Paths Not Taken

Paths Not Taken (2005) Simon R. Green

Okay. Wow. This book certainly took a different turn. And I’m not sure how much I care for the change. In this book John Taylor is, for lack of a better word, a complete asshole. I was going to say jerk, but that’s just not a strong enough word. He is simply not a nice person, no matter how much he tries to justify his actions.

And I’m not sure how I feel about that.

John has decided that he must go back in time to discover how his mother founded the Nightside, to search for a way to stop her, because if he does not, all of the Nightside–and perhaps the world–will be destroyed. With him, he takes Suzie Shooter, who helped John Taylor on previous books, and Tommy Oblivion, Nightside’s other Private Investigator.

Unlike the other books in the series, this one is almost straight fantasy. Although he spends a couple of chapters in a small mystery, it’s hardly up to the standards of the first few books, which I found a disappointment, as I really liked the mysteries.

Additionally, as I said at the start, John Taylor is not a nice person. We learn that he is actually the one behind some of the tragedies of Nightside, and there is a good reason that many people in Nightside dislike him so much. To be honest, I am not sure if I like him anymore. I suppose only the second book will tell.

The arc of the story also struck me as rather strange. The start of the story seemed unusually light, with a good deal of light hearted humor, while the second half of the story is extremely grim. It’s as if the first half was an attempt to make up for how harsh the remainder of the book was going to be. But the lighthearted bits were very good, and very well done. For instance:

Next door to the brothel was a dark and spooky little shop selling reliquaries–the bones of saints, fragments of the True Cross, and the like. Special offer that week was apparently the skull of John the Baptist. Next to it was a smaller skull, labelled JOHN THE BAPTIST AS A CHILD.

If you’ve been reading along, then this story is a must read. If you’re interested in starting the series, this is not the place to start.
Rating: 6/10

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