“This is urban fantasy par excellance with the books ticking many boxes: great stories, interesting mythos, packed with fascinating facts and very amusing.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
This review refers to the main series of 6 novels – not the novellas in between.
As the name suggests, this series follows the adventures of a young Police Constable, working in London, who unwittingly finds himself drawn into the less mundane side of London which involves magic and ghosts and gods – oh my!
The series is written in the first person – and what an engaging and intelligent young man PC Peter Grant is. The books are peppered with amusingly cynical insights into modern policing (Ben Aaronovitch has clearly done his research in this respect). In addition, there is the odd fascinating fact about London thrown in to the mix as well – several of which were new to me despite living in London for the last 3 decades.
This is urban fantasy par excellance with the books ticking many boxes: great stories, interesting mythos, packed with fascinating facts and very amusing.
My only issue with them is Aaronovitch’s occasionally long and convoluted descriptions of the magic and/or associated accoutrements (regulars of FRA will know that my grumpiness knows no bounds when such things get in the way of the story). Despite this, I am a big fan of this series and would definitely recommend it to any fans of the genre.
Reviewed by:
Debbie McCarthy
Added 25th February 2016
