Rivers of London

By: Ben Aaronovitch

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly valuable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden... and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair. The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

©2011 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Touch of the DWJs

Entertaining, British, DWJish

In tone, no, but many of the concepts in this story reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones. The details are just a touch too bloody for me to give this a five, but that probably says more about me than about the book. I did enjoy the story a lot, and have bought the sequel. I give full marks to the narrator who goes with apparent ease between Peter's accent (which sounds like the Jasmine Allen Estaters from "The Bill" to me), Dr Walid's Scottish and Nightingale's uppercrust Brit. He also makes a lovely job of the other accents Nigerian and whatever Oxley is... Irish? As far as I can tell,* he's pitch perfect. *I'm Australian, so my knowledge of accents isn't 100%.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

History, magic, a drop of gore and lots of fun

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Surely everyone waits for the twist in the story and hopes to get that fuzzy warm feeling of satisfaction. I was a slight bit disappointed with the unfolding of that twist but that's only my opinion.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

A little bit of magic, a bit of history, a few drops of gore, a pinch of over-the-top and a few scratches of British humour, all in all I had fun listening to this book.

Do you think Rivers of London needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I've added the follow-up book to my wish-list already.

Any additional comments?

I congratulate Mr Holdbrook-Smith on his excellent performance, it was a pleasure listening to him. I especially loved Mama Thames.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A narrator with a thousand believable accents.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how the world of magic and inner London policing were very realistically entwined, and how Harry Potter films still exist.

What about Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s performance did you like?

The narrator is stunning, equally at home with English and Scottish accents from every social milieu and is one of very few male narrators I have come across who could do a believable female chav!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I listened to this book and its two sequels on a road trip through headphones and my family were amused by my frequent guffaws and snorts of delight.

Any additional comments?

This is a great series with gritty realism in its descriptions of inner city policing, while successfully introducing a believable fantasy worls, apparently on our very doorsteps! Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Simply Brilliant

I came across this author and his work by accident,but now I have downloaded all three of the books of which this is the first. Brilliant combination of wit, history and fantasy concerning a subculture of magic underneath that of modern London. the characters from Nightingale through Peter Grant and the ever ominous Molly are wonderfully drawn. Equally crucially is the narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith whose narration gives depth and texture to the work. It is an excellent work of imagination suspend critical analysis and nitpicking and I am sure you will enjoy the work(s).

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Original, witty fantasy with deep roots in London

This book is a delight from start to finish (and it didn't take long to finish - I consumed the whole thing in two compulsion-driven days).

The book is deeply rooted in contemporary, multicultural, London, with a strong sense of place and of history that is polished and intensified through the lens of the tongue-in-cheek political correctness of the Metropolitan Police, and garlanded with figures from London myth who are at once as modern and as ancient as the city itself.

Wit is sprinkled like hotsauce throughout this books with references to contemporary fiction (Black Adder, Twilight, Harry Potter, Coronation Street), colourful similies, clever word play and a well-developed sense of the absurdity of daily life.

The mixed race background of the main character is used to draw out the multi-cultural nature of London and its long history of taking people from around the world and making them into Londoners within one generation.

The plot is driven by the main character's insatiable curiosity to know how things work (I'm easily distracted) and his need to do whatever is necessary to preserve the Queen's Peace (we're the ones who run towards the screams) and powered by magic and evil.

The book lays a glamour on a place I know well and turns it into somewhere I would like to know better.

It is, at heart, an optimistic, civilized, book, filled with chaos and compromise and unspoken agreements and recognition of subtle affiliations. Our hero does the right thing by being himself, taking care of his friends, showing pride but being respectful and muddling through until the job is done. I found the whole thing wonderfully British, or at least, how I would like being British to be.

I've already downloaded the next two in the series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Absolutely Fantastic Book - Highly Recommended

I loved this book! This is a clever and fast-paced mix of London Police and magic. Great characters and story. The reader does an amazing job of all the different voices and accents. I could hardly bear to pause the book and go into work! Well worth buying.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonderful urban fantasy

I don't really know if this qualifies as 'urban fantasy' as such. It is a fantasy in an urban setting, but the tone is light and engaging, not dark and mysterious. I prefer light and engaging, and this delivers. I love the main character protagonist and most of the minor or secondary characters too. I found this funny, smart, imaginative and really interesting.
the voice narration is good too. Really, a winner and strongly recommended.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Just a great story, really clever.

Where does Rivers of London rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my favourite so far.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peter Grant of course but the description of Father Thames was just fantastic.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Absolutely wonderful.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting being.

A very promising beginning to a book series I'm looking forward to spending time with.

The voice acting is exemplary

Having spent a fair bit of time in both UK and Nigeria, highest praise I can think of is that I found the accent, the tone, and the attitude conveyed by the voice actor very convincing. It was like listening to well polished native local english speakers of the respective countries.

The book is a good one, I did enjoy the audiobook throughly. I doubt however I would have finished the physical copy of the book.

Overall, a good bit of light hearted break. I have enjoyed listening to this.

brilliant original story great narrator

This is the first book that I felt compelled to share my thoughts on and I would like to thank all previous reviewers for encouraging me to listen to this book.
I will endeavour to post reviews in future as I now realise how much I use them once I have listened to the sample.
I agree with other reviewers who enjoyed this book. The story was cleverly written and humerous and the combination of the story and the brilliant narration makes it come to life, particularly with the narrators interpretation of the characters. The storyline has been well described by others so I have nothing to add to that but just wanted to say that if the storyline appeals to you give this a listen.

I note that there is another book by the same author and narrator so will not feel too down now that I have come to the end.

Please continue with this author if he writes more, in what I hope will be a series,and please ensure that Kobna Holdbrook-Smith narrates them, he is a great narrator and hopefully his skills will be used in other authors books, perhaps modern thrillers.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

Rivers of London

Fantastic listen - the best new author I have come across in a long time. I just wish you would hurry up and put his next book on audio - I couldn't wait so bought and read the hardback version - and that he will keep writing more of them. Fascinating for his detailed account of modern and historical London, blended with lighthearted spookiness and magic, and a convincing idea of how the Met would deal with magic, not only from the villains, but with the wizard in their ranks.

59 of 62 people found this review helpful

THATS THE WAY TO DO IT !!

One of those rare examples of something that lives up to the hype , Im not going to spoil it but this book is a fantastic read from start to finish . I can imagine a T.V series in the offing eventually ( ironically the lead role the Narrator would be perfect for ) ......

Plenty of humour and sarcasm , but serious when it needs to be.

The `Villain` was also perfectly thought out .

I urge anyone to take a plunge and buy this ......

36 of 39 people found this review helpful

Surprisingly addictive

I listened to the first few sentences of this book and nearly turned it off, but so glad I did not! A fantasy/crime/historical novel, I was never bored and amazed at the level of research the author has put into this book. At no time did I have to cringe and reach for the off switch because something was just too ridiculous to believe. THe reader was also very good- after the first 5 minutes of getting used to his reading style. In the end, it was obvious he was the right choice for the job, narrating it easily and using excellent accents and voices in just the right places. All in all, a very enjoyable listen!

44 of 48 people found this review helpful

Fantasy thriller with attitude !

A fantasy thriller with bags of attitude, it?s very funny, imaginative and absorbing ? almost addictive. Totally refreshing in its detail, perspective and writing style. The story line of a believable supernatural underworld in London is based on a mixture of magic, police procedurals and human relationships. This looks like a start to a very promising series, I really am looking forward to the next book.

38 of 42 people found this review helpful

The Best 'Read' I've Heard For A Long Time

Having listened to the first few minutes of this book I was a bit put off by Kobna's reading style but stayed with it and boy, how glad I am that I did! His narration is absolutley perfect and he carries you along with this tale as if it's his own. The story is quirky, imaginative, very funny and visual. I loved the mix of police protocol with whimsical wizardry, brilliant.

44 of 50 people found this review helpful

Loved it

from the very beginning right to the end I was hooked. Its funny and engaging and I really care about the characters. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is perfect. Looking forward to getting all three.

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

Fantastic listen

Have to review this, never felt the need before, but this has to be one of the most enjoyable books I have listened to in eons! Was a little put off at first, always wary of the 'bandwagon jumpers' with latest fantasy novels, can be a bit boring, but this was just fantastic. Gritty, great thriller plot and superbly narrated. If you are fan of any of the genres, be it fantasy, sci-fi, mystery or thriller, I don't think you will be dissapointed. Please hurry up and put next book on audible!

27 of 31 people found this review helpful

Not my cup of tea (I'm not even sure that was tea)

I realize I'm in the minority here, but this book isn’t working for me. At first I thought it was the reader as, like others, I was at first put off by his reading style, but later I learned to accept it or at least ignore it. Then I came to a scene set inside a cinema and the sheer amount of inane details in the straight up banal description finally made me delete the book (incidentally, the cinema scene ends with “that’s three hours of my life I’ll never get back”). It’s not that the reader pauses frequently to catch his breath, sigh or have a drink of water off-mic, it’s the text. The text is awful. The British comedian Stewart Lee once mocked Dan Brown as a man who writes sentences such as “The famous man looked at the red cup”, had the author of Rivers of London written the same sentence, it would probably have been "applying my trained coppers eye behind my newly purchased wayfarer sunglasses, which I purchased online, from sunglasshut for 80 hard-earned British Pound Sterling, using a station-anchored personal computer terminal in the lobby of the Cromwell police station, I fixed my gaze upon the man, five-foot-seven in height and with a weight above the average Londoner, this man, known for his work of historical fiction of a fantastic or supernatural bent, and observed how he, wearing a brown leather coat one or two sizes too small for a man of his heft, suspiciously eyed the red goblet in an unusual manner only recognised by a copper."

My review may seem harsh in the light of the other reviews, proving that many people do enjoy the book, it’s just that I didn’t. The book seems completely unedited. Thank God for audible’s return policy.

138 of 167 people found this review helpful

Proper London magic. My perfect book!

My love for this series knows no bounds. Sorry for the hypebole but this is basically my perfect series of books. It pushes all my buttons: London, the Thames, Mr Punch, Newton. There is literally nothing here that I don't love.

The mythic resonance of London is central to the stories and the system of magic is a great invention. I do enjoy the fact that it's geographically accurate too (sorry, but this is important to me - when Peter is chasing something, I know I can follow his footsteps precisely).

I spend a lot of time mentally casting this - far too much time......

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is the perfect reader. He gets all the accents spot on and has a naturally charming tone which makes Peter Grant inherently loveable (to me anyway)

8 of 9 people found this review helpful