The Folly Irregulars discussion

Here's his home page for the Folly:

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

I follow him with my RSS. I like this blog really much.

Not being from London, I'm kicking myself for not knowing about the maps Aaronovitch has on there (but also not too hard since, if you go to the full thing, there's a list/legend that apparently spoils every plot point, which I'm assuming also applies to the other maps for the sequels). Otherwise, it's cool to have this to help visualise where's where.

James wrote: "Not being from London, I'm kicking myself for not knowing about the maps Aaronovitch has on there (but also not too hard since, if you go to the full thing, there's a list/legend that apparently sp..."

Yes, it's really awesome :D

Carol. wrote: "Here's his home page for the Folly:

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo..."

Thanks for sharing! :) That will be my additional home for entertainment :)

Caro wrote: "I follow him with my RSS. I like this blog really much."

I never mastered the RSS feed. I mean, I did have Google reader, but since that was discontinued, I haven't figured out a convenient/easy way to do it.

James wrote: "Not being from London, I'm kicking myself for not knowing about the maps Aaronovitch has on there (but also not too hard since, if you go to the full thing, there's a list/legend that apparently sp..."

I really want a Grant London tour.

It looks like Aaronovitch is on book tour, but I think I'll drop him an email about the group in January or so.

Carol. wrote: "It looks like Aaronovitch is on book tour, but I think I'll drop him an email about the group in January or so."

That sounds so cool! (totally fangirling here)

As for RSS I use Bamboo app for my Firefox (on PC) and it's all easy-peasy. :)

Hmm. thanks for the idea.

Carol. wrote: "Hmm. thanks for the idea."

You're welcome!

Because I'm evil... hardcover, $14 on sale right now.

http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Han...

Carol.: you are evil! I'm covering my eyes and loudly saying "la, la, la, la...!"

Though I'm also jumping up and down about you dropping him an email about us fans in early 2017.

Went to three bookstores in the US yday looking for Moon over Soho, two good independents and a B&N megastore. Not a single book by Aaronovitch in any of them. Ben should fire his US publisher and get someone who knows what they're doing. The US covers are terrible (as I've noted elsewhere I would not have picked up the US cover had I not read friends reviews on GR). The title change to Midnight Riot was dumb. And what US editions I have found (on Amazon and offers from the bookstores to order) are all small format paperback which I never buy, preferring the large format. Even my library, which is rated in the top 100 libraries for its size in the country, only carries a few Peter Grant titles, one in book form (small PB) and three audio. The US publisher is clearly not doing their job.

I was looking up something about the timeline of Rivers of London on the internet and there I found this:

List of short stories

and this:

Transcript of the short story "The King of Rats"
and this is the video from that the transcript was made.

Has anyone heard of those? And are there maybe some Brits among us who could get their hands on those special Waterstones editions? I love to read those stories. I would even take copys or scans.

Has anyone heard somthing about plans for a short story collection?

Stephen wrote: "Went to three bookstores in the US yday looking for Moon over Soho, two good independents and a B&N megastore. Not a single book by Aaronovitch in any of them. Ben should fire his US publisher and ..."

Excellent point. I don't know anything about the industry, really, except that I never see pre-releases on NetGalley or Edelweiss, and I think Gollancz' site said they wouldn't take U.S. readers. So clearly under-promoted. I'm not even sure I saw anything on the GR Newsletter, and they're always telling me about authors I've read and their new releases (usually series I didn't care about).

I was initially surprised by all the UF Dresden fans who had never read Peter Grant. Now I'm just a little sad, because I want Aaronovitch to keep writing.

There's a review of The Hanging Tree today on tor.com: Magic and Other Weird Bollocks: The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

And in case my html is misbehaving: http://www.tor.com/2017/01/30/book-re...

Your html wasn't, but the link worked. Thanks! I enjoy Liz's reviews.

Quick article on multiculturalism and Peter Grant: http://www.star2.com/culture/books/bo...

Is it just me or has Aaronovitch added some more books/stories to the timeline? I seem to remember that after Hanging Tree there once followed an untitled book 7, now inbetween there are one short story and what looks like two additional graphic novels. Anyone knows anything about this?

No, but now I want to know more!

Oh man, oh man. News release and temptation for a new novella--I know I'll cave--

New novella:

http://subterraneanpress.com/slider-t...

Podcast:

http://bestsellerexperiment.com/ep22-...

Jumping up and down with glee!!!

I'm excited too, but $40 for preorder and $250.00 for the special edition?!?! O_O I hope that's a typo.

I am not sure what subterranean press is? Looks like limited editions? I love their out of print catalog, the big teases. Though I love Clean Sweep quite a bit, I wouldn't pay $75 for it. I'd buy Ben's novella though.

It looks like Subterranean Press specializes in signed limited editions only? But even so, those prices boggle my mind.

Yeah, I don't know. I was trying to figure that out as well. And not sure why $75 for Andrews as they had did it free on the web and like to support availability for their fans. Collectors editions, I suppose, and it sounds like extra special artwork? Maybe also heavy paper?

Subterranean press does short prints runs of novellas, novels. I have one hardcover by Peter Beagle published by them.
There's generally some artwork in the hardcovers, and sometimes the books are signed. The paper is good quality, too.
I think the small number of books published is why the prices are so high.

Well, I signed up for their mailing list so I'll hear about books in the future (I wish I had known when they had Bridge of Birds, which I can only find in small mass-market copy).
Thanks for the quality validation, Lata.

Here's an article about that novella, "The Furthest Station", published by Subterranean Press:
http://www.tor.com/2017/03/01/metropo...

Good to know that there will be a version for those of us who can't afford to spend 40+$ on a single book. I can wait three month.

And nice to hear Aaronovitch is thinking about writing some more novellas.

Agreed! I can't afford to spend $40+ either on one novella. I find that if you wait a little while, Subterranean Press usually releases an ebook version of some of their titles.

2 Aaronovitch + Kobna Holdbrook-Smith interviews

2013
Ben+Kobna Interview 1

2016
Ben+Kobna interview 2

Oh, cool--an early interview. Thanks for sharing here, Hank!

I have just seen that The Furthest Station is announced on Amazon.de for the 21st of September this year.

And its said to have 240 pages Ô_ô. WTF there are author out there who don't write full fledged novels this long.

240 pages for a novella?!? I agree, Miriam!

Oooh, that's exciting. I really wish he would work more on the full books. I suspect his history as a bookseller means he is partial to supporting smaller endeavors... but honestly, the man deserves/needs better distribution so he can have a bestseller and then spend all his time writing.

He should know that all of us will be reading the upcoming novellas, along with any more RoL stories.
You are right about it being past time he had a bestseller, since his stories are so good.

I just noticed there's a new category in the Hugo Awards this year: BEST SERIES. And the Peter Grant is one of the nominations. O_O

I don't normally read through these nominations posts, just the Best Novel and sometimes Best Novella and Best Short Stories noms, so I almost completely missed the new category. It's near the bottom of the post, right before the John Campbell award.

Best Series (1393 votes)
•The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone (Tor Books)
•The Expanse by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK)
•The October Daye Books by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair)
•The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean)
•The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK)
•The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

Those are some mighty competition.

Woo hoo!
I hadn't noticed that, Mimi, when I skimmed the Hugo nominations.

I just noticed that the ebook of The Furthest Station is available for preorder in Canada for $9.99.

The hardcover will be released in June, but the ebooks won't be out until September. :(

Thanks for pointing out the series nom, Mimi. I missed it as well, and you are right, that is some stiff competition.

Glad the furthest station will be issued as a cheaper ebook. Aaronovitch really deserves a bigger audience.

Speaking of, I now get Suberranean Press emails and they have an excerpt of The Furthest Station:

http://subterraneanpress.com/aaronovi...

It's very short, but its a dialogue between Peter and Nightingale planning to go ghost-hunting.

On Amazon Germany the ebook it's on preorder for 7,99€ currently.

But the price has increased in the last weeks. I preordered for 6,71€ only three weeks ago. And if the previous books are any indication, it will increase further. None of them was below 9,99€ on publishing date.

Yeah, it's likely the price will increase, so I'm debating whether or not to pre-order now. And if so, what edition? I really like the cover, so probably gonna go with the hardcover.

Carol. wrote: "Speaking of, I now get Suberranean Press emails and they have an excerpt of The Furthest Station:

http://subterraneanpress.com/aaronovi...

It's very short, but its a dialogue bet..."

LOL, that excerpt. I wouldn't mind if the whole book is like that, just Peter and Nightingale hunting ghosts and being quippy.

That excerpt's good! And I'm so glad Jaget and Abigail are back.

I thought so too. I keep thinking of Kumar saying, "Mr. Crispy" as read by Kobna. :D

What got me laughing were the "giant spiders and centaurs". Aaronovitch really has a spot for Harry Potter, has he?

BTW: Does any one of you know the Spellcrackers.com Series? Because I stumbled about the announcement for book five The Hidden Rune of Iron on Amazon Germany and found this description:

The fifth and final novel in the Spellcrackers series, this is a brilliant and action-filled adventure that's packed with humour, magic, romance, and even a few revelations. You can also expect the cameo appearance of a few characters from Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant novels! THE HIDDEN RUNE OF IRON is a cracking end to a fantastic story.