Agents of Light and Darkness

This is the first book I've reviewed in Simon Green's Nightside series and, in fact, the first book I've read by Mr. Green. I was totally blown away as it was one of the best fantasy books I've read in quite a long time. But calling it a fantasy doesn't do it justice. This great book has elements of dark fantasy, horror, sci-fi, mixed with a little mystery and a generous sprinkling of humor. Now that may sound like the book wants to be all things to all people but the elements work very well. The Nightside is a kind of alternate world buried deep in the heart of london. A place much bigger that the supposed one square mile it rests on. It's always 3 am in Nightside. That's how the denizens like it. A place where everyday people mix with creatures of myth and legend. Vampires, ghosts, ghouls, sorcerers, demons, and things far more terrible can be found living in Nightside. There are many unique being in the Nightside such as Jennifer Sorrow, Razor Eddie, The Collector and others. Watching over the Nightside is the Authorities. Mysterious beings of great power who police...loosely...the Nightside. John Taylor is one of them. A private investigator who has a special gift for finding things. John can find virtually anything or anyone with a magical/psychic talent. Jack is contracted by the Vatican itself to retrieve a powerful artifact--The Unholy Grail--the cup that Judas drank from at the Last Supper. And artifact so evil and powerful that it could bring armageddon to the world. But The VAtican is not the only ones searching for the grail. All the great powers in the Nightside want it. Add to all of these great powers who want the Grail, so does heaven and hell. They both send legions of angels into the Nightside which even the Authorities cannot stand up against. Without much subtlety the angels begin killing anyone who dares get in their path. Because John Taylors unique power makes the angels aware of his presence and make him vulnerable, he decides to use old-fashioned footwork to find the grail, enlisting the aid of old friend Shotgun Suzie to help. John and Suzie quickly find themselves caught squarely in the middle of a battle between all of Nighsides great powers along with Angels from above and below. And just under the surface of all this is the mystery of Jack's mother who NO ONE wants to talk about and the only thing that causes Jack to be unable to control his emotions over. This is just a terrific book. Green creates some of the most fascinating creatures of power you'll ever meet. Razor Eddie is a skinny, pale, smelling of death power who uses an ivory handled razor to dispatch anyone in his way. Then there is Alex Morrissey, owner of Strangefellows, the oldest bar in the world whose Ancestor is the Great mage Merlin. Witty and darkly humorous, with doses of dialog brimming with sarcasm, Green creates fantastic, more-than-human characters who have distinctly human frailties. In Nightside, he's manifest

In Something From the Nightside, Simon R. Green introduced us to a secret world found deep beneath the streets of London, a fantastical place where it is always 3 AM and the unimaginable is commonplace. John Taylor, a private eye blessed with a unique gift for finding anything, returned home to the Nightside after several years in the real world, reneging on a promise he had made to himself to never go back. A girl was missing, and - more importantly - her mother was willing to pay good money to get her back. It appears Taylor is now back to stay, if for no other reason than to investigate the mystery of his own destiny and that of the inhuman mother he never knew. All of that will have to wait for the moment, however, as angels have come to the Nightside. The very future of the Nightside, not to mention a little something called the Apocalypse, hangs in the balance as the forces of good and evil tear the Nightside apart in search of a powerful object that has gone missing. It is nothing less than the Unholy Grail, the cup from which Judas Iscariot drank at the Last Supper. If anyone can find it, it is John Taylor - and everyone in the Nightside knows it. Already commissioned by a strange little man representing the Vatican, Taylor finds himself at the very center of the most dangerous case of his career. Even the good angels care little for man, and they don't shirk from leaving burned out husks and pillars of salt in their wake. They also can't be trusted any more than the angels of darkness, as Taylor learns all too well - first-hand. Unfortunately for Taylor, this means he can't use his special gift for finding things in his search for the Unholy Grail, as it allows the angels to pinpoint his location. Knowing he will need some extra muscle to survive this one, he teams up with trigger-happy Shotgun Suzie and calls in a few special favors from erstwhile associates such as Razor Eddie, Punk God of the Straight Razor, and Strangefellows bar owner (and Merlin ancestor) Alex Morrisey. Taylor's search takes him to such infamous places as the Pit, a club run by the Demon Lordz; the headquarters of the Fourth Reich; the old Styx Theatre where the dead and undead go for entertainment; and that most secret and mysterious of places - the warehouse holding all of the treasures of the Collector. The reader will learn all about the Speaking Gun, the only weapon capable of harming angels, and witness characters and events unusual even by Nightside standards. Aside from the search for the Unholy Grail, Agents of Light and Darkness also holds out clues to the possible future we glimpsed (courtesy of a Timeslip) in Something From the Nightside, especially John Taylor's place in that future and the truth about his long-lost mother. It is a truth that seemingly threatens to destroy the Nightside and the world around it. This is a very quick read, and it is constantly entertaining. Black humor abounds, moral truths are addressed in the most

*rubs hands together in glee* ok, let's get down to business, shall we? i didn't think green could top 'Something From The Nightside,' but i was wrong. Agents Of Light And Darkness is an edgy mix of noir and fantasy that's so engaging that when you get to the final sentence you want to yell, "no! more, more!" the character suzy shooter is fleshed out in appealingly gritty and straightforward style in the midst of a war between...well, the agents of light and darkness, duh. we watch as taylor's reputation preceeds (and exceeds) him, get treated to some of the less tangible aspects of his powers, and meet some of the Nightside's usual suspects, such as Merlin Satanspawn and Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever, as John quests for the Unholy Grail, finally finding it in the Collector's collection on the moon, guarded by feline fembots (of course! how obvious! why didn't he think of that before?). but the show's not over till the fat lady sings-taylor still has to figure out who, exactly, he should hand the unholy grail over to...when the angels from Above and Below haven't exactly impressed him with their brilliance. and then there's the client, 'jude,' to consider, because the client is always right...and you might be surprised to know, it was his to begin with. to top it off, suzy shooter meets her match-the speaking gun-and we are given yet another tantalizing hint about taylor's mother, the only person he knows who must be scarier than he is. buy it, read it, share it with your friends and family and strangers you meet on the street...well, don't go that far. Then while you're waiting for the next adventure, try P.N. Elrod's The Vampire Files.

This is not a "Robert Jordan", 5,000 pg fantasy - but for once i find myself wishing that this book had that length. Instead, the readers are treated to a short, no-nonsense romp in the macabre, thrilling world of the Nightside, where not all cars are really cars - some are just pretending, and they're usually hungry. . . Anyway, John Taylor accepts a commision to hunt down the Unholy Grail, and is barred from using his special gift because those who want him to work for them can track him when he does. Confused? Hope not - Anyway, with Shotgun Suzie's help he evades angels, gains and looses the Speaking Gun, and meanders his way through interesting aspects of the Nightside toward his goal. There is a lot mentioned in this book, and the previous one, that leave the reader wishing (ardently) for more Nightside stories, or even a little more explanation about the true nature of John's mother. in that, green treats the audience like he does his charachters, doling out info on a "need to know" basis. Obviously, we don't need to know - thus, we are left begging for more. Anyone happen to know anything about a sequel? Oh - be prepared for description and action that borders on the gory and is definitely in the realm of "beyond the pale", though swearing is kept to a minimum and the hint (bare, as in almost not-there) of romance spice it up. but the somewhat (as in, there ARE worse out there) graphic descriptions may be surprising. All in all, a wonderful read, but i'd have to say it's also PG-13.

Agents of Light and Darkness (2003) is the second fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Something From the Nightside. In the previous volume, John Taylor was hired to find something and instead found more than he bargained for, yet banished it from Nightside back into the void. In this novel, Taylor starts off sounding more like Joe Friday than the literary detectives who inspired the first book. He has found something for Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever and presents to her in the Church of Saint Jude. While there, he witnesses a confrontation that leaves a man a pillar of salt. The angels, both light and dark, have come to the Nightside. Taylor is hired to by the Vatican to find the Unholy Grail, the cup that Judas Iscariot drank from at the Last Supper. Others are also hunting for this powerful relict, including the angelic hosts of above and below. Shortly after he accepts his commission, others try to force him to change sides. Taylor hires Suzy Shooter as backup and starts looking. This time he can't use his talent, for the angels have already plucked his mind from his body and tried to force him into finding the relic for them (final recipient to be decided later). Some think that he should not give either side the chalice, for that would precipitate the apocalypse, with Nightside the battleground. As he follows his leads, Taylor witnesses enough angelic violence to not wish to encourage the final confrontation. People snatched off the streets to be questioned and then discarded, sometimes in pieces, as well as people turned into pillars of salt or impaled on light poles. He finds, and then loses again, a weapon capable of discreating angels or anything else, but only at great cost to his soul. Among the blood, pain and fire, Taylor treats with old friends and enemies, uncovers massacres and blood baths, and follows his leads. Then he finds the relic and witnesses a miracle. Oh, did I forget to tell your about the small group of minor demons running a house of ill-repute, the Fourth Reich, or the right-wing Warriors of the Cross? Well, this is a short review, as is the book. Its only defect, if any, is the brevity of the story, but there is a lot packed inside! Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys urban fantasy with a theological flavor and an American detective story setting. -Arthur W. Jordin