My husband and I are currently listening our way through this series, of which which he has read all and I have read some. Kobna Holbrook-Smith's narration is spot-on and it's just a really enjoyable way to consume these stories. ( )

I listened to this as an audiobook because that didn't have a wait list.

Pro: I was able to listen on my commute, and tore through it.

Con: I wasn't wild about some of the voices the actor did, and I feel like i missed a lot of Aaronovitch's fun writing because it goes by too fast spoken. I ended it feeling like I needed to reread the book in print, and I probably will. ( )

Others have described the storyline of this book and series, so I'll just fuss a bit. I love the Rivers of London (PC Peter Grant) books; but I'm less satisfied with this 5th installment of the series. I was hoping for continuation, exploration and perhaps some resolution, of the (character-wise) paradigm shifting events at the end of book 5, Broken Homes. Instead, we wander off in a different direction, during which, the major character revelation of the previous book almost comes across as incidental.

It feels rather as it does when, a on a TV series, a secondary-lead actor goes away on maternity leave or to make a film. Then the writing staff has to pivot heavily to sub-plots within the Meta-plot in order to work around the extended absence. Ben Aaronovitch has TV scripts to his credit; but as this is a book series, perhaps he just wanted to keep things fresh or take Peter out of his element, or develop a different character dynamic or something else... writerly. As a reader, I just bloody well wanted to know what the devil is going on with that grenade he dropped on the mantelpiece ending Broken Homes! Grump! Crank! Grump!


- now that I've got that out of my system... My fussing really is a testament to the author's skills. I'm thoroughly invested in his characters and story.
I had suppositions as to where this book would go, and it didn't go there. (Hurumph!) Still, if FoxGlove Summer, is literally off the beaten trail, it is yet a really good Peter Grant read. It also opens the cabinets on some of the other character's goods, consummates a serious point of tension, and yields hints to coming conflict. It just didn't delve in to, and advance the Faceless Man Metaplot as much as I would have liked. (...and now I've got to wait another writing/publishing cycle to get more!) So, I fuss;. As will continue to fuss whilst I purchase the the Foxglove Summer audiobook, (Kobna Holbrook Smith's voice IS Peter Grant's), search for more news blurbs on a future Rivers of London TV series, and wait, very impatiently, for the Sixth installment. :-) ( )

as with many series a bit slow to get back into and remember what had happened in previous books, but the standalone parts were strong ( )

read 12/9/2023 ( )