Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

[lightreads]

Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A somewhat inconsequential book that thoroughly convinced me of the deep consequence of this series.

Well, okay, a stepping stone book. One of those that doesn’t overtly advance the arc, but instead peels off for a side adventure with occasional flickers of bigger things, and you get the sense that you’ll be looking back in three or four books and going “ah, I see,” even though right now it doesn’t feel like much.

But the thing is, I came out the other side completely convinced that this series is going big or going home, baby. This was a deceptively mild book about pockets of magic in our modern world – the Folly and also spoiler – and what happens when the twain meet. And what happens when people cross into magical awareness, how it can go wrong and also so, so right. And I think the thing I’ll be saying in three or four books is actually, “ah, that was the finger exercise, yes I see.” I’ll bet you now: there’s a plan, and it’s a long game, and it’s a big one.

Also, I love them all to the point of embarrassing hand gestures, so there.




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Comments

[kate_nepveu]

I opened this file up, read the first few page-equivalents, said "eeee I love them so!" (Leslie's response to why she's wearing a mask!), and then closed it because I was afraid sleep deprivation would not let me do justice to it.

But I'm glad to hear that you liked it and still love them.

[lightreads]

I have one word: Yuletide!

[kate_nepveu]

I volunteer to beta for anyone who writes in this fandom!

[significantowl]

eee, awesome. I didn't love the second one as much as the first, so I hadn't gotten properly excited about starting this one yet. But now, yay.

[lightreads]

Exact same reaction to the second one. I liked it much better on reread, but the whole girlfriend angle was -- *faces*.