Tags
bridges, fantasy, Friday Five Challenge, humor, London, Police procedural, Rosie Amber, urban fantasy
—Samuel Johnson
Last week I wrote about walking around a strangely empty London. Like all the great world-cities, London is seen at its best from foot-level. And the best part? Crossing rivers, of course. It’s those bridges that call to me, starting with one of the very first nursery songs I ever learned. So for this week’s Friday Five Challenge, I used the keyword “LONDON” for my search. At first I was worried. Among 534,728 results, how would I choose just one? There were some fantastic covers and titles—Bizarre London, Hidden Treasures of London, Tea & Cake London—and there it was. The cover jumped out at me, the title grabbed me, and I knew this was the one: Rivers of London.
Book blurb:
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden … and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.
BUY LINKS:
- Book Title: Rivers of London
- Author: Ben Aaronovitch
- Genre: Paranormal Police Procedural
- Publisher: Gollancz (10 Jan. 2011)
- Price: $8.53 Kindle (Hardcover from $2.53)/£5.99 Kindle (Hardcover from £2.49)
- Reviews: 951 for a total of 4.3 out of 5 stars (58% 5 stars)
- Pages: 401
My Analysis: London. Detective story. Ghosts, wizards, river gods/goddesses… Urban fantasy (my all time favorite genre). Right then. I just didn’t need to hear more before pressing that BUY. But that left me with another three and a half minutes. So I took a quick glance at some of the hundreds of reviews. “spectacular laugh out loud moments” said one of the 5-star reviews. “Ben’s passion for London is also extremely apparent and makes the journey all the more interesting. A real bonus is that, if you know the locations already, it is like rediscovering them all over again.” On the critical side, some complained that it seemed unlikely that just seeing a ghost would convince the young constable of their existence. (Well, I’m not sure what else it would take, but okay…) Another one-star reviewer complained, “Imagine if you will what would have happened if Harry Potter had never gone to Hogworts but instead had joined the Metropolitan police only to be taken on as an apprentice to the last known wizard-come- detective then throw in a couple of ‘spirits’ that are more than likely unlike any you have encountered before and you have Rivers of London.” (Not sure about you, but that line alone would have sold me!)
BUY or PASS: BUY (In the interests of full disclosure, I have a confession to make here. On my audible.com account, I had some points available, so I downloaded the audio fabulously narrated by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. (You can get a preview here) The dog and I have been taking our Glasgow walks all week, but I’ve been surrounded by the sights and sounds of a slightly paranormal London.
Here is Rosie’s Friday Five Challenge. It only took five minutes and a couple more to write up, and was a ton of fun. I hope you’ll consider joining in. All Rosie asks is that you link back to her original post here so we can all join in viewing your challenge results.
AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?
Rosie Amber’s Friday Five Challenge. Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes.
My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….
- Go to any online book supplier,
- Randomly choose a category,
- Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,
- Read the book Bio/ Description for this book, and any other details.
- If there are reviews, check out a couple,
- Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?
- I’ll be back next week with another Friday Five Challenge, do feel free to join in.
Barb Taub 
What a brilliant book once you get through a long book blurb, definitely picked up for me when I read ” I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable,”. I’m not so sure about the title, my mind went off expecting a non-fiction tour of London, however the cover picture screams LONDON to all those familiar with a traditional map. Sounds like a lot of fun with some brilliant reviews, heavy on the Kindle price, I might look at the paperback option. Great challenge choice.
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It’s so true! I clicked on it solely for the cover, but the story has really captured me. It just goes to show that covers really matter.
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hello
how are you doing i hope you are fine i like you to be my friend
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Fabulous! Just been over to Audible for my copy. And thanks for the introduction to a new narrator 🙂
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He really seems perfect for this story. I know I’m hooked!
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And it’s a series! Better and better…
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I love Rivers of London. I bought it when it first came out and I have all the follow up books in hardback because i couldn’t wait to read them.
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I’m completely entranced by the audio version so far. I have a feeling it’s my next go-to series. And I love finding a series already so well-established. It means lots of no-brainer buys to come.
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This sounds great! So I went to Goodreads to add it to my list….and hit the wall of international-renaming-chaos. Really? I could see perhaps changing the name from a foreign language to perhaps make more sense linguistically, but would you have chosen a book named “Midnight Riot”? 😉
Looking forward to a new series, whatever the name (and cover too! I notice I usually prefer the UK cover to the US ones….) Great post!
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London is one place I have never been to. It’s on my list of travel spots this year! Sounds like you found a good read.
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If you’re going to London (and why not Glasgow?), you should really read this book. There is a block-by-block love affair with the city that I’ve only heard coming from one other source—New Yorkers. You would totally love London.
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