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 

The #FridayReads Review (3/13/20)

Welcome to The #FridayReads Review, a regular Friday segment where I share what I've been reading the past week, and what I'm planning to read next! Want to join the Friday fun? Post your own #FridayReads Review and leave the link in the Comments below, or just Comment with what you've been reading!

>> CURRENTLY READING <<

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen (PBK)

Just discovered this teen fantasy series is getting a fourth book, so I re-read the first (which was just as good as I remembered) and am finally trying the second. Just started yesterday and there is more politics than I prefer, but luckily a king and his regents are soon parted! Jaron is naturally up to his secret schemes off-page, so I'm excited to continue his story wherever it leads.

>> JUST FINISHED <<

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (PBK)

4 Stars. Re-read. A quick teen fantasy of political intrigue with a delightfully unreliable male narrator that, with its wit and bursts of violence is sure to appeal to boys as much as girls. As this book is only the beginning of Jaron's story, I'm going straight into the next installment.

>> [POSSIBLY] READING NEXT <<

(subject to change with my ever-shifting reading whims)

Children of the Whales vol. 2 by Abi Umeda (PBK)

Just discovered this curious fantasy series because I'd been mixing it up with another one. The first volume was odd but interesting, with an intriguing shock of violence at the end. My libraries have the first three so I'll give more of the series a try to see where it's going.

So what are you reading this week?

Manga Review: Fruits Basket Another Series (Natsuki Takaya)

Series Title: Fruits Basket Another
Author: Natsuki Takaya
Volumes Reviewed: 3 (complete)
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: July 2018 - November 2019
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Content Rating: Older Teen (toxic verbal child abuse)
Format Read: Paperback
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase: Azon | B&N | BookDepo | Indiebound | RightStuf
Summary (from Volume 1):

Sawa Mitoma, a shy and unconfident girl, has just started high school, and it's already not going well...until she makes friends meets the President and Vice-President of the student council. But little does she know, they're Sohmas!? It's Fruits Basket...again!

*          *          *

Series Note: This is a 3-volume sequel series to the 23-volume original series, Fruits Basket. You can check out my review of the original FB series here.

Known for writing stories about teens in emotionally and familially suffocating situations, mangaka Natsuki Takaya offers yet another such story in Fruits Basket Another, the sequel to her award-winning series, Fruits Basket. Saddled with a toxic and verbally abusive single mother, Sawa Mitoma moves through life with her head down and tries not to be a bother to anyone. But when she is noticed and befriended in high school by the infamous Sohmas, she opens up and begins to want to do more with her life than just exist. At only 3 volumes her heavy story doesn't have enough time for a "happily ever after" end - Takaya isn't known for them either - but it does have a hopeful one as she finds the strength to start making a better life for herself with good friends and a possible love interest.

Originally created to commemorate the sale of the original Fruits Basket collector's edition in Japan, this story features the children of the original FB cast and to completely understand the many references to it in this sequel trilogy I highly recommend you read the original series first. Like FB though, it focuses primarily on a Sohma outsider, Sawa, and how she is changed by befriending the Sohmas. Exactly who Sawa is began a mystery as the Sohmas seem to know her even though they've never met. The mystery was intriguing, and the revelation emotional, but at only 3 volumes it wasn't long enough to do something with proper depth, and the rather unguessable answer was somewhat disappointing.

But despite the short length and heavy content, I quite enjoyed FBA. The delightful and genetically eccentric Sohma offspring acted a lot like their parents and mentioned them often, visiting familiar FB places and alluding to FB inside jokes with ease and amusement. Sawa was a sweet girl with a good heart, just the kind of heroine you can appreciate from author Takaya, and her start down the path to empowerment was a beautiful thing to behold and root for. Takaya's artwork has become somewhat simple but her eyes are very expressive, and you can still count on her for loud bursts of overly emotional flailing. Overall I can easily recommend Fruits Basket Another for contemporary manga readers, although you really must read the original Fruits Basket first to fully appreciate it. Takaya expressed in her note at the end of the last volume that she would like to draw more of the series if possible, and I would definitely be interested in continuing the lives and stories of these characters as well. Fingers crossed for someday.

For Fans Of: Fruits Basket

Scribble Rating: 

4 of 5 Scribbles

Other Reviews That Might Interest: 

Fruits Basket Series by Natsuki Takaya
Twinkle Stars Series by Natsuki Takaya

The #FridayReads Review (3/6/20)

Welcome to The #FridayReads Review, a regular Friday segment where I share what I've been reading the past week, and what I'm planning to read next! Want to join the Friday fun? Post your own #FridayReads Review and leave the link in the Comments below, or just Comment with what you've been reading!

>> CURRENTLY READING <<

Nosatsu Junkie vol. 5 by Ryoko Fukuyama (PBK)

I haven't felt much like fiction the past few weeks, so I've been reading a lot of non-fiction and manga. This romantic comedy about teen models - one of them a cross-dressing sadist, the other a timid but determined girl with a scary face who discovers his secret - is one of my favorite unfinished in the US (*SOB*) series by the author of the uber-popular Anonymous Noise. Hoping that means a US publisher will pick the series back up soon, because re-reading the first six volumes has reminded me just how fun and flirty and fantastic it is and I want to finish the story!!

>> JUST FINISHED <<

The Ancient Magus' Bride vol. 12 by Kore Yamazaki (PBK)

3 Stars. Surprisingly disappointed. Most of the volume was spent over-discussing emotions and not defining relationships. Luckily the last chapter returned to the magic and magical world I read for and I'm thankfully looking forward to the next volume. 

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett (PBK)
3 Stars. This was an interesting look at the world of book collecting from a different perspective than the typical bibliophile, but it would've been better as a short series of articles than an entire rambling book. Review to come.

>> [POSSIBLY] READING NEXT <<

(subject to change with my ever-shifting reading whims)

Honor Lost by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre (HBK)

After LOVING the first book (review), I wasn't as impressed with the second (review) and barely recall what happened in it. But my library hold came in so I'll at least give it a try.

So what are you reading this week?

Review: Skyward (Brandon Sanderson)

Title: Skyward
Series: Skyward, Book 1
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Ember (Delacorte)
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Content Rating: Teen (violence, fighting, death, bullying)
Format Read: Paperback
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase: Azon | B&N | BookDepo | Indiebound
Summary:

Spensa's world has been under attack for decades. Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father's—a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa the daughter of a coward, her chances of attending Flight School slim to none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.

*          *          *

Series: This is the first in the four-book Skyward series. Book 2, Starsight, released November 2019. The author has announced that Book 3 probably won't release until 2021.

Author Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz series is one of my favorites, so I'm always willing to give anything he writes a try. When I heard Skyward was a teen sci-fi with a talking sentient ship, I knew I was in for another thrilling story that was right up my alley.

As an overall read, Skyward was thoroughly engrossing, with riveting action scenes I could effortlessly picture and understand despite no knowledge of flying, a highly imaginative setting, and an interesting, diverse cast of individual characters. I had little desire to put the book down, and burned through the 500+ pages in less than a week (a major feat for me). Main character Spensa was a defiant and headstrong girl with a warrior's mentality, and I loved her fierceness to follow her dream and her unwavering loyalty and conviction to protect others. MBOT, the talking sentient ship I came to the book for, was the fun addition I'd hoped, his playful personality adding a lot of humor and support to Spensa's confused and conflicted struggles. You can always count on Sanderson for a unique and intriguing setting, and Detritus, with its layered debris field, was a fascinating one. The only reason Skyward wasn't a 5-Scribble read for me was a personal writer-reader disappointment with the story. Everything was nicely set up for, in my opinion, a shocking conspiracy reveal at the end, but the finale I'd anticipated wasn't what came to pass and I wasn't as impressed with how the story expanded. Still, I am definitely interested in continuing the series, and look forward to reading the sequel soon. 

Conclusion: An engrossing teen sci-fi with thrilling action, an unusual setting, and strong characters. Although the end reveal wasn't what I'd hoped for, I'll definitely be trying the sequel, Starsight, which already released November 2019.

Scribble Rating: 

4.5 of 5 Scribbles

Other Reviews That Might Interest: 

Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
Crudrat by Gail Carriger
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson