Anybody else here equivocating about buying Rivers of London 9?

[Hitch]

I don't know about you guys, but I was totally disappointed with ROL (Rivers of London, Ben Aaronovitch) book 8. It was a letdown from the rest of the series, which had started out pretty great.

It just seems in book 8 to have utterly devolved--everything that made ROL special--the magical characters/critters, and supernatural plotlines, the best repeating characters (other than the now-ubiquitous Beverly) are MIA or given short shrift.

What can I say about Beverly? Honestly, I feel about her as I came to feel about Susan Silverman, when she intruded--yes, intruded--more and more upon the Robert B. Parker Spenser series of books, where I finally got to the point that I stopped buying them. You bought Spenser for the witty repartee, the interactions between Spenser and Hawk, between the detective and the suspects, etc.--not for the endless drivel with Suuuuuzaaan. If I had to read about her tiny bites of food one. more. time. my brain would have exploded. I don't CARE if Beverly is preggers; don't CARE if her belly needs rubbing, etc. This is a book, not a parenting class. If it were remotely entertaining, if she and Peter had witty exchanges, great, but they don't. They interact like every other young couple with a baby on the way...snore.

And biggest crime, in ROL 8, was that the mystery was muddled, poorly revealed...yuck. Couldn't tell one "Peter infiltrates this tech company" employee from the next and I'm usually pretty good at keeping them separated in my head, but not in that book. They were all much of a piece, with different names. Almost nothing of Nightingale--the most interesting character--or other members of their household, or even the damn dog.

Anyway...Now they want me to pay them $15.00 USD ($14.99) for the Kindle version for Book 9 and I'm just...meh. I'm not feeling it.

Anybody else here a former or existing RoL fan with insight into Book 9? Or spleen-venting? Whatever?

Hitch

[Apache]

I haven't bought it yet either.
Apache

[jhowell]

I am half way through Amongst Our Weapons. I joined the wait list when it was first announced and just got it from my library in Kindle format.

I am somewhat disappointed so far. I'm glad that I didn't pay for it. It is mostly a police procedural focusing on the mundane aspects of police work. There have only been two short scenes where interesting magic has been in play. I enjoyed the earlier books in the series much better. Maybe it gets better later.

Lately I have been reading the Laundry Files. I am only about half way through the series but I recommend it highly. It has a similar tone and magic system to the early Rivers books but is more dark and campy.

[jhowell]

Forgot to mention, I think that Aaronovitch has been putting his effort into the Rivers comics lately. Has anyone read those and have an opinion?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am half way through Amongst Our Weapons. I joined the wait list when it was first announced and just got it from my library in Kindle format.

I am somewhat disappointed so far. I'm glad that I didn't pay for it. It is mostly a police procedural focusing on the mundane aspects of police work. There have only been two short scenes where interesting magic has been in play. I enjoyed the earlier books in the series much better. Maybe it gets better later.

Lately I have been reading the Laundry Files. I am only about half way through the series but I recommend it highly. It has a similar tone and magic system to the early Rivers books but is more dark and campy.

I look into the Laundry files, thanks. Have you tried the Barker & Llewelyn series? Sort of Holmes-meets-Rivers without the supernatural? I've liked it thus far, except a) the eBook formatting the first 4-ish books is spotty/crappy, but improves after book 4; b) their line editor does NOT understand the difference between infer and imply and it makes me insane.

But, other than that, I really like them. (I should disclose that I'm a big fan of Holmes and traditional Holmesian pastiches when they are well done, which is rare.)

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Number 5 (Foxglove Summer) was the beginning of the end for me. I bailed after number 7 (Lies Sleeping). The ever intensifying barrage of lengthy architectural descriptions and overuse of police argot/acronyms eventually wore me out. As did the "mastermind manages to slip through his grasp at the very last second" theme. But in all fairness to Aaronovitch, I rarely make it much past book 5 in any series these days. Complacency on my, and often the author's part, always seems to set in about then.

If he ever does anything outside of the Peter Grant/RoL universe, I'll probably check it out.

[Bookstooge]

I follow a blogger who is/was a big RoL fan. He was just about done with the series but book 9 reinspired him to keep on. Here's his review if you're interested:

Swords & Spectres Review

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Number 5 (Foxglove Summer) was the beginning of the end for me. I bailed after number 7 (Lies Sleeping). The ever intensifying barrage of lengthy architectural descriptions and overuse of police argot/acronyms eventually wore me out. As did the "mastermind manages to slip through his grasp at the very last second" theme. But in all fairness to Aaronovitch, I rarely make it much past book 5 in any series these days. Complacency on my, and often the author's part, always seems to set in about then.

If he ever does anything outside of the Peter Grant/RoL universe, I'll probably check it out.

Yeah, it's kind of a bummer. Publishers (and self-publishers) have found that series make money, period--but you're right, they wear out and the authors are either woefully uninspired or...not sure what. I was reading some series about a modern-day druid that was 1,000 years old or 2, whatever, and it started out pretty good and then it really bobsledded into a very lousy ending, which started (and was clearly broadcasting that it was going downhill) a number of books earlier, when suddenly plot was replaced with lectures on climate change, how humans all suck, a secondary character's "revenge" on her stepfather, who is (of course) an evil (of course) capitalistic exec in an oil company...man, talk about trite.

I didn't mind the architectural stuff that much, but making Peter more and more the center of the story, with the dreaded Beverly, and omitting Nightingale, et al...I mean, what's the point there?

It's a shame--the ROL really started out pretty good, other than that nails-on-chalkboard thing that he does with "me and so-and-so" (instead of "so-and-so and I," that is) in the MC's speech.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

but making Peter more and more the center of the story, with the dreaded Beverly, and omitting Nightingale, et al...I mean, what's the point there?

Nightingale's disappearance for large chunks of the story was quite an odd/bad decision in my opinion.

The architectural thing is probably mostly on me. It's a complete blind-spot for me. I don't know a cape cod from a tudor (and have no interest in learning), so the descriptions are just pure noise to me. I mean, the term "flying buttress" is exceedingly cool on its own, no doubt, but it conjures no associated image in my brain, so.... *shrug*

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Have you tried the Barker & Llewelyn series? Sort of Holmes-meets-Rivers without the supernatural?

I am not a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, other than several television series that I greatly enjoyed. I will give a try when, but it may not be for me.

The two most recent ebooks are available from my local library. Can I jump in there or is it best started from the beginning?

Originally Posted by Hitch

Publishers (and self-publishers) have found that series make money, period--but you're right, they wear out and the authors are either woefully uninspired or...not sure what.

That reminds my of another series with a magic in London theme that I recommend highly, the Alex Verus Series by Benedict Jacka. The final book of that series came out last December. The author is adamant that, despite pressure to continue, the story has been told and that book is the final one of the series. I will miss the characters but I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

On the other side of the coin are the books by Simon R. Green. He recycles character and plot ideas across several series. His early books were fun but he seems to have given up on having new ideas.

Originally Posted by Hitch

I was reading some series about a modern-day druid that was 1,000 years old or 2, whatever, and it started out pretty good and then it really bobsledded into a very lousy ending,...

I agree. Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles started strong but I found the later books less enjoyable. The ecological stuff didn't bother me. It's just hard to keep up the freshness and mystery inherent in a new series.

[pdurrant]

I've enjoyed them all so far. But as with most books these days, this one just goes on my wishlist until it goes on special offer.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am not a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, other than several television series that I greatly enjoyed. I will give a try when, but it may not be for me.

The two most recent ebooks are available from my local library. Can I jump in there or is it best started from the beginning?

Honestly, I would start at the beginning. There are story arcs that continue across the series and would be a bit confusing if you started 12 books into it.

That reminds my of another series with a magic in London theme that I recommend highly, the Alex Verus Series by Benedict Jacka. The final book of that series came out last December. The author is adamant that, despite pressure to continue, the story has been told and that book is the final one of the series. I will miss the characters but I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

I confess that I'd started to feel underwhelmed by the Verus books, the last few and I was shocked at the ending of the last one. No spoilers here, but...I enjoyed a lot of them, quite a bit.

On the other side of the coin are the books by Simon R. Green. He recycles character and plot ideas across several series. His early books were fun but he seems to have given up on having new ideas.

The thing with Green is, ALL of his series end badly. It's a bit unnerving, to know that whatever series you're reading, things won't end well for the characters you come to like. He has (sorta) made exceptions to that for two of his, but the characters still end up burdened with crap you'd have rathered they not. (Nightside and the Golden Torc one). I had high hopes for his ultimate crossover book, Shadows Fall, and that one was very unfulfilling.

I gave up on the Ishmael Jones, not because I didn't want the solution to the underlying mystery, but because the Kindle Prices went bat***t. I mean, $19 or thereabouts, for a (very short) Kindle ebook license? Hell, I can get a used ppbck for a tenth of that! His newer publisher is simply bloody greedy and I loathe that. I guess I'll never find out Ishmael's big secret. Oh, well. (no, don't tell me, thanks). I really loved the Nightside, right up to the end, 99%. Didn't love the wrap-up.

I agree. Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles started strong but I found the later books less enjoyable. The ecological stuff didn't bother me. It's just hard to keep up the freshness and mystery inherent in a new series.

OMG, that series was just ruined. It became all about her, and then the final book...gadzooks. Right, all the "bad guys" kind of win, the hero loses, even his dog is effectively banished...and he acts like a total wimp around his PO'ed girlfriend. I mean, get over yourself. (the female character.) I thought he just kowtowed to her little temper tantrums in an absurd way, for a 2,000-y.o. immortal--I mean, he's NOT 19!

It was to me very unsatisfying and downright annoying.

ANYWAY...I hope you like the Baker & Llewelyns, but if you're not a Holmes fan, it may not float your boat. It's definitely got roots in Doyle. If you're not an historical (why does my in-browser typo-catching Grammarly INSIST that that should be "a historical" and not "an historical"? Have things changed since my college days?) mysteries fan, especially set in the Victorian era, it may not be for you. I'll try to think of something else I've been reading that might suit. :-)

Hitch

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I thought he just kowtowed to her little temper tantrums in an absurd way, for a 2,000-y.o. immortal--I mean, he's NOT 19!

I remember thinking that a lot of attitudes of that character fit much better with someone the author's age, not the character's.

[DiapDealer]

The Peter Grant books always reminded me a bit of the Matthew Swift books by Kate Griffin (one of the pseudonyms of Catherine Webb). The Magical London part anyway. She's in her Claire North phase right now (The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August), but I've always hoped she'd circle back to Matthew Swift for a bit of a reprise.

There's a different Kate Griffin out there who writes "Kitty Peck" books. They're part of a historical London Crime series that's pretty good in its own right--but that's a different discussion. Just know that all Kate Griffins are not Catherine Webb.

Richard Kadrey and his Sandman Slim books had the same vibe for me as well (though not London-based). I only read the first few, though. So I have no idea what direction they may have gone.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I remember thinking that a lot of attitudes of that character fit much better with someone the author's age, not the character's.

If even that. Honestly, I was...gobsmacked, thinking, anybody that's lived for 2K years has obviously had other relationships, which he talks about through the series.

WARNING, spoilers here, do not read if you're reading his stuff:

Spoiler:

He even has great-great-whatever-grandkids, for crying out loud, in Africa. Nobody that age is going to react to her little...s**tf*t that way. They're just not. ("Oh, I'll go hide myself on this remote island, with only my [talking] dog for company, so he doesn't get to see his pups, either, and wait for her to get her head out of her a**." Because everything I did was wrong--teaching her to be a Druid, turning on her powers and abilities, and then making this one lousy judgment call, trying to save her life. OMG, I totally suck!") I would expect better judgment than that from a 40-y.o., or hell, a 35-y.o., never mind some guy on chatting terms with Jesus.

Just...I felt it utterly tanked. I started to think that Hearne hated his MC and was deriding him at every turn. I wonder if Hearn happened to get an activist girlfriend or boyfriend at the time, who influenced his writing like that???

Quasi spoilers about the Laurell K. Hamilton long-lamented Anita K. Blake Series, which also started out amazing and then...just cratered in, fairly early on:

Spoiler:

(Sorta like Laurell K. Hamilton in reverse--it's obvious from her writing that when she divorced her first husband, all her good plotting ideas got up and left. All the murder mysteries that had made the series a success, for the firrst 4-5 books, disappeared. Her pollice work, disappeared. It became softporn bordering on not-so-soft, with her character, who had been a kick-ass Vampire Slayer, turning into an inflatable f*** doll for the supernatural community.

Sure, people bought those things in the millions and I'm sure she laughed all the way to the bank, but it was screamingly obvious who the real brains in the family were, in terms of plots and mysteries. Nothing, after he left, was really any good. I gave up about another...IDK, 4 books in?--but I had held out hope for a while there.)

Oh, well. I haven't bought the last two Dresdens, either. I mean, an author that blithely leaves me hanging for what, five years? Not sure he deserves my hard-earned and I'm tempted, if I do descend to buying them, to getting them in paperback used, for the obvious reasons. Maybe a noticeable lack of royalties might make a dent in Butcher's noggin.

Hitch