Rivers of London Series Review

Title: Lies Sleeping & False Value
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Date Finished: 2/1/2022 & 3/4/2022
Rating: 4/5

I’ve said this multiple times before, and I will continue to say it throughout this blog: the problem with reading a book series that is “active” is simply this: time. Even if you find an active series that is years old and start reading, you will eventually catch up to where the author has left off…and then the waiting game begins.

Some readers go off on authors for the length of time it takes them to write books, and for the most part I avoid hopping on those bandwagons. But regardless of how long it takes for a new installment of a series to appear, time will pass. And unless those are the only books you read, chances are good that a fair number of books will get read in the interim.

Perhaps you possess an eidetic memory and this isn’t a problem for you. If so, count yourself as lucky…because I struggle when jumping back into a series. Such is the case with the Rivers of London series where I was finally able to tackle books seven and eight. How did they hold up? Well, let’s find out.

To set the scene: this series deals with one Peter Grant who works for the Metropolitan Police in London. One evening he sees an actual ghost and his life gets turned upside down as he discovers that magic is indeed real. As he steps deeper and deeper into this world, a larger plot develops where a shadowy nemesis appears and Peter is constantly in a struggle to combat this force.

I’m not going to dig into the content of either book here. Once a reader is seven books deep into a series they have already formed a pretty solid opinion of the books as a whole. And, you know, it’s impossible to talk about how Leslie’s motivations are still murky this deep into the series without bringing up four books worth of stuff.

Instead I will talk about Aaronovitch’s writing and some small quirks that I’ve seen. Nothing too egregious, but a little peculiar.

First, these books are clearly written with the British audience in mind. Various colloquialisms, cockney rhyming slang, and cultural references are tossed about with little to no explanation. Not that this is a bad thing, as the characters would probably speak this way if they were actual people. But it can be a little jarring if you’re not up to speed with Briticisms.

Second, the author seems to be enamored with blatant foreshadowing. Both books have more than one occurrence of phrases like “Looking back, maybe I should been listening a bit more carefully.” And while a line like that can carry some weight and seem ominous if used once? The sentiment wears out quickly if used over and over again.

But, all in all, these are minor quibbles. The books are a solid distraction from the day-to-day, and continue a story I’ve grown to enjoy. It seems hard to give a subjective opinion for a series I’ve already invested this much in – nine times out of ten if I’ve made it this far into a series I’m going to like what I read. (That tenth one? I’m looking at you, Wheel of Time.)

Final Thoughts: This is a series I was already pretty happy with and these books provided more of the same.