Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

[Dave]

I'm currently reading this, (or I may say flying through it.)
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/ben+aaronovitch/rivers+of+london/7549869/

He is sort of like a British version of Harry Dresden. It's a mixture of supernatural and police procedural.

Ben Aaronovitch is a British TV screenwriter. He was responsible for some decent Dr. Who episodes. One of the reasons I like it is that he describes real places and describes them vividly. The other is that the situations are quite funny. The story is also very pacey.

Are the sequels Moon Over Soho and Whispers Underground as good? And how many are in the series?

Edit: Whispers Underground hasn't been released yet, so that answers one of my questions.

 

[The Judge]

I enjoyed this one, too, Dave. I thought he'd got the main character's voice just right -- even more self-deprecating than Harry Dresden! It was all very funny as you say, but for me that was a problem at the end, as it detracted from a couple of dramatic scenes a little too much. Actually, I found the ending to be rather too low-key and too protracted, though I can see why he's done it like that.

I haven't got Moon over Soho yet, as although I liked RoL I wasn't desperate to read the sequel, so if you do get it I'd be interested to know what you think.

 

[Connavar]

I hope he is better writer or user of his world than Jim Butcher.

I have been looking for this book recenlty. The police,superantural mix sounds very interesting. I like that the hero is a police.

 

[Dave]

I don't want to get spoiled so I'm going to stop reading this until I finish it. I'm not sure I can comment on Jim Butcher since I only read the first of the many books, but those seemed more steeped in the supernatural aspects, and this is much more of a jokey nature. I'll have to see if I feel that detracts from the ending for me.

 

[chopper]

I have it, though I haven't read it yet (at least, not past the first chapter). I have also read one of Ben's Doctor Who New Adventures books (The Also People), which was very well done and a sterling rip-off of Iain Banks's Culture stuff. Highly recommended if you can get hold of it anywhere - the humour doesn't detract from the story, and his 7th Doctor is actually a nasty piece of work.

 

[Lord Soth]

I have listened to both on audio books and they are very good, looking forward to his third. By the way, on audiobooks they are excellently read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

 

[Dave]

I forgot I'd said I would revisit this thread when I finished the book. I see what the Judge meant about the ending now; the book seemed to go out like a damp squib rather than an explosive firework. Mr Aaronovitch certainly knows his London history, though I found it irritating that whenever he did an info dump the character said that he knew it from a Channel 4 documentary, or a blue plaque on the wall, or some such thing. The comedy dried up a little near the end too. I did like his characterisation of the London rivers though, (but that house must have been full of younger children we never saw.)

 

[The Judge]

Actually that bit about the London rivers confused me no end. If all the country upper reaches of the rivers are gypsies whose father has been around since (?before?) the Romans, how come all but one of the town rivers are black women who only arrived in the 1950s? To me that read as a deliberate attempt at bogus multi-culturalism rather than a real reflection of the rivers' psyches. (Um... I guess real ought to be in inverted commas there...)

 

[Pyan]

If all the country upper reaches of the rivers are gypsies whose father has been around since (?before?) the Romans, how come all but one of the town rivers are black women who only arrived in the 1950s?

Because "Father Thames" and his brood withdrew from the tideway (below Teddington Lock) due to the pollution and the fouling of the river. Mama Thames and her brood moved in to a power vacuum, and made the city rivers their own - and now the river is cleaned up, they're fighting to keep them, as the menfolk want it back. Anyway, that's the way I read it. And given that his hero is the son of a white father and a black mother, I can't see the author needing to work in more multiculturalism just for effect...

Thoroughly recommend all three books, BTW - Aaronovitch has joined my elite "buy them as soon as they're issued in hardback" group of authors, which now stands at four-strong...

 

[The Judge]

I got that Father Thames had withdrawn because of the pollution etc, but why did only black women fill the vacuum? They weren't literally her daughters, after all. I realised that he wanted to mirror the narrator's own mother's origins but it just seemed contrived to me to have this stark difference of white itinerant men -v- black motherly women. (Though since I thought his father was from the Caribbean it shows how closely I read it... )

 

[Allegra]

Actually that bit about the London rivers confused me no end. If all the country upper reaches of the rivers are gypsies whose father has been around since (?before?) the Romans, how come all but one of the town rivers are black women who only arrived in the 1950s? To me that read as a deliberate attempt at bogus multi-culturalism rather than a real reflection of the rivers' psyches. (Um... I guess real ought to be in inverted commas there...)

I wondered about that too, Judge. I'd prefer he didn't emphasize skin colour.

 

[williamjm]

Are the sequels Moon Over Soho and Whispers Underground as good? And how many are in the series?

I thought Rivers of London was very entertaining and I thought it did a very good job of both the mystical elements and the real-world setting (on another forum a Metropolitan police officer commented that Aaronovitch's portrayal of the London police felt very authentic). Moon Over Soho was also good, although I thought the main plot wasn't quite as good as in RoL although it was better at developing the history of the Folly and setting up some long-term story arcs.

I'm just about to start Whispers Underground, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Montero]

Just finished this and looking forward to reading the sequel. He does have a lovely turn of phrase and had me laughing out loud at some of his one liners.

Regarding some earlier comments in this thread.

I thought it was well balanced and the ending to both plot lines was in proportion to the stories. I liked the reality level - as in the main character is still very much an apprentice and finding his way along, so had to be cunning rather than really powerful.

Not all the women for the tidal part of the Thames (and its tributaries) were of African origin. One of them for one of the more "county" tributaries was a white lady in pink twinset and pearls.

I wasn't at all bothered (didn't even notice) how the main character was passing on information from Channel 4 documentaries. Didn't jar at all - now its been pointed out I think it was in character. At bottom he was a little embarrassed to know all these things - he probably thought it not exactly in keeping with a tough early twenties policeman to know historical stuff, so saying "blue wall plate, documentary" etc allows him not to look like a swot.



DEFINITE SPOILER

I treasure the concept of turning an upmarket performance at the Royal Opera House into a Punch and Judy show. Nasty edge there.

 

[Montero]

Half way through Moon over Soho - that's good too.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I've just finished the four books in the series, having been lent Rivers of London by Alc. I found it to be an excellent series - although I agree with TJ about the whimsical voice getting in the way of some of the serious moments. The books grow stronger as the series develop and I'm left wanting more!

 

[wam]

Book 1 of the series was good enough. Book 2 seemed to lose almost all of the characters and spent a lot of time setting up something that seemed to belong to a much longer story. That's where I quit.
If you're not in Britain and you're looking for the first book in the series it had a different title in the USA (Midnight Riot).

 

[hitmouse]

I have read all 4 books and thoroughly enjoyed them. Book 4 lost momentum a little bit. There are lots of very subtle hidden jokes and pop culture references casually hidden in the text and dialogue. Good stuff.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I looked for these on Amazon, but apparently the first one is not on Kindle. Seems backward.

 

[Dave]

I have read all 4 books and thoroughly enjoyed them. Book 4 lost momentum a little bit.

I'm currently reading Book 4 and I haven't found that, though the first book is the best merely because it was first.

I looked for these on Amazon, but apparently the first one is not on Kindle. Seems backward.

Seems odd that it isn't on Kindle but maybe it is under the different US title - Midnight Riot?

Good news is there is a 5th book Foxglove Summer out in hardback in August, and in paperback next July. Now that kind of delay does seem backward.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'm currently reading Book 4 and I haven't found that, though the first book is the best merely because it was first.

Seems odd that it isn't on Kindle but maybe it is under the different US title - Midnight Riot?

Good news is there is a 5th book Foxglove Summer out in hardback in August, and in paperback next July. Now that kind of delay does seem backward.

I suspect it's to push the hardback sales. Of which I'll be one. I really liked the fourth, Dave, and the ending has me hanging on for the new one.