Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

[lightreads]

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Now this was a breath of fresh air. Which I guess sounds funny if I mention it’s an urban fantasy about a somewhat bumbling cop who takes a witness statement from a ghost and ends up as the apprentice to the last wizard in England. But seriously, this was a breeze of competence and sanity in a welter of bad books.



I think the most important thing is that it’s funny. Not like first person urban fantasy funny, but actually funny. And our protagonist (first person, natch) is great: he’s one of those smart guys who comes across as pretty loopy most of the time, and I completely believed the way he talked about women and his mixed race and just. *hand gestures*.



Also, the mystery is cool and creative and genuinely horrifying, and there’s this whole thing with the personified rivers that is just great. I’m bubbling, I know, but goddamn I needed a good book.



I am a leetle bit worried about how some consequences and complications will be handled in the sequel, but that's just because I'm a suspicious cuss.



Note: Book sold as Midnight Riot in the U.S.



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Comments

Re: SPOILERS

[lightreads]

but one of the things _I_ liked was that while he was aware that she was attractive, it didn't feel to me like he was that serious about hoping they would become involved, it was just a little background awareness that didn't impede their friendship, because I _want_ straightforward genuine platonic male-female friendships more often in books.



Yes, agreed. I really liked them when they were just hanging out and he wasn't thinking about it too hard. Also tangentially really liked how they both knew that she was the better cop, in the traditional sense.

[how much do I love Mama Thames and her daughters, by the way?]

Right? This much. The whole thing could have been too socially and racially on-the-nose, but it really really wasn't, and I just dug them all as characters.