Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

[lightreads]

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So when the summary of this book came out – Peter goes to the countryside – I assumed it would be a monster-of-the-week book. And it is, though clearly also a lot of setup. Which is actually the salient feature of this book – it convinced me that Aaronovitch hasn't even put all his pieces on the board yet, let alone started moving them.

So anyway. Yes, this book suffers from a tragic deficit of Nightingale. And also a tragic deficit of London, a character in her own right. And yes, the ending is abrupt as hell. (And speaking of, apparently only the Waterstones edition has the short story epilogue? I can only assume to boost special edition sales. What is this dead tree bullshit, I ask you?)

But, Peter is still Peter. And there actually is enough architecture in the country for him to geek over. And the occasionally slow march of this book's rather obvious plot was interrupted, every fifty pages or so, by Peter wham breaking my heart out of nowhere. So yeah. Still worth it.

P.s. This book does present an obvious theory about the Faceless Man's identity/origins, which is so obvious I can only assume it's not true? We'll see.



View all my reviews

Comments

[gnomad]

Yeah, I'm thinking the Faceless thing might be too obvious. The fans on tumblr think it's him, and the people on tumblr are seriously the world's worst at getting plots before they happen. They are so bad at guessing plots that it becomes embarrassment squick reading for me, so whenever they are firmly convinced of something, I am called upon to question what I know.

[metaphortunate]

Aaah! Didn't know this was out! This is excellent news.

Books like this are designed for me. I am so incredibly crap at guessing plots. I don't think I'm a stupid person, but for some reason, that's my blind spot. And I don't mind, because it means I enjoy these extremely obvious books more than anyone else.

[readerjane]

*sniff* Not available in my region yet. *looks piteous*

[monanotlisa]

it convinced me that Aaronovitch hasn't even put all his pieces on the board yet, let alone started moving them.

Yes! I recalled Peter's musings about fairies -- Midsummernight's Dream, to be precise -- earlier and how I had wondered even then how this particular changeling lore would fit into the universe as Nightingale knows it; PRESTO, here we go exploring it!

Yes, this book suffers from a tragic deficit of Nightingale.

There is much hotness and also mystery with the Nightingale, it's true...but I tend to find myself so terribly distracted when he's nearby that I was almost-glad we got a book for Countryside Magic and Beverley Brook Having Her Own Agenda.

This book does present an obvious theory about the Faceless Man's identity/origins, which is so obvious I can only assume it's not true? We'll see

Wait, what? If you can state your speculation without any THE HANGING TREE spoilers, that'd be grand. (I'm not usually stupid when consuming books or media, but now I feel that way.)

[lightreads]

Oh, sure, the Faceless Man theory being that he was either David Mellenby -- somehow -- or more likely was taught by him. Mostly because I find it hard to believe that whole thing was dropped in just to illuminate Nightingale -- it seems like it must be for something else, too. And after Hanging Tree I have new guesses about what, but I will refrain.

[monanotlisa]

Aha, thanks!

Interesting point about David Mellenby. I've seen him pop up as a past partner of Nightingale's in fic; that theory (at least at this point, at the end of 'Foxglove Summer') makes sense to me but is, to be perfectly honest, not particularly exciting: Yes, yes, Fallen Brother In Arms, etc. pp., so it has resonance for Nightingale in an emotional sense. But am I missing how it would be essential to the plot?

[lightreads]

Oh yes, that's why I said it was so obvious as to surely not be the answer. The problem with the Faceless Man for me was that you don't obscure your face without a very specific reason. And in books that reason is usually that we already know who this person is. But there just really weren't that many viable options of characters we had met who could plausibly also be Faceless. So David Mellenby popped right out on that short list. Of course [extended redacted Hanging Tree commentary about the Faceless Man and facelessness in these books as a thematic statement] so there's that.

[monanotlisa]

I hear you; obscuring the identity of a villain does indicate it's someone known.

One point for the series is, I guess, that there really aren't that many options for the Faceless Man, because there are so few White dudes who matter. If the FM isn't Nightingale himself, the FM's identity basically has no plot relevance (the other White dudes are either too old, like Peter's father, too big, like Seawoll, or have no real meaning so far, like Caffrey, whose name I literally had to look up).

[lightreads]

Ha! Yes, that is a good point.