Socratov
2013-02-26, 03:30 AM
Hi there playgrounders/forumites/what have you and welcome to another thread on the sort of medium found on dead trees (or if you are particularly modern, tablets and e-ink devices).
This time it's about Simon R. Green's novels on John Taylor and his adventures in the Nightside, the shadow side of London.
Before we start I'd like to anounce some rules/regulations:
Don't spoil everything here, some people have not read it, please, if it's a (major) plot point or significant detail be kind enough to put it in spoilertags. If however it's insignificant or mostly about your opinion on the style of writing and storutelling, feel free to leave them unspoilered. If you spoiler text, please tell what the spoiler is about like so:
[particular book/storyline]
spoilered information
This way people know whether it's about something they already read or not. Ofcourse all forumrules apply.
So, the Nightside. Yeah. It's a series of books on a private investigator with a certain knack of finding things situated in the Nightside: an alternate dimension alongside London. The nightside is (probably) the only place free of direct involvement of both Heaven and Hell and thus caters to everyone's desire unchecked by morality. With every sin you can think of offered at the quite often the payment of your own, or indeed another's soul, being the place where ultimate freedom reigns supreme. I'd like to tell more, but then I'd spoil everything. The books are written in an urban fantasy setting (present day with heavy fantasy and SF influences) and the style is so noir that the movie Sin City seems in technicolor by comparison. With quite some thriller and humour elements the series makes for a great read and a particularly good way to pass the time between novels of the Dresden Files (another great read). Here is a link to the TvTropes page on the Nightside, click at your own risk! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Nightside?from=Main.Nightside)
So, I encountered the series as a suggestion both these forums as well as the Jim Butcher forums as a way to pass the time while waiting for Jim's next book (though I'm almost through it by now, so I'll have to find a new thing to keep me busy, maybe one of the other series by Simon R Green if I can find them). I like the atmosphere and funny descriptions the tones of humour, cyninism and sarcasm are readyly available and they never cease to make me laugh out loud (quite annoying for people in the room). I think the amount of action and humour is masterfully mixed and the storylines are well thought out, even though at a certain point continuity gives me headache when timetravel* gets into the picture and tramples continuity so hard it's whimpering in the corner.
[overarcing plot]
I do feel that the series could have been split into the Lilith War (more or less a series plot in itself) and the rest of the books. AFter the war was won I felt a little bit empty inside. I did like the way Simon picked up after the war with part aftermath of the lilith war (the Griffin), part going on with new stories. (new cases and John becoming Walker)
And yes, this is a major spoiler for those who haven't read the books yet.
Another thing I like about these books is even though John always finds the answer at exactly the right time (and not a moment too soon) even if the situation seems hopeless, John doesn't feel like a Mary Sue (again, TvTropes link, Beware!) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue). I think it's quite the opposite: John gets beaten up regularly and his tricks are often thwarted.
So, dear fellow forumites, did you all like the Nightside? Why did or didn't you like it? Wat do you think is the stronges point in favor of/against the Nightside series?
Please let me know :smallamused:
*this an example of a minor spoiler where spoilering is not neccessary since knowing timetravel will happen won't detract form the fun of reading the story. :smallwink:
This time it's about Simon R. Green's novels on John Taylor and his adventures in the Nightside, the shadow side of London.
Before we start I'd like to anounce some rules/regulations:
Don't spoil everything here, some people have not read it, please, if it's a (major) plot point or significant detail be kind enough to put it in spoilertags. If however it's insignificant or mostly about your opinion on the style of writing and storutelling, feel free to leave them unspoilered. If you spoiler text, please tell what the spoiler is about like so:
[particular book/storyline]
spoilered information
This way people know whether it's about something they already read or not. Ofcourse all forumrules apply.
So, the Nightside. Yeah. It's a series of books on a private investigator with a certain knack of finding things situated in the Nightside: an alternate dimension alongside London. The nightside is (probably) the only place free of direct involvement of both Heaven and Hell and thus caters to everyone's desire unchecked by morality. With every sin you can think of offered at the quite often the payment of your own, or indeed another's soul, being the place where ultimate freedom reigns supreme. I'd like to tell more, but then I'd spoil everything. The books are written in an urban fantasy setting (present day with heavy fantasy and SF influences) and the style is so noir that the movie Sin City seems in technicolor by comparison. With quite some thriller and humour elements the series makes for a great read and a particularly good way to pass the time between novels of the Dresden Files (another great read). Here is a link to the TvTropes page on the Nightside, click at your own risk! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Nightside?from=Main.Nightside)
So, I encountered the series as a suggestion both these forums as well as the Jim Butcher forums as a way to pass the time while waiting for Jim's next book (though I'm almost through it by now, so I'll have to find a new thing to keep me busy, maybe one of the other series by Simon R Green if I can find them). I like the atmosphere and funny descriptions the tones of humour, cyninism and sarcasm are readyly available and they never cease to make me laugh out loud (quite annoying for people in the room). I think the amount of action and humour is masterfully mixed and the storylines are well thought out, even though at a certain point continuity gives me headache when timetravel* gets into the picture and tramples continuity so hard it's whimpering in the corner.
[overarcing plot]
I do feel that the series could have been split into the Lilith War (more or less a series plot in itself) and the rest of the books. AFter the war was won I felt a little bit empty inside. I did like the way Simon picked up after the war with part aftermath of the lilith war (the Griffin), part going on with new stories. (new cases and John becoming Walker)
And yes, this is a major spoiler for those who haven't read the books yet.
Another thing I like about these books is even though John always finds the answer at exactly the right time (and not a moment too soon) even if the situation seems hopeless, John doesn't feel like a Mary Sue (again, TvTropes link, Beware!) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue). I think it's quite the opposite: John gets beaten up regularly and his tricks are often thwarted.
So, dear fellow forumites, did you all like the Nightside? Why did or didn't you like it? Wat do you think is the stronges point in favor of/against the Nightside series?
Please let me know :smallamused:
*this an example of a minor spoiler where spoilering is not neccessary since knowing timetravel will happen won't detract form the fun of reading the story. :smallwink: