Lesa's Book Critiques: WINTER’S GIFTS BY BEN AARONOVITCH

 Lesa's Book Critiques: WINTER’S GIFTS BY BEN AARONOVITCH

Jeanne Reviews: Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

In the third of the marvelous and magical Rivers of London series, magician’s apprentice Peter Grant finds himself involved in an international incident.  American college student James Gallagher is found murdered in the tube near Baker Street.  The complications include not only vestige, signs that magic was involved in the murder, but also James Gallagher was the son of a U.S. Senator and an FBI agent is on the way to investigate.  It’s going to take a lot of finesse to keep the supernatural aspects way in the background until Peter and Inspector Nightingale (the last registered wizard in England) figure out just who or what caused Gallagher’s death.

It’s a trail that is going to take Peter back through several generations of a tangled family history, through underground tunnels, sewers, and other fun places

I’m trying to pace myself with this series because I enjoy the books so much and am going to be sad when I get caught up and have to wait a year or two for the next book to appear. I love the way Aaronovitch takes folklore and bends and blends it to make something fresh and new. I also love the way he drops in bits of London and British history as well as some social commentary along the way.  Most of all, I love the way he mixes adventure, magic, and humor.  For example, Peter has let slip to his West African mother that his work also involves the supernatural, which she likes because “she considered witchfinding a more respectable profession than policeman.”

My only quibble with this one had to do with jacket copy, not the book itself.  The jacket says that the FBI agent is “a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh year—that’s going to go well.” The phrasing led me to believe there would some fireworks or confrontation which never materialized. Sure, Peter is anxious to keep the magic aspects from her but I would expect that he’d be circumspect about magic around anyone he didn’t know well.  As I said, it’s a quibble.

This is a series you will want to read in order.

Jeanne Reviews: Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

 

The second book in the Rivers of London series finds Peter Grant firmly ensconced in The Folly, learning magic from Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last policeman/wizard in London.  While progress is being made, Peter is still trying to master some of the basics.  He is getting good at recognizing vestiga, those hints of magic imprinted in places after incidents. This comes in handy when he’s called to the scene of a crime and hears snatches of jazz music as part of the vestiga. A few inquiries reveal that there have been several jazz musicians who have died suddenly in recent weeks.  An amazing coincidence? Perhaps not.

There are also reports of a woman who has been assaulting me in a.. um.. unique manner that definitely sounds out of the ordinary.  With his boss needing to stay on the sidelines after a near-fatal incident, Peter is snooping about on his own.

This follow-up to Midnight Riot (US title) is just as amazing as its predecessor.  Aaronvitch creates memorable characters.  Peter is modern, cheeky, and impetuous while Nightingale is definitely old school, as in World War II.  The combination reminds me a bit of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, which is not a bad thing. The supporting characters are also well defined, though they are viewed through Peter’s perspective.

Personally, I love all the information on London and its history that Peter tosses out as he goes, usually in an amusing fashion.  This is similar to what I love about Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May:  Peculiar Crimes Unit series, and they also investigate crimes that may or may not have a supernatural origin.  The big difference is that Aaronovitch commits completely to the concept that there are magical things afoot (or afloat) while Fowler sometimes gives plausible alternate explanations and lets the reader decide if there was anything supernatural going on.

I also like folklore, so I thoroughly enjoy how Aaronovitch takes such elements and puts a twist on them. 

I’m finding the series to be highly addictive, and I’m ready to take on the third book in the series.  At some point I’m also going to check out the graphic novel version, but I harbor suspicions that I’m going to prefer the version I see when I read rather than someone else’s interpretation.

Books in the series to date (best read in order):

Midnight Riot aka Rivers of London

Moon Over Soho

Whispers Under Ground

Broken Homes

Foxglove Summer

The Hanging Tree

Lies Sleeping False Value

Amongst Our Weapons

Jeanne Reviews: Midnight Riot aka The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is a young mixed race probationary constable in London.  He and his friend Lesley are hoping for better assignments but at the moment they’re on call as extra warm bodies when needed—as they are one blustery evening when a body turns up in Covent Gardens. The somewhat inebriated discoverer of said body believed at first it was just a passed out drunk until he noticed it was missing a notable feature—namely, its head.

While trying to not freeze to death waiting on the Murder Investigation Team to do its work, Peter catches sight of a potential witness to the crime, one Nicholas Wallpenny.  He begins with his best interview techniques and the gentleman turns out to be a veritable fount of information:  he saw the whole thing and can describe exactly how the crime took place and even offer a description of the murderer.

There’s just one problem:  Nicholas is a ghost. Which he proves by vanishing.

The next thing Peter know is that he’s been assigned to Inspector Nightingale as… well, an apprentice.  Because apparently ghosts are real, magic is real, and the Things That Go Bump in the Night are also real—and dangerous. Nightingale is a one man department, so it’s not exactly a plum assignment but since the alternative was the Case Progression Unit (in which one sits and types in reports for other officers all day), Peter is willing to give it a shot.

He’s going to be for a heck of a ride.

By the way, Nightingale is a wizard—not like Harry Potter.

One of the first things I noticed was how funny this book is.  It’s not slapstick, but wry observations on London, the police, and life in general.  I also got caught up in the storylines, even if sometimes I didn’t quite understand what was going on. (The titular Rivers of London have personas and complicated relationships.)  I really wanted to know how it all was going to turn out.  Aaronovitch has a strong grasp of folklore and the history of London which he uses to full advantage.  I was also enchanted by the mini-tours of various sections of London as commented on by Peter.  It reminds me a bit of the wonderful Christopher Fowler series The Peculiar Crimes Unit aka Bryant and May.

Fun and addictive, I think I’ll be reading the whole series.

 Rivers of London aka Midnight Riot 

Moon Over Soho 

Whispers Under Ground 

Broken Homes 

Foxglove Summer 

The Hanging Tree 

Lies Sleeping 

False Value 

Amongst Our Weapons (April 2022)

 

Buried Under Books: Sunday Sharing--Scott’s Take: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London Book One) by Ben Aaronovitch

Proud Dad moment....Found out very late last night that Lelia had picked Scott's review yesterday as her Sunday Share for today. Scott is pleased and I am thrilled. 

Buried Under Books: Sunday Sharing--Scott’s Take: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London Book One) by Ben Aaronovitch

Scott's Take: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London Book One) by Ben Aaronovitch

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch is the first book in The Rivers of London series. The book is called Midnight Riot in the USA, but it is called The Rivers of London in the UK where it was first published. This book is the first in a series of books and graphic novels starring Peter Grant who is an apprentice wizard and cop. Very soon Peter Grant is going to be shuffled off to a unit that handles paperwork only due to his academic background and never going to be allowed to catch any criminals directly. This all changes when he is standing guard at the scene of a murder and a witness to the murder decides to tell Peter what happened. Except the witness did not see much and is a ghost.

 

Peter Grant soon finds himself as apprentice to Inspector Thomas Nightingale. The inspector leads a small unit of cops that are wizards too. The unit is very secretive and includes members from other services. While he gradually learns the identities of a few of the other members, it is primarily up to him and Nightingale to solve the murder while trying to make sure the public does not know there is someone or something using magic to kill people.

 

This book is part mystery, part fantasy, part politics, and part police procedural, all with a British setting and pacing. The setting of London is involved heavily and becomes a character in its own in the read. A read that is full of action, humor, and secrets. There is lots of foreshadowing and things that are a setup for the next novel in the series titled, Moon Over Soho. Unfortunately, that title is only available in eBook through my library and the hold is going to take quite some time.

 

Peter Grant relies more on his police training than his magic at this point in his life because he is still learning and he is a cop first. If the idea of cops having to see a ghost judge to get a warrant to arrest a ghost seems fun to you then this is a book for you. 

 

Midnight Riot (Rivers of London Book One)

Ben Aaronovitch

https://www.benaaronovitch.com/

Del Rey Mass Market (Ballentine Books)

http://www.delreybooks.com

February 2011

ISBN 978-0-345-52425-6

Paperback (also available in audio, eBook, and Hardback formats)

322 Pages (includes 12-page excerpt from Moon Over Soho)

My reading copy came from the Central or Downtown Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2020