Nightside City [Paperback]

Lawrence Watt-Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Nightside City will die in the coming dawn -- so why is someone trying to buy up the town? A blend of hard science fiction and hard-boiled film noir detective story. The far-side of tidally-locked Epimethus seemed like a good site for a city, far from the destroying rays of a dangerously close sun. But the planet actually is rotating and the value of property and life in Nightside City is rapidly depreciating. Detective Carlisle Hsing is one of the many left in town with insufficient funds to move off-planet. But ... why is someone buying up all the doomed property? Is someone going to save the planet? Why keep it a secret? ...[Carlisle] Hsing is a believable heroine pursuing a slowly unwrapping mystery.' —Postviews... a good crisp adventure/mystery... a suitably gritty future-urban ambience; the plot is logically constructed around an interesting problem in planetology; the writing is consistent and well-paced, each chapter ending with a neat narrative hook. A very solid, professional piece of work.' —OtherRealms
'...a novel rich in context.... contains a wealth of intriguing material....complex and evocative....worth the read.' —SFRA Newsletter'For years, when people asked me what was my favorite of all the novels I’d written (which is, by the way, not a good question to ask— it’s very much like, 'Which is your favorite of your children?'), if I answered at all, I would name Nightside City.' —from the afterword by Lawrence Watt-Evans

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Foxacre Press (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970971117
• ISBN-13: 978-0970971111
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,368,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing fantasy for thirty years... no, my fantasy's been published for thirty years. I've been writing it since I was eight. It's what I always wanted to do for a living, and I've been very fortunate in that I've been able to manage that. I try to write fantasy with an element of common sense to it -- not so much mythic archetypes as sensible people.

Other than my job, my life's pretty ordinary -- a nice house in a quiet neighborhood, a wife, two grown kids, and an overweight cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the forgotten masterpieces of SF of the 80s, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nightside City (Mass Market Paperback)

This is more than a combination of thriller and "hard"SF. It is a true novel, a major piece of literary SF that should have received the Hugo or the Nebula or both. Unfortunately, the author is known as a creator of fantasy, so this gem has not received the attention it should have. It is a most readable work of art, never leaving a chance for a yawn. But it is also a complex work, which gives away more after a second or third reading.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've read it three times. A great book., November 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightside City (Mass Market Paperback)

A planet in terminal orbit, one side searing hot, the other frozen. On the fringe between the two stands Nightside city. In this erie cyberpunk tale, a detective rubs elbows with all sorts of low-lifes in a quest to determine whether Nightside city will soon see the light of day...and who's behind it. Masterfully presented with wonderful descriptions, great dialog, and visionary descriptions of future technology. Evans makes it all come alive.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unsung Masterpiece, October 3, 2003

By 

Justin A. Bacon (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightside City (Paperback)

I've been meaning to give Lawrence Watt-Evans a try for a long time. Last week the stars finally conjoined in such a way that I found myself with a copy of NIGHTSIDE CITY clenched between my fists.

One sleepless night later the novel had been devoured.

This book stands somewhere inbetween NEUROMANCER and SNOW CRASH, and deserves to be as well-known as both. Lawrence Watt-Evans crafts a riveting tale which is one-half cyberpunk and one-half detective noir, with strong dashes of hard SF sensibility, insightful characterization, and tight plotting thrown into the mix.