From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)

Ben Aaronovitch

Start date: August 1, 2022

Finish date: August 31, 2022

Discussion: Rivers of London

Why we're reading this: aka Midnight Riot. No longer the Jan Brady of S&L!
[close] aka Midnight Riot. No longer the Jan Brady of S&L!

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 13 topics — 240 comments total

Rivers of London

The Stranger Times
By John · 1 post · 23 views

last updated Mar 19, 2023 01:03AM

ROL: The most accurate depiction of policing in Literature?
By Sophie · 12 posts · 103 views

last updated Sep 21, 2022 09:51AM

showing 10 of 51 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 20, 2017 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hoopla, read2017, ebooks, audiobook, sci-fi-fantasy

For some reason I was seeing this book everywhere, even though it came out in 2011, both in this cover and title and the UK edition, Rivers of London

Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1) by Ben Aaronovitch

I started reading the Kindle deal version I had but people kept mentioning the audio, so I found it in Hoopla. The narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, is amazing. There were moments where I realized I wasn't really paying much attention to the story but absolutely enjoying his performance of it. (I've heard the story improves in following volumes.) ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2017 Eric rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-mystery, urban-fantasy

I added this to my to-read list after reading this review:

"The series has a slightly lighter touch than some of the other nominees (except when it oh so very much doesn’t), and that’s kinda great, lending a bit of variety to the slate by reminding us that a work can be a little bit fun and funny without being any less brilliant. An extensive, engaging cast and an eye toward the myths and history of London are among the highlights of Aaronovitch’s fantasy police procedural series following Peter I added this to my to-read list after reading this review:

"The series has a slightly lighter touch than some of the other nominees (except when it oh so very much doesn’t), and that’s kinda great, lending a bit of variety to the slate by reminding us that a work can be a little bit fun and funny without being any less brilliant. An extensive, engaging cast and an eye toward the myths and history of London are among the highlights of Aaronovitch’s fantasy police procedural series following Peter Grant, a Metropolitan London cop whose unexpected encounter with a ghost leads to his recruitment by a branch of the police whose job is to handle magic and the supernatural. His cases range from the ridiculous (murderous puppets) to the unusual (magical jazz), often touching on crimes that infect our real world (teen drug overdoses) that turn out to have supernatural causes. And we just can’t say enough about his vision of an alternate London, one in which squabbling gods defend their territories and settle old grudges, with humans as their tools—or innocent victims."

Having now read it, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Every now and again, I read a few too many uninspired, derivative books in a row and quit reading for a spell — which was some form of literary burnout, I suppose. It happened about ten years ago, when I thought I was forever done reading fantasy novels, having mined the depths of the genre to the point that all that remained was drek. But then I read The Name of the Wind on a friend's recommendation, and it breathed new life into the genre for me, reinvigorating my love of the fantasy genre and reading in general.

The same thing happened to me with this novel. Everything I was reading was starting to come off as a copy of a copy, to the point I couldn't remember which plot-lines were from which series, and I was getting less and less excited about picking up anything new at all. I still kept up on a few series, but otherwise took a hiatus. Then I saw the above review, and for whatever reason it really resonated with me, so I picked up the first book from the library. And I was so impressed with it that by the time I was halfway through the first book, I had already ordered the second, Moon Over Soho.

So yes, it's a magic-is-real-in-the-modern-world story. So it's not reinventing the wheel. But it's extremely self aware, is very well written, and the main character has such a strong, clear voice, that it's just a pleasure to read. It doesn't bog down in too much minutiae of how magic works, but gives enough that the rules are clear. It feels similar to Neil Gaiman in how strong the vision of the characters and world is, how sharp and focused the language is, and for the subtle undercurrent of (occasionally gallows) humor, but it in no way feels imitative. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2015 Peter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned, kindle, 2016

I really enjoyed this book, a fun mystery that was really clever and laugh out loud funny regularly. Peter Grant is a really believable character and the mythology around the story was convincing.

I can't wait to start the next. ...more

Like · see review

Jan 20, 2014 travelgirlut rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars. British murder mystery with ghosts and vampires and the like. I liked it for the same reason I love me some British television: snarky British humor. Plus there were references to Doctor Who and Star Wars and all sorts of nerdiness.

Things I didn't like: way too many in depth descriptions of buildings; similarly unnecessary lengthy sets of directions on how to get from one place to the other. I found myself skimming anytime the scene was changing as that's when these lengthy descriptio ...more

Like · see review