A review by somewheregirl7
Something from the Nightside, by Simon R. Green
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.