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Originally Posted by pdurrant
They are why the book is called "Rivers of London". I can see that there might be too much fantasy for someone who doesn't usually read fantasy. But the author hasn't lost control of the story. It's going just where they always intended it to go.
I found the magic and the magical background and characters fascinating. And since I like murder mysteries too, this book was right up my street.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
I'll have to bear that in mind when I re-read it. (As I think I will re-read it sometime). Perhaps I just overlooked that aspect of it. It is true that the two main characters of the series are male, and so have most depth.
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I agree with both of your posts.
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Originally Posted by issybird
I think both titles are uninspired, myself; equally poor.
But that leads to one of my issues. While I thought the male characters were complex and well-rounded, the female characters all seemed like tropes. Misogyny was bubbling under in the attitudes from the male characters and that was irritating. But it was the river gods that got me. I was interested in the story as it was shaping up, didn't even mind the zombie and vampire aspect, but the spirits went too far. I wanted to know more about the murder, about Nightingale, about learning how to use magic, and the gods were a distraction and not an interesting one. I thought the author lost control of the story at that point and that's when I gave up.
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Peter's learning of magic is an ongoing process. We learn as he learns, and he is still learning. I actually enjoy that aspect, because it makes him more human. He doesn't go from muggle to Dumbledore overnight (and yes, I loved the shout out to Potter in the book too; it was one of my favorite conversations).
As PD commented, the rivers were the namesake of the book, and play an important role in both the main mystery and Peter's education. I expect to see them throughout the series.
The vampire snapshot was very weird, but it too had a role in Peter learning about magic. I assume there may be other encounters later on, but they're not high on my list.
All in all, I believe this book was the equivalent of an establishing shot in a movie, but wth an interesting, episodic, story as well. I do hope, Issy, that you give it another try one day.