WOW! Simon R. Green really brought his Secret Histories series to a hugely dramatic close with "Night Fall" when he sends the Droods into the Nightside. If you are a fan of Green's work, then you definitely don't want to miss this last hurrah as everybody's favorite characters from both the Nightside and Secret Histories series show up for the fight-to-end-all-fights. This is my favorite of all of Green's books so far. 5/5 stars.

All good things come to an end. That is where we find ourselves with Simon R. Green's latest novel. Green is wrapping up both his Secret Histories and Nightside series. That makes for a lot of characters and a lot of ground to cover. Simon handles the vast scale of his vision with grace and wit. I came into this book having never read either series so I had a pretty steep learning curve, but once I got acclimated, I enjoyed the book. It finally answers the question of what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object in a shadow dimension. The finale will leave fans of both series happy. Give it a read.

I am a huge fan of this author, but I just could not get into this book. It seemed rushed. I am going to give it another shot though in a few months.

It’s the end of the world as they know it, in a hail of bullets and a shower of blood, with a chaser of hellfire. This is where the implacable force meets the immovable object – and both decide that they’ve had enough.

Night Fall is the official 12th volume of the Secret Histories. Unofficially, it’s also the 13th book of the Nightside and the 7th story about the Ghost Finders. And also the unofficial last and final volume of all of this author’s current long-running series, at least according to the note at the back. Night Fall, as its name implies, is an ending and not a beginning. An ending with a bang – and plenty of whimpering. But that’s the Nightside for you.

Consider that a warning – this isn’t the place to start with any of these series.

For those who have at least a nodding acquaintance with the Nightside and the Secret Histories, this is a conflict that feels inevitable. The Droods, the keeper of those ultra-secret histories, have felt duty-bound throughout the centuries to protect humanity at all costs – even from itself.

The Nightside feels like the Droods moral opposite. Where the Droods believe in law and order above all, as long as its their law and their order, the Nightside is a place of absolute freedom of choice. Even if those choices lead a person straight to heaven, or hell, or somewhere above or below either of them. Or out of this world, and possibly their minds, altogether.

The Droods have always wanted to bring the Nightside under their domain. The Nightside just wants to be left the hell alone. The Droods never leave anyone or anything alone – not once they have it or them in their sights.

The story begins as a cascade of events that start wrong and just go downhill from there. The dominos are falling, and the war that both sides say they don’t want moves from inevitably to being splashed bloodily and viscerally all over the Nightside.

But if dominos are falling, then who, or what, flicked that first tile?

And can John Taylor, the Walker of the Nightside, and Eddie Drood, the family’s rebel agent, figure out who set them against each other before the long night falls – and takes the Droods with it.

Escape Rating A: For readers familiar with at least some of this author’s worlds, Night Fall is an absolutely smashing, bang-up, explosive ending. Complete with smashing, banging and explosions, as well as at least a tip of the hat to possibly every major, interesting, colorful and/or profane character that has been created along the way.

It’s a blast. Sometimes with actual blasting powder – or substances even more explosive.

At the same time, Simon R. Green is an acquired taste, like oysters, or escargot, or chocolate-covered ants. Possibly complete with the “Ewww, I’m not really sure about this” reaction. And it’s the only one of the four that I’ve ever bothered to acquire.

The level of constant, utter, bloody-minded, so arch that it needs a keystone, snarkitude is bitter, wry and incredibly addictive – while at the same hard to swallow in a sustained gulp bigger than one book at a time. It’s marvelous and crazy and sometimes absolutely exhausting.

I love his work, but I can only read them one at a time. Part of that is because the uber-clever descriptions, introductions and backstories for each and every character tend to repeat if one attempts to binge-read. It’s been long enough for me that re-reading the character portraits of John Taylor, Eddie Drood, Suzie Shooter, Molly Metcalf and the rest gave me a sense of nostalgia. It was good to catch up with all my old friends, one last time.

Underneath the constant snark there are several interesting stories being told.

The biggest one is the one about just how thickly the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The Droods do want what’s best – admittedly for their definition of best, but their hearts at least begin in the right place. But the veneer of respectability proves to be much thinner than any of them expect. While there is an outside force that pushed the first domino, once it falls the Droods are more than happy to keep knocking more dominos, even extra dominos, all on the own.

The people of the Nightside are stuck playing defense. The Droods invade, and begin conquering their home block by block and street by street, leaving everything behind them paved with blood and guts. Some of it even their own. Surrendering doesn’t even feel like an option – because it isn’t.

While the Droods would frame this fight as a fight of good vs. evil, that’s only their interpretation. A closer interpretation, at least for their initial motivations, is a battle between order and chaos. But the Nightside isn’t truly chaotic, and the Droods have taken order to its tyrannical extreme. At which point they’ve lost the moral high ground they came in with.

It’s also interesting to see just how many older and darker powers both sides end up calling on, and how all of those occupying the thrones and dominations tell them to get stuffed and clean up their own messes.

Diving into Night Fall reminded me just how much I’ve enjoyed all of this author’s work, and why science fiction and fantasy, particularly urban fantasy, are always my go-to genres. Night Fall is the wildest of wild rides from its slam bang opening to its quiet close – and I savored every page of it.

I have enjoyed this series for years now but I agree it is time to end. The Droods have been part of my family and Eddie has earned a place as the best of the best. It was great to learn so much about John Walker and the mysterious area where night holds you hostage and something awful is just waiting to pounce.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing this ARC and looking forward to the next effort from this author.

Well, shoot! Just when I discover a new (to me) series and it goes and ends. Heavy sigh. But what an epic ending Night Fall has! Droods are all about control and the Nightside is anything but. Something is making the Nightside borders expand and the Droods are not having it so naturally, they have to go in and reign it all in. Ya just know that can’t be good!

So many new faces and characters for me to experience! I don’t even know where to begin. Holy crow epic doesn’t even begin to describe what happens. Battle after battle ensue. Both sides win and lose. It was obvious no matter how much the Droods pushed the Nightside was going to push back just as hard. The Drood Sarjeant-at-Arms is just a wacko as far as I’m concerned. Actually, the only Drood that seems to have his head on right is Eddie. Somebody, please put him in charge! Ahem- hint hint...don't miss out on the epilogue!

So, like I said I’m new having just read the previous book. Frankly, it doesn’t matter that I didn’t start from the beginning. I love the wackadoodleness that the series and Droods had to offer. Let me go even further and say this is only my second book by this author but by checking out his other books it was easy for me to see Night Fall ties several series together. Is that where all the characters come from? Dead Boy, Razor Eddie, John Taylor, Shotgun Suzie, London Knights, the Ghost Finders, the Spawn of Frankenstein and so many more. ACK! More reading for me to get in. I don’t even care that I haven’t read the other books, I know perfection when I read it and IMHO, this is probably the best finale to a series I have ever read.

I received this book from The Jeep Diva with the express purpose of an honest review. The opinions, contents, and rating of this review are solely mine

reviewed by Jac

I LOVE the Nightside series by Simon Green, so I was super sad to see that this is ending the series, though after John becomes Walker and we find out about his mother, I am not really that surprised.
While I love how Simon Green ties all of his stories together I was never a huge fan of the Drood or Ghostfinder series. He manages to tie all three different series together into a seamless whole though, which shows mega skill. Many characters are killed in this finale, but since Simon's books aren't these happy cheerful bunny stories, and he does so in ways that are relevant to the plot they fit. (It also helps to END the series if people die off doesn't it?)
The book is fast moving and full of plot twists and action, though you do have to read at least one of the full series to follow what is going on. I'd recommend all three honestly...

I was shocked that this book is the last in three of Mr. Green’s series: Nightside, Droods, and Ghostfinders (I think those are the ones) according to the note at the end by the author. I’ve always been a fan of the Nightside books, my favorite actually, so I was very happy to see some old favorites in this book. One thing I must state right up front is that this book is probably one of the most death-filled books I’ve read by this author. If you are bothered by the death of some of your favorite side characters, you might want to rethink reading this one; I was saddened by some of the deaths in this book. However, I will also say this book was probably my favorite of the Drood books, and one of my favorites of the Nightside series. Deaths aside, this book was full of action-packed plot and fun. I loved this book in spite of all of the negative things above: if you’re going to go out, go out in style! If you are a fan of any of the series mentioned above, give this one a try. You will love it! Highly recommend! I was provided a complimentary copy of the e-book which I reviewed voluntarily.

NightFall by Simon R. Green, The final book in the Secret Histories. A good ending that wraps up the series in a satisfying way. Pulls in some characters we have not seen in a while and leaves you wanting to reread some of the beginning.

I am greatly saddened that this is the end of my beloved Nightside. I couldn't care less about the fucking Droods, I never could get into that series and the mess they made in the Nightside is unforgivable. We won't see the Ghost Finders again either according to the author's acknowledgment. I loved this novel. Congratulations John and Suzie. Simon R Green remains one of my very favorite authors, ever.

And tricky tricky ending.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

There is a shit ton of death in this book, of characters I loved. No spoilers but it's only a little better than the last Harry Potter Books

OMG!! The two worlds FINALLY meet!!

THIS is the book I've been waiting for from Mr Green, and he does NOT disappoint!

Love this man and his work!!

I loved and hated reading this book at the same time. Author Simon R. Green has said that this is his last Drood book. I was also sad when he ended his Nightside series, but that last book (The Bride Wore Black Leather) was the perfect ending to the Nightside series. Imagine my surprise to see some of these beloved characters again as they interact with the Drood storyline-I won't say more for fear of spoilers. Well done, Mr. Green!

The last book in the Secret Histories series has Eddie Drood visiting the Nightside. What could possibly go wrong?

Review: NIGHT FALL by Simon R. Green
(Secret Histories #12)

Author Simon Green brings to a conclusion his Secret Histories and the alternate dimension of London known as the Nightside. Where good and evil are not white and black but infinite shades of gray, where literally anything imaginable is available and so is the unimaginable, where anyone can lose wallet, life, soul: this is the Nghtside. Suddenly it's boundaries expand, so the Droods, the extended and extensive ancient clan sworn to protect Humanity, leaps into the fray. The results are disastrous, but the pace is unrelentingly riveting. I'm sorry to see the Nightside move offstage--but Mr. Green sure did it up right. An amazing finale.