kazalicious's review against another edition
2.0
There is...potential. IF the author can resolve women being helpless hero worshipers. If he can resolve the repetition of ideas- I don't need to know that the bar is a seedy place with some description 3 pages before you get to the bar and describe again, that it's a seedy place and then further describe it. IF he can flesh out the world he has created instead of just having our main character monologue again and again how "bad" the Nightside is.
mewsie's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Underneath the city of London lays the passageways to a deeper underground that few are familiar with: the Nightside. Normal things don't happen in the Nightside and normal people don't live there. It is always nighttime and you will find creatures of all shapes and sizes residing there, some good but mostly some evil. It is definitely the land that the Twilight Zone would've been based on.
Private Investigator John Taylor was born and bred in the Nightside but found safety living in the real world for the past five years. However, a new client, Joanna Barrett, has come to him with a scary prospect: her daughter had been lured into the Nightside by some unknown force and she new that Taylor would be the only one to help her find her. Throwing away his promise of never returning to Nightside, Taylor leads Barrett into his old turf to find her missing daughter.
This book was recommended to me by my husband and I did enjoy it. My only complaint is that I really wanted to get more into the heart of what the Nightside actually was, to see more characters, and to delve deeper into the other characters that are introduced in the book. Green uses too many cliches and annoyingly repeats "only in the Nightside" (or some version thereof) but other than that it was a nice easy read.
Underneath the city of London lays the passageways to a deeper underground that few are familiar with: the Nightside. Normal things don't happen in the Nightside and normal people don't live there. It is always nighttime and you will find creatures of all shapes and sizes residing there, some good but mostly some evil. It is definitely the land that the Twilight Zone would've been based on.
Private Investigator John Taylor was born and bred in the Nightside but found safety living in the real world for the past five years. However, a new client, Joanna Barrett, has come to him with a scary prospect: her daughter had been lured into the Nightside by some unknown force and she new that Taylor would be the only one to help her find her. Throwing away his promise of never returning to Nightside, Taylor leads Barrett into his old turf to find her missing daughter.
This book was recommended to me by my husband and I did enjoy it. My only complaint is that I really wanted to get more into the heart of what the Nightside actually was, to see more characters, and to delve deeper into the other characters that are introduced in the book. Green uses too many cliches and annoyingly repeats "only in the Nightside" (or some version thereof) but other than that it was a nice easy read.
rclz's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book in Simon R. Green's nightside series. It wasn't bad. The narrator was really good. The story was a bit short but because the author spent so much time on set up but that's to be expected in a first book of a series. Hopefully the plot will be fuller in the next one. It had some twists but I guessed more of of them before I got to the reveal. It was intriguing though.....
somewheregirl7's review against another edition
2.0
I made it halfway through this book before having to abandon it. I just couldn't get into the story and the characters had me rolling my eyes and impatient to move on to something else.
I have never been a huge fan of hard-boiled detective novels and the cliches of that genre don't appeal to me in the least. Something From The Nightside is very much in the hard-boiled detective frame, only with a fanstasy twist.
I like the idea of the Nightside and that alternate world within a world. There is something very intriguing about it. However I can't get past my annoyance with the characters, the bad cliches and the occasionally ridiculous language. Satire is a subtle, difficult thing and it's very easy to miss the mark - Green's satire falls far short of its target in my opinion. Every time John Taylor mentioned his "private eye" I had to resist rolling my eyes and snorting in disgust. Ugh. Such a bad pun.
I can see this book having great appeal for fans of detective novels and "guy" books. The prose is not bad, the description decent and the if the characters are two-dimensional ... well they fit the genre perfectly. It's just not something I care to read.
I have never been a huge fan of hard-boiled detective novels and the cliches of that genre don't appeal to me in the least. Something From The Nightside is very much in the hard-boiled detective frame, only with a fanstasy twist.
I like the idea of the Nightside and that alternate world within a world. There is something very intriguing about it. However I can't get past my annoyance with the characters, the bad cliches and the occasionally ridiculous language. Satire is a subtle, difficult thing and it's very easy to miss the mark - Green's satire falls far short of its target in my opinion. Every time John Taylor mentioned his "private eye" I had to resist rolling my eyes and snorting in disgust. Ugh. Such a bad pun.
I can see this book having great appeal for fans of detective novels and "guy" books. The prose is not bad, the description decent and the if the characters are two-dimensional ... well they fit the genre perfectly. It's just not something I care to read.
emitchellwrites's review against another edition
5.0
For readers who like this, you may like:
https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00OBGG7O2/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true
https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00OBGG7O2/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true
hbaier94's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
barker563's review against another edition
1.0
I tried really, really hard to like it. Simplistic plot, lack of character development, constant use of horrible monologues. Unlikely behavior from established characters. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of the stories that kids make up and tell each other when they're young.
It has a lot of interesting elements. The idea of Nightside is interesting, so are a lot of elements. But overall it felt like something Jim Butcher would have written when he was 8. I'll give something Green writes a few years down the road a chance. But he has a long way to go as an author.
It has a lot of interesting elements. The idea of Nightside is interesting, so are a lot of elements. But overall it felt like something Jim Butcher would have written when he was 8. I'll give something Green writes a few years down the road a chance. But he has a long way to go as an author.
fbone's review against another edition
2.0
This is one of those books full of improbabilities purposely written that way. Once I understood that I mildly enjoyed it. Still, too much telling and not enough showing. In total about 230 pages, the author could have added more danger and suspense especially as he states how dangerous, wild and unpredictable the Nightside is on nearly every page! I liked how it was written in a gumshoe sort of way with a nicely unexpected ending. Could have gone two or three stars on this one but in comparison to other reads I stuck with two stars.
tam_bam26's review against another edition
2.0
[b:Something from the Nightside|155421|Something from the Nightside (Nightside, #1)|Simon R. Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309202884s/155421.jpg|150023] was just an okay read in my opinion. Its starts off good-a detective with a gift for finding things takes on a case in which he must locate a rich lady's missing daughter. All the woman knows is that her daughter is in the Nightside.
My biggest problem is I don't like the descriptions of the Nightside, it seemed like the author tried way to hard to make it seem weird. I think it may have been creepier with subtle descriptions of the weirdness. Here's an example, when describing the Nightside John says this, "...you can pay to see a fallen angel forever burning inside a pentacle drawn in baby's blood. Or a decapitated goats head that can tell the future in enigmatic verses of perfect iambic pentameter. There's a room where silence is caged and colours are forbidden, and another where a dead nun will show you her stigmata." What!?
I was really dissatisfied with the way the mystery was solved too. I'll eventually read the next book because there is a part of the story that caught my interest.
My biggest problem is I don't like the descriptions of the Nightside, it seemed like the author tried way to hard to make it seem weird. I think it may have been creepier with subtle descriptions of the weirdness. Here's an example, when describing the Nightside John says this, "...you can pay to see a fallen angel forever burning inside a pentacle drawn in baby's blood. Or a decapitated goats head that can tell the future in enigmatic verses of perfect iambic pentameter. There's a room where silence is caged and colours are forbidden, and another where a dead nun will show you her stigmata." What!?
I was really dissatisfied with the way the mystery was solved too. I'll eventually read the next book because there is a part of the story that caught my interest.
appalonia's review against another edition
3.0
John Taylor is struggling to make a living as a private detective in London. He thinks he’s hit lucky when a wealthy woman named Joanna Barrett comes to his office hoping to hire him to find her runaway daughter. But young Cathy Barrett has run away to the Nightside, the alternate reality that resides in the heart of London, filled with myths, monsters – always dark, always 3 a.m., always dangerous. Especially to John Taylor, who ran away from his home there five years ago.
This is a good urban fantasy book that begins in the everyday world. The reader is introduced to “The Nightside” along with Joanna Barrett, who acts as our eyes. As a main character, John Taylor is a good man trying to find integrity and meaning in a world that hides secrets from him. He is likeable and occasionally admirable. There are both horrors and wonders in the Nightside. The characters that populate the Nightside are creative and interesting, if not yet fully realized. I will read more of the series to see how it progresses. Anyone who likes Jim Butcher’s Dresden series may enjoy this one.
This is a good urban fantasy book that begins in the everyday world. The reader is introduced to “The Nightside” along with Joanna Barrett, who acts as our eyes. As a main character, John Taylor is a good man trying to find integrity and meaning in a world that hides secrets from him. He is likeable and occasionally admirable. There are both horrors and wonders in the Nightside. The characters that populate the Nightside are creative and interesting, if not yet fully realized. I will read more of the series to see how it progresses. Anyone who likes Jim Butcher’s Dresden series may enjoy this one.