Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5)

Paths Not Taken (2005) is the fifth urban fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Hex and the City. In the previous volume, John Taylor finally discovered the identity of his mother when she visited Strangefellows, but quickly regretted the knowledge. Walker and his minions invaded the bar to destroy Taylor, but are defeated by Taylor's friends and relative. Bad Penny stabbed Taylor and was permanently banished from Strangefellows and everywhere else. Merlin even nullified the Speaking Gun. Then Taylor tipped his mother out of the bar back the way she had come. In this novel, Taylor has a visitor at the office. Unfortunately, he is actually present at the time. When asked his complaint, Eamonn Mitchell says that he is being hounded by other versions of himself. Then such other versions appear, armed with change wands, and make a mess out of Cathy's carefully filed paperwork [snigger]. Taylor and Tommy Oblivion -- another Nightside PI -- track down the man behind the plot and reason with him. Taylor is impressed by Tommy's talent and invites him along on a trip back through time. Suzie Shooter invites herself into the party. Old Father Time sends them into the far past, but not quite far enough. In this story, Taylor and associates find themselves in the Nightside of sixth century AD. Taylor figures than Lilith has interfered with the time transfer and gets VERY angry. After he cools down enough, they decide that their best chance to go further back in time is Merlin Satanspawn. Failing to locate Merlin at the Londinium Club, they next try the current version of Strangefellows. Taylor recognizes the exterior view of the Avalon from a prior experience. They find Merlin inside and shortly thereafter Nimue the witch appears. Nimue is a bubbly little golddigger. A former Druid, she had run away and then convinced Merlin to teach her real magic. Now Taylor talks her into helping them, but their plans go dreadfully wrong. Despite all this, Taylor and Suzie go back further in time, but not quite far enough. Taylor finds someone, or something, else to send them even further in time. Finally Taylor gets back to Nightside's origins. It's not much like his expectations, but he does have a confrontation with his future mother. This story parallels the previous novel. He meets people, or things, that he had encountered in the previous novel during his excursions back in time. Naturally, these persons or things have some memory of Taylor when they later -- or earlier -- meet him in the future. Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of tough detectives, various magics, and a personal quest through time. -Arthur W. Jordin

John Taylor, private eye extraordinaire, son of the very Being that created the Nightside, has done some crazy things in his life, most of them resulting in bloodshed. Never, though, has he tackled time travel. Now, he has no choice but to travel back to the past, where it all began, and confront his mother. It is a quest that may only have two possible outcomes: Taylor's death...or the destruction of the Nightside. The Nightside is truly one of the most unique literary environments ever written of. Full of man-eating cars, radioactive nuns, demons, angels, and things better left unsaid, it is a place where it is always 3 in the morning, and nothing is as it seems. And John Taylor is definitely one of the most engaging heroes around. A wise-cracking, butt-kicking, quick-thinking private eye, he is the epitome of the hard-boiled detective...with enough sensitivity to make him likeable. The two together is a unique combination, captured by Simon R. Green's quick and to the point writing style. "Paths Not Taken" is the latest installment in what is truly a unique series, which seems to be approaching a climax of unimaginable proportions. Where it will go from here...well, we'll find out when we get there. We may not like it...but that's life. That's the Nightside.

When I read the first book in this series, I thought that this was going to be one of those lightweight whimsy fantasy series that I'd probably lose interest in around the third book--the ones where nothing really changes, and each book is pretty much the same with new jokes. It is now abundantly clear that that was not what Green has in mind. The whimsy is still there, but it has receded into the background. Even by the standards of the private eye novel, where the hero generally gets beaten up somewhere along the line, things are beginning to get a bit grim. The Nightside is clearly more than an amusing backdrop for a fantasy private eye, and John Taylor is clearly far more than just a fantasy gumshoe. The series is clearly going somewhere serious, and right at this point, the prospects for a happy ending do not look particularly good. Simon R. Green has a fine hand for this kind of fantasy, and can slide from whimsical to Lovecraftian often in the space of a few paragraphs. In tone, the series has the most in common with Gaiman's "American Gods" or Stross's "Atrocity Archives." John Taylor is a strong character, with just the right touch of moral ambiguity--is he a hero, or the agent of ultimate disaster? I am looking forward to the next book in the series with excitement.

John Taylor had never known who his mother was, though Nightsiders would tell him she was powerful. In "Hex and the City", we find out who she is. "Paths Not Taken" is primarily about the steps Taylor has to take to destroy her. A journey through time is in order, to the very beginning of the Nighside. Several stops along the way, we find out about some of the background for some of the Major Players in the Nightside. Suzie Shooter is right; Time really is a circle. "Paths Not Taken" is a background book, a setup for things to come. Though it may not have the noir of the previous books, it has just as much emotion. We see glimpses of who John is fated to become. Taylor is extremely haunted in this book, as his oblivion to who he actually was is shattered. Suzie Shooters destiny is also being fufilled in many ways and it couldn't scare John Taylor more. Read this book. It's a key link to what is to come and it will leave you salivating for the next Nightside novel!

It is always interesting to see what directions an author takes a series as the series goes on. Sometimes the characters grow and change as people, and sometimes the characters always stay the same, it's just the situations that change. It is nice to see that the Nightside series is one where the characters will grow and change as people as the story progresses. There is a LOT of character development in _Paths Not Taken_, and a lot of philosophical discussions and dilemmas as well. Brief synopsis of _Paths Not Taken_: As the Authorities get more and more convinced it would be easier to just get rid of John Taylor, John is getting more and more desperate to avoid the future version of the Nightside that he has seen in a timeslip. After briefly getting diverted by a client (who was meant to be a diversion), John goes time-traveling with Shotgun Suzie and Tommy Oblivion. They are searching for the origin of the Nightside. It takes them a while to get there, and along the way they encounter an earlier Merlin Satanspawn (before he lost his heart), an earlier Herne the Hunter (when most of England was still wild), and they make multiple visits to the Londinium Club and Strangefellows (even back before it was called Strangefellows). They do finally get to see the origin of the Nightside (in a very good climactic scene) and then they go back to present-day time. As the story progresses, we see the results of increasing stress on John Taylor. John has always considered himself to be a cold-hearted bastard and has cultivated a reputation for that, but underneath he is really quite soft-hearted. But after seeing what a future self will do to the Nightside and especially Shotgun Suzie in a possible future timeline, John vows to never let that future occur. As he frantically tries to stop it from occurring, he runs into the question that haunts most truly desperate people - how far will you go to stop that which must be stopped, and how much of your honor, compassion, & morals are you willing to lose along the way? There are also the time-travel conundrums about changing the past, and a philosophical discussion about what happens to free will when there is no good and evil. The first couple of Nightside novels were more strictly let's-kick-butt-and-take-names detective stories. While there is still PLENTY of butt-kicking in _Paths Not Taken_, readers looking for the simplicity of the earlier novels will be disappointed. Those who don't mind some romance and a bit deeper writing with their mayhem, like _Beyond the Blue Moon_ (with Hawk & Fisher) or the Deathstalker series, should be very happy with _Paths Not Taken_. I got it this afternoon and couldn't put it down. A very good book. For those who might be picking this up as their first Nightside novel: it's still a good stand-alone story, but you're going to miss at least 30% of what is going on in any given scene if you don't read the other Nightside novels too.