Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) [Mass Market Paperback]

Simon R. Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2011

John Taylor just discovered his long-gone mother created the Nightside—the dark heart of London—and intends to destroy it. To save his birthplace, he will have to travel back through a very distant—and probably deadly—past.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The follow-up to Nightingale's Lament (2004) finds John Taylor reeling from the discovery that his mother is the legendary Lilith of biblical times and that she is responsible for the creation of the Nightside. Before he can begin his investigation into the Nightside's origins, a man named Eamonn Mitchell, who is being attacked by versions of himself from the past, approaches him for help. Taylor traces the problem to Eamonn's shady company, and after he solves Eamonn's problem, he is inspired to manipulate time himself by seeking out Father Time and asking to be sent to the era when Lilith created the Nightside. Along with his friends Suzie Shooter and Tommy Oblivion, Taylor takes the plunge, but they end up 500 years later than intended, thanks to Lilith's machinations. They persist making their way through time, leading to a showdown with Lilith in the past that could cost Taylor his future. Fans of the Nightside series will enjoy the journey into the past of London's underworld. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Simon R. Green is a New York Times bestselling author whose works include Drinking Midnight Wine, Beyond the Blue Moon, Blue Moon Rising, The Adventures of Hawk & Fisher, and the Deathstalker series. A resident of Bradford-on-Avon in England, he is currently working on the next Deathstalker novel.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ace (November 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441013198
• ISBN-13: 978-0441013197
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Simon Green is the author of the bestselling DEATHSTALKER cycle, the New York Times bestseller ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, and many other novels. He lives in Bradford-upon-Avon in Wiltshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars John Taylor Back in Time, September 12, 2005

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

In HEX AND THE CITY John Taylor found out the identity of his mother. Or at least the identity she wants him to think. Now John is convinced even more that he has to protect the future of the Nightside. To do so he decides to go back in time to the original creation of the Nightside so that he might learn something that can be used against his mother.

Traveling back in time is very dangerous and only a few could make it happen. But as John prepares for his new quest, he has a case thrust upon him involving a man being hunted by alternate versions of himself. But even this case ties in to the growing problem of the Nightside's future and John's role in it. Finally John begins his journey and the reader is taken to some very interesting places where new and old characters are met.

This book does a very good job with time travel and its paradoxes and pitfalls. John reveals more determination and skills as he tries to protect the ones he cares for and the Nightside in general. This book should not be read without reading HEX AND THE CITY. It is good to have read the others but HEX is a definite requirement. At the time this volume was released, Simon Green had already turned in the eighth and ninth volume in the series so there is plenty more to come.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Search for Nightside's Origins, September 27, 2007

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Momma's Boy, November 10, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Nightside is London's darkest place. Existing as a shadow for thousands of years it's where worn out gods, dominions, and powers come to relax and place. Only the desperate can gain admission, and for most, there's no way back to the light. This place where the worst desires can be satisfied, where everyone is a victim and a user, and it will only cost you your soul.

John Taylor made it out once, but now he's back, working for a living as a finder, a detective who can recover things that didn't even know they were lost. But not long ago taylor found too much, he found that his mother was Lilith, who once created The Nightside and now wants to bring it down. John will either discover a way to stop his mother, or he will preside over the end - damned one way or another.

Accompanied by Suzie Shooter and Tommy Oblivion, Taylor heads for the past, to the days of The Nightside's birth, where he hopes to find a weakness that can stop Lilith as she was stopped before. But it's a trip with no hope of return and all the magic in the world seems determined to conspire against them. And all along Taylor is haunted by visions of what may come - the ruin of the few things he cares about.

Simon Green's tale is told in shades of sarcasm and bitterness. How often does a man set out to seek his heritage only to discover he is heir to a goddess who plans to destroy the world? How often does a man find he love with a woman who can't bear to be touched? Taylor fights back at a world designed to be unfair using his natural bravado and dark wit and we can't help but find his anti-hero act endearing.

This is the fifth in the series and, despite Green's efforts, the plot is wearing a bit thin. Paths Not Taken uses a small set of devices, those of a frustrating quest back through time that takes place in the most exclusive club in The Nightside and the oldest bar in the world. While the story is still quite readable, the loyal reader will experience a touch of déjà vu as this story bridges the way to what is probably going to be the last volume in the series. Even so Green has found a winning combination worth following.