05-04-2022, 07:40 PM | #1 |
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Anybody else here equivocating about buying Rivers of London 9?
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 |
05-04-2022, 08:22 PM | #2 |
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I haven't bought it yet either.
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05-04-2022, 08:45 PM | #3 |
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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. Last edited by jhowell; 05-04-2022 at 08:57 PM. |
05-04-2022, 09:25 PM | #4 |
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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?
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05-05-2022, 02:04 AM | #5 | |
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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 |
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05-05-2022, 06:31 AM | #6 |
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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. Last edited by DiapDealer; 05-05-2022 at 06:37 AM. |
05-05-2022, 06:43 AM | #7 |
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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 |
05-05-2022, 08:56 AM | #8 | |
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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 |
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05-05-2022, 09:25 AM | #9 | |
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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* |
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05-05-2022, 10:20 AM | #10 | ||
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The two most recent ebooks are available from my local library. Can I jump in there or is it best started from the beginning? Quote:
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. 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. |
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05-05-2022, 10:44 AM | #11 |
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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.
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05-05-2022, 11:09 AM | #12 | ||||
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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. Quote:
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 |
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05-05-2022, 11:21 AM | #13 |
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05-05-2022, 12:38 PM | #14 |
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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. Last edited by DiapDealer; 05-05-2022 at 12:44 PM. |
05-05-2022, 12:46 PM | #15 | |
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WARNING, spoilers here, do not read if you're reading his stuff: Spoiler:
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:
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 |
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