***SPOILERS***
I've always had a little bit of a soft spot for those books that are "superficially supernatural". By that I mean books which involve some kind of magic but still manage to retain a world or a universe which is essentially our own. "Hidden Worlds" I guess would be a good way of describing them.
The most contemporary example of this would be the Harry Potter books, which layer a whole new world on top of the one we know and love - but in a way that makes you think, "it couldn't be, could it"?
Don't get me wrong, I love sweeping epics and mounds of swords and sorcery. Sometimes a bit of intrigue and subtlety is no bad thing though. Rivers of London is one of those stories, set in a world that is at once familiar but slightly twisted at the same time.
I thought I'd be lazy and quote the Wikipedia entry for this book - simply because it sums everything up pretty well without me having to do too much thinking!
The novel centres around the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police; who, following an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural.
Peter Grant, having become the first English apprentice wizard in over seventy years, must immediately deal with two different but ultimately inter-related cases. In one he must find what is possessing ordinary people and turning them into vicious killers, and in the second he must broker a peace between the two warring gods of the River Thames
Does it work? Well, kind of. Sometimes it feels as though a bit too much is being attempted in one story - and I'm not sure the two strands are woven together as well as they could have been. Also, the plot seems to move with a strange sense of pace, it feels as though we are taking our time getting going and then rushing a bit towards the end. However, this is often the case with the first book of a new series and it's not by any stretch a poor book because of it.
I do love the style it is written in (first person with a nice helping of sarcasm) and the main characters are three dimensional enough to hold your attention through the story. Plus the twist in the tale is quite ingenious and there is plenty here which is different and clever enough to lift it above the crowd.
The balance between the mundane and the supernatural is portrayed nicely and the level of research, particularly into the geography and layout of London, deserves praise. This is a person who genuinely enjoys and cares about what he is writing and it shows.
I'll definitely be reading the later books so there is obviously something about this one that has intrigued me. Certainly the world of Rivers of London is bigger than this single book so it will be interesting to see how Aaronovitch evolves his universe and the characters within it.
Overall this is no instant classic nor towering epic. But there is definitely enough here for an enjoyable read and to whet the appetite for what my be to come in the future.
Verdict: A decent enough read on its own but with the hint of more to come - 4 stars out of 5
Next on the reading list was Bill Bryson's adventures in Europe - a topic close to my heart with all my travels recently. Hopefully I'll cobble something together for that tomorrow, but then again I always say that!!
Till next time,
DT
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