Review - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by Gollancz
Paperback - 400 pages
Published January 2011
Personal copy of book

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 (and 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 voluable, 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. 

--------------------

This bit has been said before, so I'll get it out of the way. Ben Aaronovitch's rendition of London as something supernatural is in a similar vein to Neil Gaiman and China Mieville. If the idea of the city of London having a paranormal underbelly excites you, there is a good stock of material for you to whet your appetite. There, now it's been said, I can talk about Rivers of London on its own merits.

What strikes me most about Aaronovitch's version of the city is that, whilst it is underpinned by supernatural forces and magic, there is a degree of logical and rational explanation to how it works. An example of this is having Sir Issac Newton as the patron of wizards in London; the juxtaposition of the logical and the preternatural makes for a far more believable world.

This idea is embodied in Peter Grant, who questions the magical side of things at every turn. He is not content in simply going "I'm a wizard? That's cool, let's make magic happen". Instead, he experiment with the limitations of magic and the boundary with science. Grant takes a very British "Keep calm and carry on" attitude in dealing with the various gods, monsters and ghosts of the city of London, which keeps things rooted in the here-and-now. The supporting cast of the story are a good mix of the cosmopolitan make up of the city, and add both depth and charm to the novel.

The pacing of the novel was very good, combining police procedural with muder-mystery and standard "new wizard" learning scenes. I really enjoyed the slower scenes where Grant is learning the basics of his magical ability, though they verged on the side of being info-dumpy

The downside to Rivers of London is that the plot threads didn't tie up as nicely as I'd have liked, and the sub-plot seemed so disparate from the main plot that it seemed unnecessary. There was no real interconnection between plot strands, which for the most part made for two separate stories within the same book.

In short, Rivers of London is a rich, immersive read that will have you hankering for more mystical goings on from a city full to bursting with folklore and mythology. Whereas Gaiman and Mieville push the boundaries of the fantastic, Aaronovitch's London is far more closer to reality. An excellent read for fans of contemporary fantasy.