Simon R. Green says that this is the greatest book he’s ever written and having read quite a few of his other series I have to say, that concept-wise, I’d agree.
Shadows Fall is quite spectacular in concept, the execution, on the other hand, is imperfect, but not so much that it distracted me from the book itself.
For people not familiar with him, Green specializes in a glorious subgenre of commercial fiction that I don’t really have a name for yet. It’s not quite Pratchett-esque crack, but it’s not your usual kind of urban fantasy. The thing I suppose it reminds me the most of is, really well done crossover fanfiction between two or more other properties. The books aren’t overly complicated but they are always delightful and addicting. It’s like your favorite television shows or comic book series, only in novel/novella form. The characters are all memorable and brilliant. The dialogue is snappy and awesome. The settings can blow your minds. Parts of them are ridiculous but ridiculous in the same way that Doctor Who is, that comics are. He also has several series inhabiting the same shared universe and so you get cameos and references across several series that tie everything together in fascinating ways.
Shadows Fall takes place in this shared universe. It’s referenced in several Nightside books, so I had already known the name before I picked up this book. Shadows Fall is a town, a town you can’t find on any map. A small town in the way back of beyond where legends–human and otherwise–go to live out their days as belief in them dies. Comic superheroes who never achieved true fame comingle with rock ‘n’ roll stars who died young; dinosaurs roam the park at night. This is where legends go to die and lost souls find peace.
I am fairly convinced that somewhere there exists a place like this somewhere in this world or the one to come. Green sets up the novel with a classic horror genre beginning to it. Everything is happy and fine and it’s one of the town holidays. Everyone is out and about.
And then a murder happens. And the ball starts slowly rolling.
But this isn’t a horror novel, rather more a mystery quest with a heavy dash of modern apocalyptic fantasy. Or rather urban fantasy with elements of a mystery quest during a bloody invasion.
There are many different characters that walk in and out of the pages of the book and various plots and subplots that eventually are resolved in the last couple of pages. There are prophecies, priests, demons, Faerie, musicians, teddy bears, snipers, angels, fanatics, lovers, and undead. My favorite part of the story is where a Golden Age era elderly superhero takes on a T-Rex in the courts of Faerie.
I got chills down my spine when the Faerie went to war. It had the same feeling that the Entmarch did – that kind of wide eyed this-is-really-happening sort of feeling. The kind of feeling where you know the world will never be the same after this – that if you live through it things will never be the same and you’ll tell your grandkids that you saw this and that and words can’t describe the feelings really.
It’s a fascinating read. Especially as you get to the end and you wonder how it all ties together. The ending…is something I’m still working though honestly. It has shades of Lewis’ Last Battle but hmm it’s interesting to parse and too complicated to give anything but general impressions without reproducing the book here. It’s also by far the weakest part of the entire book.
Overall? It’s not a perfect book, the concept is brilliant, but the execution is flawed – it is by no means a perfect book. It’s not the first Simon Green I’d recommend reading but it is quite something. Definitely worth the admission price for the first two-thirds of the book.