One of us has been reading Simon Green’s Nightside series
for years. The reason we like it is the Nightside itself. The world under
London that Green imagined was just as colorful on the page as in Green’s head,
it seemed. We also liked the eclectic mix of characters and mythical beings.
John was ok, but he was never the draw. We liked the noir-ish tone and the
standalone mystery plots. This series is a good springboard for the
imaginations. We always thought there was more that an author could get out of this world and more that he could do with it. We guess Green ran out of ideas. We wish he would co-author this series, with, like, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, or someone else. It helped that all the books were short too.
One of us usually hates the parts in books that feature
description and prefers dialogue. Here, the descriptions and back-stories were
what won that blogger over. This series isn’t must-read, rush to the bookstore
stuff. We weren’t waiting earnestly for another installment. It’s one of those
things that you read because it’s there, it’s mildly entertaining, and you’re
waiting for something better to come out. It's not particularly great, but if it's your taste, it has its moments.
This series was at its best in the first six books, when
John was trying to figure out who his mother was. Then things got repetitive
and fluffy. The climax happened halfway through the series and it was stalled from
there. The last two books, however, were pretty good and almost a return to
form. We thought the Unnatural Enquirer was the weakest entry. We never liked
that demon girl reporter.
We always had a problem with the seeming limitlessness of
John’s gift. In later books, using it too much made him bleed from his head
orifices, which by that point just seemed like a way to answer that complaint.
We also hated the way Green would repeat the same jokes, but we liked the
self-aware way he addressed that later in the series.
We liked that Suzie got healthier, over the course of a
few books, and was able to get married at all. We really liked how Green
brought back most of the characters for a farewell, including some that have
been long gone. Green knows how to end a series. This last book almost made the
ones that were dull worth continuing the series for. It was a fun and
satisfying conclusion.
We are a little annoyed that it’s ending NOW. It would
have taken real imagination for Green to keep things going with John as Walker
now. It’s easy to write for the underdog defying authority. We thought Green
breathed new life into the series by making John the authority, but then he
decided to do nothing with that and just end things. We hope Green changes his
mind.
Now that it’s over, even though we haven’t appreciated it
much in the last few years, we are wondering if there is a way we can bring it
back. If there was a book series that would make a good TV show, this is
absolutely it. The standalone adventures worked well for this series and we
could see it making a decent TV show, even if it would be too weird for most
people.
Book grade: B
Series grade: B
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