Something From The Nightside (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
Our first mention of the Nightside is (in my paperback edition) on page's 10 and 11 where we learn that, "The Nightside is the secret, hidden, dark heart of the city. London's evil twin. It's where the really wild things are." From that point on, Green continues to write the phrase the Nightside on nearly every single page, often accompanied by a lengthy description of the horrors one will find in the Nightside. For example, p.12 I considered the matter. How much, to go back into the Nightside?p.13 ...compared to what was waiting for me back in the Nightside, her anger, and implied threats were nothing.p.14 You know the Nightside.p.15 Let me tell you about the Nightside...The Nightside is a square mile of city streets and back alleys in the centre of the city, linking slums and tenements that were old when the last century was new...In practice, the Nightside is much bigger than that...there are those who say the Nightside is actually bigger than the city that surrounds it...It's always night in the Nightside...You can buy or sell anything in the Nightside...p.16 You can find anything in the Nightside, if it doesn't find you first.p.19 My name is John Taylor. Everyone in the Nightside knows that name...so there I was, going back again, back to the Nightside...p.20 I left the Nightside five years ago, fleeing imminent death and the betrayal of friends, and swore through blood-flecked lips that I'd never go back, no matter what.p.21 I used to be a dangerous man, even for the Nightside...p.22 My closest female friend is a bounty hunter, who operates exclusively in the Nightside...I'm more than just another private detective, in the Nightside...All routes lead to the Nightside.p.27 Anyone can walk down the wrong street, open the wrong door, and end up in the Nightside. Most of them don't last long, though. London and the Nightside have rubbed up against each other for so long now that the barriers are getting dangerously thin. Someday they'll all come crashing down, and all the poison in the Nightside will come spilling out...p.28 There are more worlds than we know, or would wish to know, and most of them send people through the Nightside sooner or later.p.30 Something new has come into the Nightside p.31 We have to travel through strange, harsh, places to reach the Nightside. Dangerous and unnatural places, that would blast the sight from your eyes and the reason from your mind.p.34 There are a great many mysteries in the Nightside, and much against my will, I'm one of themp.36 The only thing that moves faster than the speed of light is gossip in the Nightside.p.37 Many of the sleek and gleaming vehicles darting through the Nightside had to be new to Joanna...Taxis that ran on debased holy water, limousines that ran on fresh blood, ambulances that ran on distilled suffering. You can turn a profit from anything, in the Nightside. p.38 I've never been sure whether the moon really is bigger in the Nightside, or whether it's just closer...There were wonders and marvels to be found in the Nightside, sights and glories to be savoured and clutched to your heart forever...the Nightside is really just like...the city streets we walk in dreams and nightmares.p.39 'Welcome to the Nightside,' I said, smiling. 'Abandon all taste, ye who enter here.'..She gave me a hard look. 'I can never tell when you're joking.''Neither can I sometimes, in the Nightside. It's that kind of place. Life, death, and reality are all flexible concepts here.' ENOUGH! I made it through 78 pages before giving up. Even if Simon Green didn't tell, rather than show... and even if his characters were well written... and even if this story is perhaps much spookier in his head than it is in the actual writing of it.... I am freaking sick to death of reading the phrase, THE NIGHTSIDE ~ let alone the multiple descriptions of it on every single page. Normally I am not an advocate of violence, but something really needs to be done about the person who let this book be published in its current state. Even though the protagonist was frequently referred to by his full name, John Taylor ~ and even though that name (as always) brings me blissful images of my favorite sexy bass player ~ that still wasn't enough to rescue this horrid book. Ugh. Let me go listen to some Duran Duran, remember the good John Taylor and get this back to the library ASAP.
I loved the NBC series Constantine. Loved it. I loved how quirky the characters were and loved their no nonsense attitudes. Sure the show itself was cheesy and not all that scary, but it made me happy. Sadly, the show hasn't been picked up for second season just yet. There are rumors that there is renewed interest so I'm hoping. Hoping, Hoping, Hoping that they bring this show back. But in the mean time I may have found a small substitute.I love wondering around my library. We have a really nice one in my town and I'm typically there at least one night a week picking up books for myself or movies for the kids it seems. One day I noticed a book in the New Section- Tales from the Nightside. The cover alone looked like something I would be interested in so I checked out what other books were in the series. I was amazed by how many books were in this Nightside series that I had never heard of. I put the book down and went back upstairs hoping they would have the first book in the series. And they did. I'm not going to lie. I did a happy dance.First chapter in and Something from the Nightside just resembles the NBC series Constantine so much. I'm wondering if the show's writer- Daniel Cerone-is a fan of Simon R Green. It is uncanny how similar this book reads and how the show is written.This book is about a PI-John Taylor, who was born in the Nightside, a despicable part of London that represents pretty much all that is evil in the world. This is where the ghouls come to play, drink, and do their thing basically when they are not in the human world. It is always 3am in the Nightside and it seems like time doesn't really exist like it does in the human world.John has a particular talent for finding things. He calls it his gift. He is known far and wide in Nightside as somebody you don't want to mess with. Kind of like Constantine. Even John Taylor's clothing in the book screams Constantine. Trench coat and all.John is approached by a wealthy lady who is told her daughter has run away to the Nightside. She was given John's name as the only person who could help her track down her daughter. John is reluctant to take the case since he hasn't been back to the Nightside in 5 years, but needs the money. He accepts and the two go trek to the Nightside where they encounter colorful characters and places that only reside in the darkest of dark relams. The remainder of the book is about John coming to terms with the fact that he has once again found himself in a place he never thought he would return to and finding the missing daughter.I finished this book in three days. This was such fun and enjoyable light read. The way the story is written is just quick paced and like I said, everything about this book reminds me of Constantine. From the main character himself to the way John is viewed when he returns to the Nightside. I loved this book from the first page and was sad when it finished. You are instantly transported into this environment of the Nightside and the characters are likable even if they are kind of bad guys. The whole book enveloped me in this entertaining rescue mission to save this lost soul, the missing daughter Cathy. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this books so I'm curious if that ever leads anywhere or since this was the first in the series, Green wasn't sure where he wanted to go. I love finding new authors, it is kind of like finding a new tea company. Can't wait to read more!I've already requested the second book and I think the third one in the series. Hopefully they come in soon. I want to know more about John and see where his adventures take him. And find out more about his mother. . . . .Next book is another Simon R Green book but a different series. . Ghost of A Chance, A Ghost Finders book. I've already discovered that so far this book isn't wrapping me up in "its" arms like Something from the Nightside. But it is early still. Hopefully it will turn around and entrance me like the Nightside series did.~Yours in all things Geek-Nichole/CuppaGeekwww.cuppageek.com
What do You think about Something From The Nightside (2003)?
Saman wrote: "دوازده جلد ؟!! من 3 جلد خوندم :))ولی بنظرم تم داستان مثلا از ارباب حللقه ها حتا جذاب تره حس این فیلم های نوآر رو داره که همش خیابون های نیویورک رو تو بارون نشون میدن :دی"شتتت!!یعنی حتی نمیدونی مادرِ جان کیه؟!حتماااً بخون! و انگلیسی! :D
—Sarah Alirezaee
This book is written like an old-school down-on-his-luck PI mystery, complete with the rich dame that waltzes into the private eye's life desparately seeking his help. There are plenty of bleak monologues, just like you'd expect in that genre. That said, it's a contemporary urban fantasy setting that the author calls the Nightside. The Nightside is like a parallel dimension connected to London through the subway system. All sorts of crazy creatures from various dimensions, times, and planets come and go through the Nightside. There's very little law - pretty much just survival of the fittest. The PI, John Taylor, was born and raised in the Nightside, but left for good 5 years ago to live in London. Joanne Barrett, a rich business woman, shows up desparately looking for her teen runaway daughter, who is in the Nightside. John is broke, so he takes the case (plus he's a sucker for a dame.) While in the Nightside, John has special powers - mostly psychic ones that involve finding things. The story takes the reader through a few death-defying scenarios and introduces the reader to many violent cartoon-ish characters during the quest for the daughter. The book comes off as a script for a movie more than a novel - it is visually interesting and action packed, but there is very little character development. I was frankly shocked to learn near the end of the story that John was developing romantic feelings for Joanna. I was also a little peaved that John suddenly had an extra power the reader didn't know anything about just in the nick of time at the end of the story - I found that conclusion lazy on the part of the writer. Despite all the violence and gore, the book wasn't disturbing - it came off as cartoonish, and the characters were so shallow, I never really cared enough about them to be scared. So, good enough, but not great. Maybe the rest of the series gets better.
—Anita
This book starts off as a poor man's Harry Dresden but ends up like a bad episode of Dr. Who. John Taylor, private eye, starts as the most stereotypical private eye ever. Rainy day? Check. Poor but principled anti hero? Check? Some genuine snark? Check. Now, I like stereotypical private-eyes. However, Jon Taylor's flaw is not in his inability to separate himself from the pack. There are two major problems with this book. First, the world of the Nightside is so wild it is hard to invest in it. At some point their is a Nazi dwarf mentioned. That is a great idea. But the dwarf is just scenery. The Nightside is this weird wacky place filled with scenery that is plot hook worthy. But 99% of it is just fluff. It makes it hard to care about the 1% that the book is about. Second, the book is repetitive. Did you know John Taylor left the Nightside 5 years ago? Did you know you can't trust anyone in the Nightside? If you read this book your answer will be "yes." It is yes because Simon Green mentions facts like these IN EVERY CHAPTER. He is not great at foreshadowing and the book often comes off feeling like it thinks that it is more clever than it actually is. That being said, there are like 20 of these books. So someone must like it. And I do enjoy an occasional Dr. Who episode even when it is bad.
—David Derus
