Carolyn Cushman Reviews Night Fall by Simon R. Green
Simon R. Green, Night Fall (Ace 978-0-451-47697-5, $27.00, 453pp, hc) June 2018.
Green wraps up the Secret Histories and the Nightside series (and a few more) in a massive kitchen-sink of a battle between the righteous Droods and the lawless Nightside that brings together a host of old characters with a bunch of impossibly deadly weapons, a massive body count, and a healthy sprinkling of humor. Something happens in the Nightside that has even the gods pulling out, and John Taylor (ex-PI, now in charge, as much as anyone is) can’t get any solid information on what’s going on. In the outside world, Eddie Drood gets called in by the family Matriarch, who tells him the Nightside is expanding, and he has to go in and investigate – which is against ancient Pacts between the Droods and the Nightside. Eddie and his lady, the deadly Molly Metcalf, go, but get exposed. John Taylor tries talking to the Matriarch, but gets nowhere. Soon war is on – but the Drood army with its “invulnerable” armor isn’t quite prepared for the violent chaos of the Nightside. Eventually, other secret groups from Green’s universe get dragged into the conflict – Ghost Finders, London Knights, Soulhunters, and more. In the middle of the mayhem there are moments of great heroism, sacrifice, romance, and tragedy – and lots of flippant observations. The whole thing is pointless, since from the start it’s clear the real enemy is whoever or whatever caused the Nightside to expand, but it’s a spectacular way to wrap up some overgrown series in Green’s trademark style.
Carolyn F. Cushman, Senior Editor, has worked for Locus since 1985, the longest of any of the current staff, and handles our in-house books database, writes our New and Notable section, and does the monthly Books Received column. She is a graduate of Western Washington University with a degree in English. She published a fantasy novel, Witch and Wombat, in 1994.
This review and more like it in the May 2018 issue of Locus.
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