AVF BC Review: Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Solomon Grundy

Let's see how we get on with this one...

Thanks for voting.

Solomon Grundy

Just a short way in but this is a different style of writing.  I like the way that the main character is sort of bantering with the reader although I can see how it may annoy some people too.  Enjoying it so far myself though, quite an unusual story.

Hillskill

I posted this in the voting thread before I saw this one:


Agreed on the writing style. Won't win any awards but its drawing me in just fine.

WibXL

I'm writing this on my iPhone so I'm going to try to keep it brief.

To begin with I wasn't too impressed with the first quarter of this book which I think was down to the fact that the main characters seemed to accept magic and the supernatural way too easily which just didn't seem realistic. I seemed to find it harder to believe that the characters were so accepting than the characters did in magic.

At some point between a quarter and a third of the way through though my brain decided to go with the flow and I found the rest of the book to be quite enjoyable if slightly confusing in places with who the actual baddie as it were was.

As a stand alone book I'd give it three out of five but now that the characters are established there's plenty to build on and I've already ordered the next book in the series.

Solomon Grundy

I really enjoyed this book for what it was...light-hearted fun.  If I stopped too long to think about what was happening I would have way too many questions which would no doubt throw up all kinds of plot holes.  I like the lead character but struggled to get a clear image of him in my head, settling for someone who looked a little bit like Craig David for some reason!  Nightingale is also an interesting character...in fact there are a lot of memorable people in the book that I would like to spend a bit more time with.

The mystery kept me guessing until it was revealed and the multiple plot threads were all entertaining.  You really do get the sense that the author knows London and has a great affection for it.  

Not as deep as some of the  other books in my initial selection but I am glad we read it.  I have purchased the 2nd book already and will start it this evening if I do not fall asleep too early.

A solid 7/10.

WibXL

I'm hoping that the next book features Molly a bit more and goes a bit deeper into her background.

Solomon Grundy

I have almost finished the 2nd book, the fact that I have rattled through it in such a short space of time gives credit to how good it is...it doesn't go into detail about Molly but does explain how she came to be at The Folly...however it goes a bit deeper into Nightingale's history and you get a lot more of Peter's parents.  It is more entertaining than the first book and better written, with a better, more bizarre story.  The author seems to have settled into the characters.  Just past 80% of the way through and the tension is building nicely for an exciting finale.

mikeycubed

Finished the book late last week and like Decadence I've immediately started the sequel. I have to say that overall I did enjoy this especially the humour but I did find it lacking in some areas. At times I felt that the author expected the reader to just accept some explanations without any real detail given and, like WibXL said, the main one was right at the start with everyone being so matter of fact about the existence of magic especially the lead character.

However this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book and I found myself being drawn into story quite quickly. I'm a big fan of historical fiction and although this isn't in that genre at all I did enjoy the bits of the book which dipped into this area. I'm looking forward to reading more of the background of Nightingale and Molly as the book revealed just enough to make me hungry for more.

Overall I'd say this was a very enjoyable read and I'll certainly be buying the next books in the series.

Good choice Decadence

Solomon Grundy

Glad you enjoyed it...there is quite a bit of pressure to select books you have never read!

I must admit to liking the way the existence of magic was all so matter of fact.  It kind of added to the humour because it was an amusing way to react to something totally bizarre.  The second book expands on Nightingale more than Molly  but it does explain how she came to live at The Folly.(I would LOVE to read a book given over to Nightingale's adventures in World War II - his anecdote about the taking out of a German tank with his magic-wielding comrades just screams to be developed further)

Toasty

I've struggled this time round, but my mindset hasn't really been in the mood (if you've read a particular previous post of mine you'll know why). So take that as you like and I'll offer these thoughts:

I grew up on Terry Pratchet, Douglas Adams, Robert Rankine, etc so I immediately recognised the humourous style, I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, especially as I've been put off fantasy in recent years and seeking out other genres. However, it did set expectations for exactly what I was about to read, a witty, albeit disjointed, ripping yarn.

I'm also a fan of recent TV shows such as Being Human, Supernatural, True blood etc. And again, fantasy world meeting "ordinary people" has been dealt with a lot recently. I'd say Rivers of London dealt with it ok, but I'm getting a little tired of the bloke gets introduced to lots of fantastical stuff and has to accept it or bury head in sand type deal..

But again, once you accept this yourself, the book gets going .. but then it started going off the rails a bit for me with the whole Punch and Judy thing. It felt like one of those comedy episodes from Supernatural where they go off main story arc and add a daft season filler. This is fine for a 45 minute TV show, but for a 400 page novel, it started getting a bit much.

Once upon a time I'd have read a book like this in a couple of days, yet its took me several weeks, this could be my current mindset or just as probable, "the seen it all before" syndrome. Which doesn't mean this is a bad book, its just competing in a very crowded market at the moment.