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Fantasy.
Fiction.
Mystery.
Probationary constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he'll face is a paper cut. But Peter's prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter's ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.… (more)
riverwillow: Both 'Neverwhere' and 'Rivers of London' (US title 'Midnight Riot') evoke a magical fairy tale London which sometimes feels more authentic then any real life guide to the city.
conceptDawg: Just testing here. But normally I would have a lot of content in this part of the recommendation.
souloftherose: It's difficult to explain this recommendation without giving spoilers to one or other of the books. There were certain plot elements to Rivers of London/Midnight Riots which made me think of The Big Over Easy. And both books have a well-developed sense of humour.… (more)
fhprice: Besides the urban setting and police procedural genre similarities, both have protagonists with a snarky "we're just cogs making witty observations about the machine" voices. Wicked humor.
andreas.wpv: Different type of protagonist and friends, but dealing with the un- or supernatural, solving crimes and preventing disasters.
This is very similar though in style and tone, mood of the story. It is tense, yes, but holds no horror or exceeding brutality. The protagonist is human, and like a human, and the story has an undercurrent of kindness that many novels miss. And it is funny at times, from gentle humor to laugh out loud.… (more)
LongDogMom: Both series feature British police who deal with supernatural crime and both are more creative and well written than the average urban fantasy
Like a pool ball, on the baize of a pool table, on a riverboat, on choppy waters, I found myself to-ing-and-fro-ing over 'The Rivers of London'. I hadn't particularly read the blurb closely and was therefore surprised as to the supernatural ambience of the tale; I took this in my stride and found the initial brushes with magic, wizardry and other mystic forces well-handled and quasi-believable within the book's format. It was clear Aaronovitch was well versed in history, his beloved city, the police force and everything else he wrote about, which made the story interesting and impressive - it gave a feeling of you being in a capable storyteller's hands. I suppose though, this was also the novel and writer's undoing: the protagonist, tale and as result, reader, became so embroiled in specific, obtuse facets of plot that it all seemed to grind down in its pace and effectiveness as the story should have been gripping and page-turning. instead I felt that avenues were forced, that the author had planned the tapestry-like narrative in such cross referenced detail, that the mystique disappeared and the happenings were glaringly more far-fetched and unbelievable. Don't get me wrong, there were parts of the book I really enjoyed and I think Aaronovitch is an intelligent and interesting writer but I think in his quest to make it all make sense, he lost the vim and vigour he has successfully created previously. Don't over-egg the pie, or something like that. ( )
Utterly marvelous and imaginative urban fantasy set in London and surprisingly absorbing. I only meant to read a few pages while my Kindle rebooted and haven't been able to put it down much this weekend.
Great characters, engaging and fun mystery, and like the blurbs note, it's like Harry Potter as a police procedural.
I'd been meaning to read this series for a while thanks to a good review from Charles de Lint in F&SF, but only now got around to reading this. Now I can't wait to nab the second book and keep reading about Peter Grant, apprentice wizard and probationary constable for London's Metropolitan police force. :) ( )
I was encouraged, nay, urged to read this book by my beloved bride. (She is already in at least the 4th book in the series at this point.) Who am I to resist such entreaties? (Even though she never reads the things I encourage her to take up.) And true to the promise, the book was really enjoyable. The main characters are well sketched out, the plot points unexpected (at least to me, an only occasional mystery reader). What I particularly appreciated was the thorough description of where locations were in relation to one another. I've never been to London. I'm familiar enough with many of the names of places and monuments there. But Aaronovitch gives us the courtesy of putting places in context to one another, which makes the whole story feel more real and grounded. [Audiobook note: The reader, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, was excellent. For example, when reading sections where the first-person character had been running, KHS would be breathing heavily, giving a sense of immediacy to the story.] ( )
Very enjoyable. Aaranovitch had a pleasant writing style that is particularly witty at times. I liked all the river characters and their interaction with Peter. I thought the story line was alright but could use some work. Some of the solutions and plans were supposed to be clever, I think, but to me it was a bit as if they were just falling from the sky, without much logic to it. Solutions ex machina... ( )
Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College by Thomas Gray
Dedication
In memory of Colin Ravey, because some people are too large to be contained by just the one universe.
First words
It started at one thirty on a cold Tuesday morning in January when Martin Turner, street performer and, in his own words, apprentice gigolo, tripped over a body in front of the West Portico of St Paul's at Covent Garden.
Quotations
He sliced it in half to show us the interior. It looked like a diseased cauliflower. ”And this ,” said Dr. Walid, “is your brain on magic.”
I returned to the coach house with a packet of marigold gloves and my Uncle Tito’s Numatic vacuum cleaner. Let me tell you – a thousand watts of suckage makes a big difference
The chip that handled RF conversion was superficially intact, but had suffered microscopic pitting across its entire surface. The patterns reminded me of Mr. Coopertown’s brain. This was my phone on magic, I thought.
(Tyburn discounts Peter’s authority over the Folly) - “I am a sworn constable,” I said. “And that makes me an officer of the law. And I am an apprentice, which makes me a keeper of the sacred flame, but most of all I am a free man of London and that makes me a Prince of the City.”
Mr. Punch was running for his afterlife, but I was gaining.
Detective Chief Inspector Alexander Seawoll…was from Yorkshire or somewhere like that and, like many Northerners with issues, he’d moved to London as a cheap alternative to psychotherapy.
“You put a spell on the dog,” I said as we left the house. ”Just a small one,” said Nightingale. ”So magic is real,” I said. “Which makes you a …what?” ”A wizard.” ”Like Harry Potter?” Nightingale sighed, “No,” he said. “Not like Harry Potter.” ”In what way?” ”I’m not a fictional character,” said Nightingale.
The voice belonged to a plump, round-faced woman of the sort that develops a good personality because the alternative is suicide.
Last words
"Don't worry, it's basically just like the country," I said. "Only with more people".
Fantasy.
Fiction.
Mystery.
Probationary constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he'll face is a paper cut. But Peter's prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter's ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.
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Haiku summary
The name's Peter Grant. I'm a police constable and trainee wizard. (passion4reading)
Complex plot features river gods and goddesses, old magic and ghosts. (passion4reading)
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