An angry, invisible, carniverous, cart horse sized unicorn called princess Luna. What’s not to love?
Great fun. I think Aaronovitch is back on form with this one. It's full of wry humour and funny cultural references (I like the way that he drops them in and doesn't explain them). All of the new characters are great, but it's great to see so much of Beverly Brook again. As a bonus it’s set 25 miles from where I grew up.
A couple of gripes; it stalls slightly in the middle (but picks up again fast) and the ending felt tagged on (as if he couldn't think of a clever way to wrap things up) . I love Beverley’s character and the fact that she’s not to be messed with, but after such a clever and interesting book it was a shame that the ending was uninspired.
An angry, invisible, carniverous, cart horse sized unicorn called princess Luna. What’s not to love?
Great fun. I think Aaronovitch is back on form with this one. It's full of wry humour and funny cultural references (I like the way that he drops them in and doesn't explain them). All of the new characters are great, but it's great to see so much of Beverly Brook again. As a bonus it’s set 25 miles from where I grew up.
A couple of gripes; it stalls slightly in the middle (but picks up again fast) and the ending felt tagged on (as if he couldn't think of a clever way to wrap things up) . I love Beverley’s character and the fact that she’s not to be messed with, but after such a clever and interesting book it was a shame that the ending was uninspired.
This is my favorite of this series so far. Now that any romantic possibilities with Leslie are out of the way, I fully support Peter’s romantic explorations with Beverly Brook, and in the end, she’s my favorite character in this story.
I like some of the terminology introduced in this book. No one wants to appear insane or really believe magic drives real events, so a major part of Peter’s job requires him to create two narratives around events, a “real” official report and a true one for the Folly. to that end, he is asked to complete “A Falcon Assessment” of the events surrounding this case in rural England. People are left to interpret “Falcon Assessment” any way they deem appropriate, but no one actually asks him what it means. Some know, and some don’t want to know.
I like that the supernatural element of this story takes a …
This is my favorite of this series so far. Now that any romantic possibilities with Leslie are out of the way, I fully support Peter’s romantic explorations with Beverly Brook, and in the end, she’s my favorite character in this story.
I like some of the terminology introduced in this book. No one wants to appear insane or really believe magic drives real events, so a major part of Peter’s job requires him to create two narratives around events, a “real” official report and a true one for the Folly. to that end, he is asked to complete “A Falcon Assessment” of the events surrounding this case in rural England. People are left to interpret “Falcon Assessment” any way they deem appropriate, but no one actually asks him what it means. Some know, and some don’t want to know.
I like that the supernatural element of this story takes a while to develop. Peter stays on the case to stay out of London after determining no Falcon involvement. He’s still reeling from the betrayal at the end of the last case. Then a couple of cell phones change his conclusion, and Nightingale sends Beverley as backup.
Peter’s use of technology to trace the appearance of magic is brilliant, and his sacrifice at the end show the depths of his character. As another reviewer mentioned, the Fae in the Rivers Universe aren’t like Tinkerbell, but they definitely like to play with humans.
Finally, I love the portrayal of unicorns. While I’m certain it isn’t the first time in fiction, it is the first time I’ve seen unicorns as the malevolent enforcers of the Fae.
I enjoyed this, despite not having read the first 4 books - I didn't realize this was book #5 when I picked it up. The story is self-contained, though obviously there is background knowledge about the character and the organization he works for that a reader of the previous books would have known. :) This was entertaining.
I missed the Nightingale in this one. Peter and Beverley are fun, but a book without L and N leaves something to be desired. Interesting twist, though.
This is my favorite of this series so far! The plot was really well done, and I feel like Peter's really come into his own here. Also, Beverly Brook is all over the place, and I enjoyed Dominic as well.
Less shocking than book 4, this feels almost like an interlude while waiting for what comes next. At the same time I think this book made me laugh more. This series is an interesting blend of the mundanity of a police procedural and the excitement and romance of a fantasy series, which occasionally leaves me feeling like I must keep turning pages, even when nothing particularly exciting is happening. I realised at one point that this is the diametric opposite of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, while having a nearly indistinguishable concept. Investigative magic practitioners clash with opponents of various forms of supernatural being, including spirits, other magic users, and mythical creatures. At the same time while Dresden is an action hero, Grant is just another average officer of the law (more or less - he is a Wizard). Dresden is always one hair from death but carries on like the …
Less shocking than book 4, this feels almost like an interlude while waiting for what comes next. At the same time I think this book made me laugh more. This series is an interesting blend of the mundanity of a police procedural and the excitement and romance of a fantasy series, which occasionally leaves me feeling like I must keep turning pages, even when nothing particularly exciting is happening. I realised at one point that this is the diametric opposite of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, while having a nearly indistinguishable concept. Investigative magic practitioners clash with opponents of various forms of supernatural being, including spirits, other magic users, and mythical creatures. At the same time while Dresden is an action hero, Grant is just another average officer of the law (more or less - he is a Wizard). Dresden is always one hair from death but carries on like the star of magical Die Hard, while Grant occasionally has to back up and put up police tape - or get carried out on a stretcher and only gets to find out later what happened. In short, this is the answer to the question of what if Dresden was just an average joe. I don't know yet which one I will end up loving more...
The only reason I didn't finish this in a single sitting is because I wanted to stretch out the enjoyment of it as much as I could... And once again Ben Aaronovich does not disappoint!
This was a "filler" book, between the books which deal with the vast overarching conspiracies, and you know what? I like that about it. I'm still brutalized by the events of the previous book. I needed a nice, light, child-abduction story with unicorns. This delivered. Peter, at sea in the countryside, is delightful. I enjoyed watching new officers encounter the Folly and though I somewhat resent Nightingale being pushed to one side, the reason for it is obvious and it was done quite well. We got to see more about Beverly in this book than just her willingness to bang Peter. I would be happy to see more of any of the new characters.
Another dame fine Peter Grant book. Peter spends the entire book without Nightingale, relying on his own smarts and abilities. There are a variety of things I loved that I want to burble about, but they'd all be spoilers, so I'll contain myself. It's suspenseful, smart, interesting, the characters have heart -- and just so funny. OK, one spoiler: At one point he's a passenger in a car driven by someone who is temporarily parted from the iPod, so the music playing is from a CD. It is Queen's Greatest Hits.
Writing reviews for long running series of books becomes progressively more difficult. I think we've reached that stage with Foxglove Summer which is the fifth in Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant urban fantasy books.
The problem is not that it's a bad book (it's actually a highly enjoyable one) it's that I've both said much of what I want to say about the series before and I have to be careful what I say about events from previous books in the series. This is a bit limiting.
Never the less there are a few things that set this latest installment apart from previous entries in the series.
That's Not London!
The single biggest change here is that the story is not set in London, in fact London doesn't feature at all. For a series whose origin centered around the goddesses of the London rivers, that's a substantial departure.
Putting Peter Grant …
Writing reviews for long running series of books becomes progressively more difficult. I think we've reached that stage with Foxglove Summer which is the fifth in Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant urban fantasy books.
The problem is not that it's a bad book (it's actually a highly enjoyable one) it's that I've both said much of what I want to say about the series before and I have to be careful what I say about events from previous books in the series. This is a bit limiting.
Never the less there are a few things that set this latest installment apart from previous entries in the series.
That's Not London!
The single biggest change here is that the story is not set in London, in fact London doesn't feature at all. For a series whose origin centered around the goddesses of the London rivers, that's a substantial departure.
Putting Peter Grant in a new location does allow Aaronovitch to freshen up things a bit though, because most of the usual cast are missing (although a certain river goddess does show up). So we've got some new people to interact with and a new geographical location, but the style of the story doesn't change too much.
Grant remains a self-deprecating narrator and the emphasis on nature as a source of magic is still front and center. Another thing that is still present is the strong emphasis on smells as a descriptive source. It's a narrative element that sets the series aside from most others in the genre.
Creeping Serialization
One of the things that happens with this sort of open ended series is that the ongoing subplots gradually take up more and more of the books. That is definitely the case with Foxglove Summer. The previous book ended with a pretty major twist/cliffhanger and it's one that is explored in some depth here, though still not resolved.
The clear implication is that this issue is going to flare up even bigger in future books, which is fine. What is perhaps less satisfying is that, given this is a fairly short book, the amount of time dedicated to the subplot leaves the central mystery relatively thin.
In all honesty calling it a mystery is giving it more credit than it really deserves. You'll probably have a pretty good idea about what is going on early on in the book. What kept me drawn in was the characters and dialogue not a desperate need to see how things would work out.
It's not just future sub-plots that are explored here either, but also the past. We finally get the details on the battle that essentially wiped out human wizards in the UK and at least some indication of what the impact of that might have been.
Magic and Science
One of the strengths of the entire series has been it's efforts to marry magic and science without simply explaining magic away as science. Grant continues to grasp only semi-successfully for explanations as to how his magic can work, but is able to apply modern policing techniques to some of the situations he finds himself in.
While the trope in these sorts of books (as with a lot of detective stories) is for the lone maverick, Grant is a lowly police officer and bound to follow the policies and protocols of the Metropolitan Police Force.
The fact that Grant is on a "special" squad of sorts gives Aaronovitch some leeway, but he spends a good deal of time explaining and using actual policing methods. Surprisingly few of which involve breaking down doors and threatening suspects.
Wait, What? It's Over?
What I found least satisfying about this particular book in the series was what seemed like a very abrupt ending. There is a pattern of Grant getting in over his head and having to be bailed out by other people, but in this case it really didn't seem like anything was resolved.
Peter was rescued certainly, but there didn't seem to be anything to stop future incursions for them Faery realm. Plus there are characters that were introduced and implied to be significant that are simply forgotten about and left undeveloped.
The whole thing has the feel of needing to get from A to B rather than being a full story in its own right. Which is definitely a negative mark, but Aaronovitch sort of gets away with it because the characters are so fun to spend time with.
Is This For Me?
Do you like Urban Fantasy? Do you appreciate a light hearted view of a darkish subject? Are you comfortable with British slang and references? This might be for you, so start with the first book Rivers of London/Midnight Riot (depending on which side of the pond you buy it)
Did You Like It?
Yes, I really enjoy this Urban Fantasy series. The sense of humor sits well with me and Grant is a very likeable protagonist. There's nothing exceptionally challenging being presented here, but it's well executed and fun to read. I am hoping the next book steps things back up again though.
