I'm writing this review some months after finishing the last of the Nightside books, with the deliberate aim of seeing what remains wedged in my memory. First and foremost I recall how much fun these novels were, and the ingenious often deeply twisted invention that their author continually deploys. Parts of it will only make sense to British readers, or at least those sufficiently steeped in British culture. Mostly this takes the form of sly references, and in jokes, but the majority of what is on offer is accessible to all. Green's exuberant style and obvious enthusiasm helps to push this series up among the most entertaining works I've ever read. Simply put, he has a knack for writing deliciously convoluted if fairly linear plots, and does so with a healthy disrespect for any rules or conventions of the writing game. The overall impression I got was that if he thought an idea was good enough then he'd use it, with an utter disregard for whether doing so might compromise the credibility of the world he'd made. The Nightside books do have some constants, but this is not the kind of work where everything is explained right down to the last molecule. What the author has created is a marvellous, sprawling, dark and irresistible playground, where literally anything goes. For so many other talented authors, this loosely organised chaos would spell literary disaster, but for Simon R. Green it just works. Most of the time.

Another great plus is the author's engaging characterisation. Ideas are plundered left, right and centre, and rebuilt in charming, quirky ways, that make them both endearing and very readable. Some of the regulars include Suzie Shooter, a disfigured, psychologically damaged woman, who has turned being a sociopath into a full time career. Then there's Julien Advent, a fine upstanding fellow known as the great Victorian Adventurer, who sans flag, is not unlike a very British alternate to Captain America. Alex Morrisey is Taylor's best friend, and a direct descendant of Merlin Satanspaw. That legendary magician's body rests in a supernatural graveyard, located beneath the ale house that Alex runs; Strangefellows, the oldest pub in the world. We also meet Walker, which is both a name and his title. Walker is the face, and sometimes punishing hand, of the mysterious and murky Authorities who run the Nightside. Also making frequent, often murderous appearances, is a stinking, tramp-like figure who is Taylor's some time friend, occasional ally and eventual opponent; Razor Eddie the punk God of the straight razor. So the list goes on, rarely flagging and almost invariably turning up characters who are larger than life and in several instances twice as ugly. This is not to say that the Nightside is without beauty or tenderness, it's just that such things usually come at a price. And not necessarily a financial one. Does Taylor's gift make him invincible, the King of the Nightside in waiting, as some call him? Or, like the rest of those who dwell in the perpetual darkness of the Nightside, is there a whole lot more to his story than meets the eye?

As quintessentially British as fish and chips, Simon R. Green's Nightside series is a delight from beginning to end. It contains many epic ideas, yet is not stuffy and academic like Lord of the Rings. Nor does it take itself as seriously as most other long running science fiction/fantasy series, and it's never guilty of pushing any agenda that has nothing to do with fiction. The Nightside books are, unashamedly, all about having a bloody good time reading works that have more than their fair share of "ics." Fantastic, comedic, sarcastic, caustic and heroic are just a few that spring to mind.