takes on another case involving such a woman. This time she is not lost in the physical sense, but mental, being a famous singer.

A fun tidbit in that the Nightside has its own transvestite superheroine.

We see here that the Nightside is a mixture of superscience and the supernatural, much like Grimjack's Cynosure, for another example, when John is called in at the start to look at the problems a power plant run by an old friend is having. What is at the heart of that is a plot used many a time in comics.

We also discover the newspaper is run by the World's Greatest Victorian Adventurer hero, who was sent through time by his old archenemies, the fate of whom no-one knows.

John, teaming up with Dead Boy, must work out what is going on.

These Nightside books are very entertaining.

Editorial Review:

In the Nightside, the hidden heart of London where it's always 3 AM, Detective John Taylor must find an elusive singer known as The Nightingale. Her silken voice has inexplicably lured many a fan to suicide--and Taylor is determined to stop her, before the whole neighborhood falls under her trance. But to catch the swift-winged Nightingale, he'll have to hear the deadly music--and survive.

Hell to Pay (Nightside, Book 7)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Deal With the Devil 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Hell To Pay (2007) is the seventh Urban Fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth. In the previous volume, Lilith raised the dead in the private burial grounds of the Necropolis, including Charles Taylor. When John Taylor found his father, he reunited him with Henry Walker and Mark Robinson and the three of them started work once again on the Babalon Working, but this time in reverse.

The followers of Lilith started fighting among themselves and Julian Advent soon defeated the rabble. Lilith's children slunk back to the Street of Gods and resumed their former ways. Suzie and John became partners in the detective agency.

In this novel, John Taylor is invited to Griffen Hall. Jeremiah Griffen is an immortal and the richest man in Nightside. He owns most of the properties and many of the inhabitants. The Authorities had kept him from taking over everything, but now they are gone.

Jeremiah's granddaughter and heir is missing. Three days before, someone -- or something -- had killed Jeremiah's family lawyer and his copy of Jeremiah's will was stolen. Shortly after that, the whole family had learned that Melissa was the sole heritor of Jeremiah's estate. Now she is gone -- kidnapped, murdered or fled -- and Jeremiah knows nothing about her whereabouts.

Taylor goes through the motions of obtaining a recent photograph and asking about the movements of the family, yet he plans to use his talent to find the girl. This time, however, something is blocking his extrasense. Then something comes after Taylor and/or Jeremiah, but Taylor counters the attack.

He can use his talent for other things, but not to locate Melissa. Taylor is going to have to locate the missing heir the hard way. He starts by asking Jeremiah to describe his family.

In this story, the butler Hobbes has already questioned the servants and learned nothing. So Taylor interviews the family. He even talks to the grandson Paul through a locked door, but learns nothing helpful at the time. Later, he talks to the son and daughter and their spouses, as well as the grandson, in less formal settings and learns more about the family. Eventually, Jeremiah even tells Taylor how he became an immortal.

While searching for Melissa, Taylor encounters the Salvation Army Sisterhood, gentry bodyguards and backstreet thugs. He helps Walker dispose of a homicidal shapeshifter. Yet he just can't find Melissa.

This story involves Taylor in a struggle against Hell itself. Only the highest powers in Heaven and Hell can block his talent and Heaven is unlikely to do so. At least his talent works outside of Griffen Hall.

Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of supernatural powers, corrupt and venal socialites, and teenage rebellion.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Editorial Review:

In the wake of the war that left the Nightside leaderless, Jeremiah Griffin-one of the last of the immortal human families-plans to fill the power vacuum. But his granddaughter has disappeared, and he wants John Taylor to use his special abilities to find her. Except someone-or something-is blocking Taylor's abilities.

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (Nightside, Book 6)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Mother Dearest Returns 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (2006) is the sixth Urban Fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Paths Not Taken. In the previous volume, Lilith declared that John Taylor was an unexpected and unwelcome complication. She started sucking the living energy out of him.

Taylor used his private eye to determine how she was doing it and reversed the flow. He left Lilith weak and helpless and kicked her in the face on his way out. Then her monsters started to advance towards her.

In this novel, Walker has Cathy kidnapped to force Taylor to turn himself in to the Authorities. Naturally, John declines the offer and uses his third eye to find Cathy somewhere within the Necropolis. He can't really pin down the location for some reason, but John and Suzy head toward the approximate area via a couple of magical cantrips.

When they reach the Necropolis, Eddie the Punk God of the Razor appears and tells them that Cathy is not actually on the Necropolis grounds. He slices a doorway with his razor to the dimension that contains the Necropolis private burial grounds and they slip into the ice cold land. There they find Tommy Oblivion and Sandra Chance, with Cathy somewhere in the vicinity.

Tommy and Sandra think that they have a deal with Walker, but he has just taken this opportunity to get rid of all four of them. Sandra is rather disturbed by his betrayal, especially when the earth golems appear and Eddie's razor can no longer slice the dimensional walls. Of course, Taylor finds a way to escape and they take Cathy with them back to the Nightside.

In this story, Taylor sends Cathy to Strangefellows with Tommy and the other three investigate the sudden quietness on the streets. They go to the Street of Gods and find only the dead, dying and dazed. Lilith has returned and the Street has been devastated. However, they do find Walker under the collapsed wall of a church. Taylor convinces Sandra to restrain herself from killing him, but she only does so when John states that Walker will not like his role in the war against Mother Dearest.

Taylor heads off alone to find the Dead Boy and then the pair search for Julian Advent, the great Victorian Adventurer. They find the newspaper owner investigating a sweat shop operation involving short fairies and magical implements. After Dead Boy takes care of the guard, Taylor takes Julian and Dead Boy aside and lays out his plans.

Both the Holy Host and the Satanic Horde are staying away from this conflict. But Taylor is acquainted with a particular Holy messenger and summons this angel using the special attributes of Dead Boy and Julian. Pretty Poison is not using that name anymore, but she knows what he wants and agrees to help him just this once.

This story takes Taylor into the unique possible future where his Enemies live and from where they have been sending back agents to kill him for decades. He has been there once before, but now he needs to learn the reason for their attempts on his life. He finds that the War itself is their rationale for trying to kill him. He has to fight his mother without raising armies against her and thereby destroying the Nightside.

When he returns to the present -- or a week later, depending on your viewpoint -- John finds that Lilith has started the War without him. Her allies and coerced partisans have attacked everyone living within Nightside. She has even raided the private graveyard of the Necropolis and raised the dead to fight for her against their friends and relatives.

Walker and his friends have fought back using every method and trick in their arsenal and are still losing. Even the Lord of Thorns is helpless before Lilith. Nightside is being destroyed before their eyes. Something else must be done.

BTW, Taylor and Suzy Shooter have public displays of affection in this novel. Their friends -- and enemies -- are appalled.

Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magical powers, devious spells, and quirky romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Editorial Review:

Private Eye John Taylor is the only thing standing between his not-quite-human mother and the destruction of the magical realm within London known as the Nightside.

Deathstalker Coda (Deathstalker)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

This book just plain reeked. 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am sorry I bought it. This book was horrible, from beginning to end. It was nothing more then a rehash of the first books and provided nothing original at all. I am embarrassed to even claim to have read it. I hope Mr. Green, who has written some very fine pieces of science fiction, goes back to the drawing board and figures out what to do with his career. If no one will buy any of his books unless the word, "Deathstalker" is in the title, then I feel for him, because he is a much better author then he let on in this book or the two that proceeded it.

What the??? 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Simon Green's Deathstalker series was one of the best I have ever read, untill this book came out. Plots that took several hundred pages to set up were resolved in the blink of an eye. It seemed like that Green set out to finish the series on a long weekend. What a total waste of money.

Editorial Review:

As prophesied, Owen Deathstalker has returned to save the Empire from the mysterious entity known as the Terror-leaving his descendant Lewis with the task of leading an army against the legions of the madman who has usurped the throne.