Rivers of London, Vol. 1: Body Work

Well, this was something different. It had to grow on me. Which, in the end it did.
It's an urban fantasy take on the detective novel, a police procedural that gives a close-up view of a modern London with undercurrents of magic and magical beings. I love the tone of this book - it's wry and humorous, but doesn't let the humor take over the scene.
It was hilarious, snarky, well paced and good hearted. A funny, easily digestible read that is eager to delight the reader.

Taken alone, this is an entertaining graphic novel. It skirts the line between “taking itself seriously” and “having lots of fun”, and has an interesting cast, good twists to the mystery, cool bits of magic, good art. Taken as part of the Rivers of London series, well: eeeeeeeee Peter’s back! I’ve missed this! It’s no next novel (still waiting), but I liked having the gang back together and seeing another facet or two of magical London. I basically read it in one sitting, I had so much fun.

7/10

While this can work for someone who had never read the Rivers of London series, it works a lot better if you are reading the non-graphic series as well. Sitting between novels 4 (Broken Homes) and 5 (Foxglove Summer), "Body Work" is an original story and not an adaptation. Its scope is smaller than that of a novel in the series but it is still an enjoyable story.

A man drives his car into the river. When the police arrives, they do not suspect anything unusual - until Peter shows up and tells them that not everything is what it looks like. The car is haunted - not with a ghost (they do not exist after all) but it is still haunted by something and unless someone does something about it, more people will die. And one of the victims can be show more Peter.

The 5 issues of the limited series do not allow for a lot of depth to the story but it is not entirely shallow either - there are twists and turns and we even get a glimpse in Nightingale's history. And in the last panels made me smile - the magicians may think they know everything but Molly is Molly after all :)

At the end of the collection are included 6 short stories (5 of them are a page long; the 6th is 5 pages). They are quick snapshots of life in the universe and I really enjoyed them being added here. show less

Hmmm, confusing in format choices, goodreads. I read it as a print book, but the whole collection that makes up Body Work, not the the single issues.

In any case, I am deeply delighted to see my favorite paranormal writers using graphic novel supplements to tell shorter stories as we eagerly anticipate the next installment. Excellent in its own right (good pacing, good art), this is a marvelous development, and a story better told with the visual interlocking the text.

Aside from couple of little niggles* that I think were medium-related, I really enjoyed this and found it a nice addition to the Peter Grant canon. I think it does well at introducing the regulars for a new audience, while still being plenty entertaining for those familiar with the series. I especially like that our regulars retain all their lovely diversity - I love Beverley Brook, but I was also pleased to see Guleed and Stephanopoulos.

Also the little one-page jokes in the back of the compiled edition are delightfully silly.

* Niggles were:
1) That Peter doesn't explain entry protocol at the car yard in issue 1. (In fact, gives an entirely incorrect impression of police protocol.)
2) That Nightingale lets Peter drive a car he would have show more absolutely no idea how to drive. (Never mind doubling the clutch, a 1920s car would have waaaay crazier control differences.)
In both of these cases, I suspect it's the narrative demands of the comic-book medium that are promoting brevity and protag-badassery over strict accuracy. It just niggles because the nerdery aspects of the series, especially regarding police protocol, are a highlight for me. show less

Despite an affinity for both the written word and the visual arts, I have yet to be engrossed in a graphic novel. Quite honestly, I have yet to be even a little bit moved. This is clearly a case of "it's not you, it's me."

The artwork is nicely done, the color shading appealing. Panels are shaded sepia and autumn tones if they are memories, a nice trick as Aaronovitch's books incorporate Nightingale's past in Peter's investigations. The narrative voice is set off in rectangular orange boxes, a clever device that helps separate Peter's thoughts from the dialogue. I thought the mystery and investigation worked, if somewhat unremarkable. I did like the way the past/present contrast worked for the mystery. For fans of the series, there are show more bonus "day in the life" pages at the end for other major serires characters. Overall, the story seems to rely on the reader's prior series knowledge in numerous small ways, including an early joke about a lunch packed by Molly.

The series also deserves a shoutout for multi-ethnic normalcy, including a professional woman in a hajib. I just found myself not particularly interested, quite a contrast to my Peter Grant experience when reading or listening to the audio books.

Undoubtedly, your mileage will vary. In fairness to authors and illustrator, I'm passing on rating, but I'll give myself three stars for trying. show less

This was a lot of fun. It fills in a few bits of information that I was missing when I tried to read one of the later books in the series, and I enjoyed these characters in this type of media. The story is just the right combination of silly and serious, and frankly the idea of your car taking over and trying to kill you is terrifying. I read mostly through my library, which does not have a wide collection of graphic novels, but I recently discovered that my library card gives me great access to comics through hoopla - I think I'll be checking out the other Rivers of London comics soon.