Customer Reviews

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (Nightside, Book 6)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hope this is not the end of the Nightside series! John Taylor is a private investigator with a gift for finding things. He is also the son of Lilith, the creator of the Nightside, and Lilith has decided to destroy the current version of the Nightside and remake it the way she chooses. If you haven't read the previous Nightside books, do not start with this one as it is not a stand alone book and begins right where the previous one ended. This book is the culmination of an ongoing plotline in which John first discovered Lilith was his mother and then found out that his battle with his mother would result in the total destruction of the Nightside- to the point that future versions of his closest friends have already tried to kill him. In this book, John is desperately searching for some way to defeat Lilith that does not cause the future horror of the Nightside to occur. There are a lot of time shifts in the book, which Simon Green handles extremely well. One of the most intriguing things of this particular book was the evolution of Walker. I won't spoil the details by revealing more than that. Suffice to say, we learn a lot about the Authorities and this greatly affects Walker. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and sincerely hope to see another Nightside book on the horizon!

At the start of this series detective John Taylor learned of a devastated future that he was responsible for bringing about. Since then he has searched for the identity of his mother and the origin of the Nightside. Now that he has his answers things get really bad.

John returns from the past and discovers that everyone wants him dead and that his mother is finally making her move on the Nightside. The action escalates very quickly and things look very grim. In some ways the book reminded me of BLUE MOON RISING in the way despair builds. But this book is true to the previous books (I only found one flaw but it was minor) and many of our favorite characters get a chance to shine again.

By the end of the book we have to wonder if this is the last book. Certainly a major plot line has been taken care of but there are plenty of unanswered questions at the end. I did think of one final resolution that would have been better and would have still kept in line with previous books but that is not the way things turned out. Although one of the unanswered questions could still bring it about. If you have enjoyed the previous books then you will love this one.

Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (2006) is the sixth Urban Fantasy novel in the Nightside series, following Paths Not Taken. In the previous volume, Lilith declared that John Taylor was an unexpected and unwelcome complication. She started sucking the living energy out of him.

Taylor used his private eye to determine how she was doing it and reversed the flow. He left Lilith weak and helpless and kicked her in the face on his way out. Then her monsters started to advance towards her.

In this novel, Walker has Cathy kidnapped to force Taylor to turn himself in to the Authorities. Naturally, John declines the offer and uses his third eye to find Cathy somewhere within the Necropolis. He can't really pin down the location for some reason, but John and Suzy head toward the approximate area via a couple of magical cantrips.

When they reach the Necropolis, Eddie the Punk God of the Razor appears and tells them that Cathy is not actually on the Necropolis grounds. He slices a doorway with his razor to the dimension that contains the Necropolis private burial grounds and they slip into the ice cold land. There they find Tommy Oblivion and Sandra Chance, with Cathy somewhere in the vicinity.

Tommy and Sandra think that they have a deal with Walker, but he has just taken this opportunity to get rid of all four of them. Sandra is rather disturbed by his betrayal, especially when the earth golems appear and Eddie's razor can no longer slice the dimensional walls. Of course, Taylor finds a way to escape and they take Cathy with them back to the Nightside.

In this story, Taylor sends Cathy to Strangefellows with Tommy and the other three investigate the sudden quietness on the streets. They go to the Street of Gods and find only the dead, dying and dazed. Lilith has returned and the Street has been devastated. However, they do find Walker under the collapsed wall of a church. Taylor convinces Sandra to restrain herself from killing him, but she only does so when John states that Walker will not like his role in the war against Mother Dearest.

Taylor heads off alone to find the Dead Boy and then the pair search for Julian Advent, the great Victorian Adventurer. They find the newspaper owner investigating a sweat shop operation involving short fairies and magical implements. After Dead Boy takes care of the guard, Taylor takes Julian and Dead Boy aside and lays out his plans.

Both the Holy Host and the Satanic Horde are staying away from this conflict. But Taylor is acquainted with a particular Holy messenger and summons this angel using the special attributes of Dead Boy and Julian. Pretty Poison is not using that name anymore, but she knows what he wants and agrees to help him just this once.

This story takes Taylor into the unique possible future where his Enemies live and from where they have been sending back agents to kill him for decades. He has been there once before, but now he needs to learn the reason for their attempts on his life. He finds that the War itself is their rationale for trying to kill him. He has to fight his mother without raising armies against her and thereby destroying the Nightside.

When he returns to the present -- or a week later, depending on your viewpoint -- John finds that Lilith has started the War without him. Her allies and coerced partisans have attacked everyone living within Nightside. She has even raided the private graveyard of the Necropolis and raised the dead to fight for her against their friends and relatives.

Walker and his friends have fought back using every method and trick in their arsenal and are still losing. Even the Lord of Thorns is helpless before Lilith. Nightside is being destroyed before their eyes. Something else must be done.

BTW, Taylor and Suzy Shooter have public displays of affection in this novel. Their friends -- and enemies -- are appalled.

Highly recommended for Green fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magical powers, devious spells, and quirky romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth (Originally titled A Mother's Son) is probably the best out of the Nightside books so far. It is definately the most action packed and exciting, as John Taylor races to find a way to defeat his long-lost mom. I can happily say that this is not the last book- another Nightside novel, currently titled "And Follow Darkness Like A Dream" has already been completed and should see the light of day before the end of the year- most likely, say ,late summer- early fall.

I had some free time, so I read the entire Nightside series in one go. It was no chore, but a great romp! Once into it, I couldn't put it down and went eagerly from one book to the next. They're light reading but a whale of a good time. I love John Taylor and all the other characters of the Nightside, especially Shotgun Suzie, Walker, Alex, and Dead Boy. The books have some unforgettable scenes, a lot of suspense, and wonderful flights of imagination. What more can one ask for on lazy early summer days? I loved how various themes and characters were woven together across several of the books...very satisfying. This last book brought everything to a conclusion..or did it? Certainly one plot thread was finished, and in an exciting way, but there are other possibilities for John and his companions. I hope this is not the last we will see of Nightside.

I would give this last book (and indeed the series as a whole) 5 stars but it has a number of repetitions, particularly in dialog (there are some phrases that nearly every character uses over and over again, which got tiring). I probably noticed these more given that I read all the books through one after the other. Some repetition is needed to catch up readers who may not have read the previous books (and I agree with previous reviewers that no one should start with this last book), but by the later books, some laziness in the writing as evidenced by repetitious dialog began to show up.

Still, I highly recommend this series to anyone with an interest in urban fantasy and sci-fi.

SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!

Having read all of the Nightside series and anxiously awaited each new installment, I'm hoping this book isn't the end! However, with most of the Nightside destroyed and the vast majority of supporting characters killed off, I'm not sure we can look forward to another. The pacing of this book is a bit "off," as is the fact that John Taylor raises his "gift" as a first resort, instead of using the ingenuity he showed so much of in the earlier books (to avoid being seen by the Harrowing). Still, I can't complain about such an amazing series. Thanks Simon Green, for a compelling sci-fi hero and a great series!

SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH marks the end of the Nightside series . . . sort of. There are more coming (Green's website says book seven, tentatively titled AND FOLLOW DARKNESS LIKE A DREAM, is finished), but the vast majority of the main plot threads and character arcs come to a head here.

Honestly, I wasn't entirely happy with this installment. While there's nothing better than a nice apocalypse with a hefty dose of angst, that's never been the appeal of this series for me. John Taylor, our stalwart hero, started out as a private investigator. The first few books were, meta-plot and fantasy elements aside, mysteries. The segue into cosmic shenanigans that marked the PATHS NOT TAKEN and that comes to fruition here has Taylor acting more as a superhero than as a PI.

Don't get me wrong, SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH is a ton of fun. There's action, carnage, double-crossing, messed up mythology, true love, and all the pulpy genre-mash goodness we've come to expect from Mr. Green with the usual cast of extremely colorful characters. It's just not quite what I was hoping for.

If you're a fan of Mr. Green's work in general or his "Nightside" series in particular, you'll enjoy this book. That said, I really do hope the next book gets back to (relatively speaking) basics.

John Taylor is a private detective, who he works for depends on who pays him, but he was paid to find the origin of the Nightside by someone with power and must finish the task after discovering that he has ties to the foundation of the city that he actually has some dedication to.
In order to save the Nightside from itself, and one of the possible futures he has seen, Taylor decides to go back the origins of the Nightside and if not assist in the destruction of his mother, at least find out how she was imprisoned the first time around.

My hat is off to Greene on this one, many authors have no problem at all creating an intricate world but very few have the guts to rock it to its very foundations. The book gets started with a bang Lilith first wife of Adam who went to hell and lay with Demons is back in the Nightside and she is out for blood. The action does not let up for a minute Only one man has any hope to stop her (guess who).

John Taylor leads the resistance with Suzie Shooter and Walker acting as backup. This is my favorite in the series so far you get what you expect from the A list people but a lot of the B list people that were on the sidelines of the series until this point show that they are made of surprisingly strong stuff. This book is not only important in the context of its central conflict but the ultimate resolution takes the series in a surprising new direction.

Overall-Good book, I was in awe at the amount of mayhem one very ticked off Lilith could bring about and if you give this book a chance you will to.

Great ending to the series. At least I'm assuming that this is the end of this series. I hope it's not his last novel of Nightside. I love his imagination with coming up with unique character names. You've got love the "lord of thorns" or the "lamentation".

I've been really happy with this series. The stories are fast moving and very fun. The main character does not take himself too seriously which also helps. And I think that Simon Green does a better job depicting the seedy nighttime world of Nightside than other novels have done.

This is not the book to start the series on. Start at the begining. It will make more sense and you'll enjoy the series a lot.