Something From the Nightside

I stumbled upon Simon Green quite by accident, but he's an excellent author. His books are perfectly suited for Jim Butcher fans, especially those who want something darker, bloodier and a bit more sci fi.

All the elements are there. Absent mother who's more than what she seems, father who died while the main character was young, people trying to kill him as a child, and he has a destiny everyone else seems to know about except him. Deja vu huh?

Only difference is that John Taylor is a full fledged P.I, born in an alternate plane of reality called the Nightside and living in London. He gets a little more bloody in his battles and goes up against weirder stuff, but all in all I think Taylor and Dresden would get along quite well together.

This is the first book in the "nightside" series. It is a great introduction book. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the other books in the series.
John Taylor is the main character and a P.I. He has a gift for finding things and is a child of the nightside. The nightside is "the sick, secret, magical heart of London, where gods and monsters go to make deals and seek pleasures they won't find anywhere else." It is basically a place like Diagon (sp?) Alley in HP where it is in the middle of the city, but no one sees it who is not meant to. The story starts out with a woman coming to John to help find her daughter who she has heard has gone to the Nightside. This is a place that John left 5 years ago and is not too happy to return to. But of cource does. Here we are introduced to the nightside and the story mainly consists of that introduction. We are given the background info on John and that his father was human, but his mother....not. She is a big mystery and it seems like her identity and secret will be something that we will be following for the duration of the series, or atleast for a bit. We are shown some of the main features of the nightside and the rules as John travels around in search of the daughter. We are also introduced to some characters that i am sure will be featured throughout the other books, such as Walker, Suzie shooter, the Harrowing, and Razor Eddie.
This book reminded me a lot of the Harry Dresden Files. The characters are similar in their businesses, and some of their traits. There is that whole parental uncertainty thing. There is "that middle ground-type" bar in both books and the over all feel was similar too, although this book was not as good, but it is only the first, so it just a first impression. Is this a good thing? Sure. I love the Dresden Files and i am sure to love this too. There is no such thing as a truely original idea so i am excited to see where this goes.
One thing that did bother me in this book was at the end John talks about loving a character. I so did not get that sense what so ever, and I thought that that could have been elaborated on. I did not really see any lead to it, other that an occasional "look", so when that was mentioned, i was like, HUH??? Where did that come from. It was a stretch. Also John may have gained a secretary at the end and it totally reminded me of the TV show Blood Ties!
All in all I would have to say that this is not an "original" idea, but that does not make it a bad thing. This was a perfect introduction book and I am hoping that things get more involved in the other books. I see a lot of potential for a great series, but on the other hand i can also see this flopping if the writting stays on this "intro" type style. There really needs to be a bit more inside look into the characters and stories for it to be great, but again, as i have said, it was a great intro.

This book will emerge you into the world of the Nightside. Currently this book is one of an ongoing series (there are nine books so far,) the main character John Taylor takes you into a world that you never thought was possible. You are in for an adventure never before seen. If Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter and Constantine where to be cloned into one story, then you would have Simon R. Green's Nightside series. This is a must have book for anyone a fan of things that go bump in the night...side.

Excellent read with interesting plots, twists and characters! Very entertaining with an unexpected ending. Looking forward to read the next book in this series!