Review: Something from the Nightside (Simon R. Green)

Title: Something from the Nightside
Series: Nightside, Book 1
Author: Simon R. Green
Publisher: Ace Books
US Release Date: May 27, 2003
Genre: Adult Hardboiled Urban Fantasy Horror
Content Rating: Adult (horror elements, strong violence, gore)
Format Read: Mass Market Paperback
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase: Azon | B&N | BookDepo | Indiebound
Summary:

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.

*          *          *

Series: This is the first in the 12-book Nightside series. All books, along with a short story compilation, are currently available for purchase.

Something from the Nightside is a darkly imaginative but heavily commentative adventure that covers a lot of genres - from urban/contemporary fantasy with both supernatural and paranormal elements, to hardboiled and noir mystery, as well as monster and survival horror. It has a little something for anyone who enjoys a quick story set in the sinister shadows, where few actually tread but many a mind loves to wander. I'm not sure how I discovered the Nightside over a decade ago, but it has been a favorite since and I've read almost all of the 12 novels in the finished series. They aren't perfect - far from it - but Green's world of unique characters and sinful delights is a guilty pleasure.

John Taylor is a classic hardboiled detective, albeit one with psychic powers and a mysterious past (even to him). He has loose morals but strong convictions, always finds himself walking into interesting situations, and has delightfully dangerous acquaintances. Having grown up in the Nightside, he knows its many hazards and secrets all too well, allowing him to unfortunately think and speak about it and its colorful regulars at length. Prone, both mentally and physically, to long-winded monologues about the places and people he encounters, John spends most of the book ruminating on the Nightside, and can take several pages at a time to describe his many, many thoughts and opinions about a single person or place out loud to his tag-along client. It's so unrealistic as to be comical, but commentary aside I found this second read to be better written than I'd originally remembered, and my opinion of the book has grown a little.

The mystery element of the story, however, did not grow better with age. It takes a backseat to the Nightside tour and was little more than a glorified treasure hunt, each stop only leading to the next stop of the mystery as a passing thought with no clues as to what they'll find at the end. The tour makes the book, but the clueless mystery was disappointing, especially when it ended with an unexpected horror climax.

But you don't read this book for the mystery - you read it for the Nightside. Green lets his imagination run wild and presents a dark world of deliciously disquieting offerings and residents. The darkness isn't overly disturbing, though - the brief descriptions only hint at the horrors inhabited within, most things mentioned offhand or in passing as tantalizing tidbits for the reader's imagination instead of painting the entire debauched and grotesque picture. Yes the violence and horror can get slightly unsettling at times, but for the most part Green's depiction of the debased world is a tame one with vague explanations and little language that is greatly appreciated by those of us with somewhat delicate sensibilities.

Conclusion: If you enjoy urban fantasies, detective stories, and/or soft horror set in dark and wild locations with dangerous characters, then I highly recommend you give the Something from the Nightside a try. I look forward to re-reading more in the series soon!

Scribble Rating: 

3.5 of 5 Scribbles

Other Reviews That Might Interest: 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Love, Lies and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings by Lydia Sherrer
Made to Kill by Adam Christopher