Book #04 - Whispers Underground (The Rivers of London #3) by Ben Aaronovitch
Whispers Underground (The Rivers of London #3) by Ben Aaronovitch
The London Underground contains more than just tube stations.
Funny prose, made me laugh out loud several times. Ben Aaronovitch's writing style is just a joy from start to finish.
Sadly, the plot of this one didn't really work for me quite as well. It's a crime novel like any other for the most part - yes, there are magical elements, but most of it is about money, business, politics, and police work. Not bad, but also not particularly interesting.
A lot of it takes place in underground tunnels and sewer tunnels, which at least is a nicely creepy setting.
* When it started out with the ghost on the tracks, I thought the book was going to be about ghosts. I did not expect it was going to be about Silent People living underground and keeping their society hidden and alive through pig manure. Nor did I find it particularly believable. Nope, nope. Nope.
* I kind of liked what went down with the FBI agent who was assigned to the case and kept getting in their way. Peter's hiding his magic from her was not too overdone/slapsticky and thus bearable. And she was smart and turned up in all the right places because she was good at ther job. I liked that.
* I already forgot who committed the murder. The guy who was jealous of his art colleague because the Silent Princess (lol, Mute Princess *cough*) wasn't into him? Yeah. Something like that. Somewhere along the way I lost interest in the case.
* I very much liked how Leslie is being reintegrated into the unit, and how much better she is at magic than Peter is. That'll never not be funny.
* I was told that this installment kicks off some kind of mytharc, but that part - when Peter hallicunates being saved by a knight with a sword - was probably my least favorite part of the book. I was okay with him being buried and asphyxiating, but the hallucination felt shoehorned in there. Forced foreshadowing, huh.
* I liked their trek(s) through cold, wet, dangerous sewers. Yuck. Well done.
* The thing that most rubbed me wrong was the conclusion to the "so what are we going to do about the Silent People now that we found them" question. Nothing, we'll leave them alone and hope nobody else stumbles upon them and makes their existence public. Hm. Okay, a little better than "we are better than they are so lets integrate them into our society", but still... that whole thing was dubious.
* Even if I didn't find the Silent People very believable, at least the book had quite a few unexpected twists. It definitely didn't go where I thought it would. Several times.
* All in all, the book wasn't bad - at least it was a fun read and I got through it quickly, unlike the book I'd originally planned to read in April and had to drop - but definitely my least favorite in the series so far. Good thing I'm not very far into the series in the first place :D, I'll definitely keep reading.
3 stars - My least favorite so far. I love the characters, but the case didn't grip me.
1 - * stars - private novel draft
2 - 4 stars - All the Birds In The Sky by Charlie Jane Anders [DW link & LJ link]
3 - todo
4 - 3 stars - Whispers Underground (The Rivers of London #3) by Ben Aaronovitch [DW link & LJ link]
x-posted from dw (comments:
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