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Search tags: Ben-Aaronovitch
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review 2020-06-09 15:53
Whispers Under Ground
Whispers Under Ground - Ben Aaronovitch

by Ben Aaronovitch

 

The stories in this series have a way of building on the established world, but always adding something new. This one nearly lost me when the nature of a peripheral character started to sound too much like it was borrowing from the teenage Paranormal Romance genre, but it recovered nicely and turned out to be one of the best in the series so far.

 

A new adventure for Peter Grant takes him underground, well, to the London Underground where tales of sewer creatures and secret tunnels always provide plenty of scope to extrapolate a good story setting. Watching this character develop along with his magical abilities is definitely one of the strengths of the series.

 

Magic, supernatural creatures and superior officers who don't want to know are all part of the job, right?

 

Anything else I can say will give spoilers, so I'll just move on to the next one in the series and simply say, this was good.

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review 2020-05-28 14:41
The Furthest Station
The Furthest Station - Ben Aaronovitch

by Ben Aaronovitch

 

This seventh book in the Rivers of London series is shorter than the others, just over 100 pages. I was pleased to be dealing with ghosts again as they have a lot of scope for interesting situations and glimpses of history.

 

I also enjoyed the return to dealing a little with river spirits, bringing it full circle. This one has an old fashioned Mystery element in that someone has been kidnapped and cryptic hints from ghosts are all Peter Grant and company have to go on to try to find the missing girl.

 

The book makes an enjoyable, short read and I feel returns to the vibe of the first book in a way that is satisfying to someone who has been reading through the whole series.

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review 2020-05-12 13:33
Moon Over Soho
Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch

by Ben Aaronovitch

 

This is the second book in the Rivers of London series and takes our friendly magician/cop into the world of Jazz.

 

It pretty much stands alone and I get the feeling that all the books will be stand alone adventures, but with overlapping threads. A few tendrils from the first story work into this one but not in a way that would prevent someone from getting the full effect of this one if they read it first.

 

There was some unexpected sexual content that bordered on the graphic. It caught me by surprise because there was none if the first book. It wasn't quite enough to spoil it though.

 

Overall, I didn't find this one quite up to the first book's standard, but it was still enjoyable and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.

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review 2020-04-30 13:14
Foxglove Summer
Foxglove Summer: A Rivers of London Novel - Ben Aaronovitch

by Ben Aaronovitch

 

I've read most of this series and really enjoyed it, though I think this one slowed down a little from the previous books. Peter Grant has a different sort of case. He's helping another department track down two missing girls and it isn't clear at the beginning that his special talents are warranted for the case, although police departments have been known to use the skills of psychics when all else fails. As it happens, a 'weird' aspect to the case does develop.

 

This one was more overtly sexual than previous books as well. Peter's growing relationship with Beverley, the river goddess, has some odd twists and turns but overall seems to be developing into something that might last. Where it could go under the circumstances is open to speculation.

 

The magic has become almost routine now so the initial discovery of arcane skills doesn't have as much room to grow. Believability barriers are also getting nudged a little further than earlier books, but that's inevitable in a series like this.

 

Overall it was an enjoyable read, but I feel like the series is winding down. Having said that, there was an unexpected twist or two near the end. I still haven't got the last book and might not mind waiting a while before I do read it, though I'm sure I will sometime.

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review 2020-04-17 20:48
The October Man ★★★☆☆
The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch

Although an interesting diversion in the Rivers of London series, this story suffers from the lack of any Peter Grant at all. I liked his German counterpart, but he just didn't have Peter's sass. 

 

Sam Peter Jackson's narration was excellent, but this might have been better for me in the text version rather than audio. I am unused to hearing German-accented English, so I had to listen more carefully than usual, and my unfamiliarity with German names, geography, and cultural references made me want to stop and linger over the words and look up the places and references. Which, from an audio format, I didn't even know how to spell for a simple Google search. 

 

It got me thinking about how Anglo-centric my reading is. I've tried to broaden my book selections (via Book Riot's We Need Diverse Books campaign) over the last few years, but nearly everything I read is set in primarily English and Spanish speaking countries written by authors from those places. I really need to start seeking out modern/current literature from the rest of the world. 

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