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A selection of short stories dramatized with a full cast. Occasionally bringing back some of the original cast. This is a reboot, so it starts from Blake’s incarceration, trial and the journey to the penal colony on the London. It’s a slightly fresh take and the characters are voiced by new actors including Colin Salmon as Avon and Derek Riddell as Blake, with a gentle Scottish accent and distinctive voice. I like the way he plays the part, almost better than the original (if that won’t bring a ton of hate-mail down on my head). Colin Salmon is excellent, though I do miss Paul Darrow’s distinctive Avon-ness. (He will always be my definitive Avon no matter how many times it’s rebooted.) There’s a new crew-member, Mezzin, and, of course Zen. Callie doesn’t appear in the first season. The second season consists of a selection of character backstories (including Callie). It’s all very interesting. Some stories are shorter than others, some more complex and absorbing. I must admit I enjoyed ‘When Vila met Gan’ which featured Michael Keating (the original Vila). Many of the stories are written by Ben Aaronovitch, who apart from writing the Rivers of London series, was a Dr Who writer, so has a lot of experience with drama scripts. I gather from the making-of feature at the end, he also oversaw the other writers to bring coherence to the project. Well worth a listen, if, like me, you are a Blake’s 7 fan.
Another outing for Peter Grant and the Folly – that branch of London’s Met Police which looks after cases which show signs of ‘weird bollocks’ – i.e. Falcon cases, anything to do with magic and the supernatural. Peter is now on the brink of becoming a father, His wife Beverly, a minor river goddess, is carrying twins, due any day now. So, of course, Peter gets involved with a double murder that might or might not be something to do with seven linked rings and the Spanish Inquisition. Which, of course, no-one expects… Yes they manage to get that joke in, plus a few Dr Who easter eggs (Mr A has written for Dr Who.) Expect the usual magical police procedural plus the return of one-time friend, now magical antagonist, Lesley, plus an added helping of the Angel of Death, or at least AN angel of death.
A series of short stories, some focusing on Peter Grant, and others featuring supporting characters from the full length novels, novellas, and graphic novels that are collectively Rivers of London. I'm not a great lover of short stories, but I like Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London tales, so was willing to give this a go. The Peter Grant focused ones were the best for me, but all were well written and kept me reading. There were no momentous revelations that affected the timeline of the books.
This is slightly weird to begin with because it seems as if Peter Grant is out of the police force and has taken a job as security for Terrence Skinner, a Silicon Valley tech genius who is obviously a fan of Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Universe (cue lots of references). Peter's girlfriend, Beverly, river goddess of Beverley Brook, is heavily pregnant, so he's about to become a family man. He has to fit in with a bunch of geeks – even geekier than he is. Tech and magic meet over Skinner's big secret hidden in the basement. I'm a big fan of the Rivers of London novels, but this isn't one of my favourites. The narration, by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, is excellent, but I confess I had a long hiatus about halfway through which probably didn't help my enjoyment.
Review copy from the USian publisher, DAW. The seventh Rivers of London novel continues London's Finest's search for Martin Chorley, the second Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and magical crimes against humanity, along with good cop-turned-bad, Lesley May. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, works for The Folly, the police department the Met doesn't admit to. They police all the magical bollox and try and keep it out of sight of the general public.
Chorley is reaching the final stages of a long term plan and only the Folly's small force, led by registered Wizard, Nightingale, stands between magical mayhem and the city.
There are a lot of favourite characters in this and, indeed, it seem like too many characters at times unless you got to know them gradually through the previous books (though you need not necessarily have read the graphic novels). There are humans, magical and mundane, as well as the fae and, of course, not forgetting the river gods and goddesses (one of which is Peter's girlfriend.) This is most definitely not a gateway book into the series. You really need to start reading from the beginning. Peter Grant's 'voice' is what lifts the whole series above the mundane-slightly snarky and self-deprecating at the same time. Peter is someone worth spending time with.
Is this the final Peter Grant book? Well, certainly one aspect of the story is tied up, but another is potentially a loose thread. There's a rivers of London novella due out in April, but it's set in Germany and seems to have a new lead in Tobias Winter, so we need to wait and see,
Incidentally for British readers, the first book in the series is simply 'Rivers of London' while in the USA, the same book is called 'Midnight Riot.'
