I originally bought it thinking it would cover interesting London history, and I liked the cover.
The I started reading and I’m was blown away …
It’s Fantasy, but It’s light, bright, breezy and fun, clever easy flowing text and full of surprises.
Mixed in with the action and magic is a framework of London history. ( )

Newly minted police constable Peter Grant probably should have listened to the ghost when it told him to stay away from DCI Thomas Nightingale, head of a mysterious one-man unit -- now a two-man unit, if Peter agrees to join him. Apparently, seeing ghosts means Peter has a promising career in front of him as a wizard. That is, if he can survive his first case involving a vindictive revenant and a quarrel between London's river spirits...

Such a fun book! I enjoyed Peter's tongue-in-cheek narration, and will be getting my hands on the next book in the series soon. A stellar start to my reading year. ( )

from Jordan:

Midnight Riot or, as it's known in the UK, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch is the first of the Rivers of London series of books. Genre-wise, it's Urban Fantasy like my previously reviewed book London Falling by Paul Cornell. Similarly, it is a police procedural that contains bits of fantasy lore like ghosts, magic, etc. Midnight Riot falls within a certain category that's often described as "Harry Potter for adults," which, when taken with a grain of salt, is somewhat accurate.

A police constable named Peter Grant is standing guard on a murder crime scene when he is approached by a ghost. Thereafter, he encounters a police detective named Nightingale, who is a wizard of some repute and handles any cases that the London Metropolitan Police have involving magic, generally on a hush-hush basis. Nightingale eventually takes Peter as an apprentice and they get to work investigating and eventually solving the murder case that Peter was guarding.

While some of the editing is poor, namely some of the grammar, it's a nitpicky detail that doesn't much diminish the overall popcorn entertainment of the story. The only other complaint I have is that, like so many fantasy writers and pulpy books, the prose is a bit purple and overly flowery. It's a fantastic book to leisurely read outside in the newfound sun and warmth of the Ohio sun. ( )

Thoughts on the book:
my review.

Thoughts on the audio version:

As many people have noted, Kobna Holbrook Smith is a fabulous reader. Turns out he is an actor and director is well, with a long list of tv credits, which is kind of a bummer because I hope he continues to have time for the Peter Grant series.

Holbrook Smith is clearly a talented voice actor who can understandably convey a range of London accents, from that of an 19th century itenerant to Nightingale's 'posh' early 20th century to current police vernacular. I also found his Danish and Jamaican accents amusing. Ever since an unfortunate experience with the Stephanie Plum audio, I'm particularly impressed when actors are able to voice characters of the opposite sex without making it sound fake. Holbrook Smith is able to give Leslie a decent voicing, but it really shines when she transforms into Punch. I did feel like quite a few bit characters ended up with a Jamaican-sounding accent, which may or may not reflect London demographics.

Interestingly, I noted that I didn't find the audio version quite as funny as I found the paper version. As an American, I wonder if this is an example of the 'dry' British humor, that the pause or infliction I expect is missing. I certainly found phrases snicker-out-loud funny when my inside voice read it. That said, his reading of the following dialogue made me laugh out loud:

“You don’t think she and Nightingale…?” asked Lesley.
“Ew,” said Beverley. “That’s just wrong.”
“I thought you and her were friends?” I asked.
“Yeah, but she’s like a creature of the night,” said Beverley. “And he’s old.”

I will note that there were two moments in later chapters when it sounded as if the recording was taken up weeks or months later. It was still the same reader, but something about the tone of the recording and the closeness of the voice changed. I did love the jazz introduction between chapters.

Overall, a great audio. I'll definitely continue revisiting the series through audio. ( )

I enjoyed this book, so much that I didn't want to review it right away because I was still immersed in Peter Grant's London. It's the urban fantasy take on the detective novel, a police procedural that gives a close-up view of a modern London with undercurrents of magic and magical beings. I love the tone of this book--it's wry and humorous, but doesn't let the humor take over the scene. It's one thing to be ready with a quick line, another entirely to go through one's entire life wisecracking, especially in times of great danger. Aaronovitch walks that delicate line like a pro.

Peter is a probationary constable who is about to be shifted into a paperwork division. He and his co-probationary officer and friend are guarding the perimeter of a murder scene when he sees a ghost. Peter is a very likeable hero, wry, intelligent, loyal, aware of class and race issues around him, and while he has family issues that include a heroin-dependent father, he doesn't spend every moment agonizing and reliving the past. We are told he did well in the sciences in school, just not well enough to get him to the next levels. It's magic's gain, as he sets his analytical skills to understanding the magical world, using his free time for experiments. I love those little experiments, because it breaks up the action and makes Peter's experience seem all the more real--who wouldn't be asking a lot of questions if they discover there are magical beings and magic in the world? Many people would be asking the 'hows' and 'whys;' Peter attempts to answer some of the questions himself through the scientific method, to the surprise of his technologically-challenged boss.

There are few wizards left, and I liked that Aaronovitch didn't make magic easy. It takes Peter hours of study and practice to advance, and we get a sense of the effort and thought Peter puts into it. It isn't until a third into the book when he finally raises his own werelight, and we are ready to cheer with him when he does: "Fuck me, I thought. I can do magic." It's a refreshing change from the all-powerful heroes of other books. Similarly, he's aware that even though he has two years on the force, he still makes mistakes, such as when he and Leslie "obtrusively" piled out of the car during surveillance.

Aaronovitch has a real gift for bringing life to his characters, even the most bit parts. Molly doesn't talk at all, and we still get a very good sense of her, her dedication and her potential. Seawoll, an initially scary superior, and Leslie's immediate boss, gets imbued with humanity when Peter watches him question witnesses. We're also given a good look at the subtleties of the police department, when Seawoll "interrogates" Peter after a shooting. "Then we continued lying through our teeth while telling nothing but the truth." It's a perfect tone that conveys so much about the officers' loyalty, the bureaucracy of the department, and the unspoken understanding to follow the letter of the law without coming close to the spirit.

I loved it, and the re-read was even better than the first time through. There are a lot of British-isms, but most of them can be puzzled out from the surrounding sentence(s). A great read, and I'll be looking for a hardcover to add to my own library.

great lines:
"I left in a hurry before he could change his mind, but I want to make it clear that at no point did I break into a skip."

"Number two was a magical library where all the direct treatises on spells, forma and alchemy were kept, all of them written in Latin and so all Greek to me."

Four investigative stars. ( )