Review: What Abigail Did That Summer

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ghost hunter, fox whisperer, troublemaker.

 It is the summer of 2013, and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged the teens return home—unharmed but vague about where they've been. Aided only by her friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real and a posse of talking foxes that think they're spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and importantly—why?

Set during Peter's sojourn to Herefordshire (see Foxglove Summer) we find that while the furore of the missing children there is ongoing there's a lesser mystery occurring in Hampstead. Children are going missing only to return with no memory of where they've been... Abigail is intrigued to say the least.

I found What Abigail Did That Summer to be a lovely if a little short jump into the life of one of the more interesting side characters of the series. Abigail is presented as a smart, caring and, most of all, capable protagonist. Possibly a little too capable for a very inexperienced teenager... mind you the arrogance of youth and all that. Abigail is aided in this adventure by Simon, who I think won't be much of a recurring character and one of the wonderful talking foxes first seen in the graphic novel Cry Fox. I really enjoyed this Audible version of the story although I found Shvorne Marks' the tiniest bit off-putting with her not using Abigail's dialect (know what I mean bruv innit) as written by Aaronovitch, not a deal breaker by any means but a touch off.

The story is, as you'd expect, much less police procedural and more Famous Five meets Sapphire and Steel which i found to be very refreshing.

I think we'll be seeing Abigail and her foxy friends a lot more in the future and that's no bad thing.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: The Fey and the Furious

Rivers of London Volume 8: The Fey and the Furious by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: The Fey and the Furious is the eighth collected volume of the Rivers of London comic book. This volume is made up of four issues of the comic book.

Set immediately after Lies Sleeping, The Fey and the Furious begins with DC Peter Grant still on suspension from the Met and a young Essex boy racer found dead in a Dutch dyke (No... stop it! Filthy mind you have!) with cargo of illicit produce in his boot. Peter and the Muslim Ninja, Sahra Guleed, are despatched off to Essex to infiltrate local street racing rings. Things soon take a turn for the "weird bollocks" when the race route goes through fairyland...

I want to start this review with my congratulations on the pun title, great work, now stop it or I'm calling the police. This story only missing a Vin Diesel character to be The Fast and the Furious with fairies and I love it. This one has just the right balance of call backs and returning characters to give the new thing a place to breathe. Beverley Brook is also given more to do in this than just being Peter's girlfriend (I know she gets more of a role in the main series) which is good.

I know I've said this before for others in the series but this one really is the best one so far. Read it, read it now!

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Action at a Distance

Rivers of London Volume 7: Action at a Distance by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: Action at a Distance is the seventh collected volume of the Rivers of London comic book. This volume is made up of four issues of the comic book.

In a Harry Dresden meets Springheel Jack tale Nightingale mourns the loss of a friend while Peter reads of them pursuing the nefarious Fischer from Windscale to London and back again.

At last a story where Nightingale is the protagonist! I've been waiting for this for a while now and was not disappointed. Nightingale as a protagonist is witty, charming, ruthless and has more tricks up his sleeve than Paul Daniels.

I liked this a lot, in fact it's fair to say this is probably my favourite RoL graphic novel so far. We're also treated to a new artist for this volume with Brian Williamson doing the honours.

Like the others this isn't essential reading but it is a ripping good yarn.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Water Weed

Rivers of London Volume 6: Water Weed by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: Water Weed is the sixth collected volume of the Rivers of London comic book taking place between The Hanging Tree and Lies Sleeping. This volume comprises of four issues of the comic book.

After two of the less well-behaved River goddesses, Chelsea and Olympia, decide to "tax" a drugs mule using the Thames as a highway, Peter Grant and Beverley Brook find themselves drawn into a cannabis smuggling operation with weird magical connotations.

While I liked the story I found the sexualisation of the younger goddesses a bit off putting and the sex scene was just unnecessary. That being said the "police procedural" aspects of the story were as good as any you'll see on TV with and interesting and unexpected antagonist.

If you can look past the parts mentioned this is a good story but I'm afraid they're there and pretty in your face.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Cry Fox

Rivers of London: Cry Fox: Volume 5 by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: Cry Fox is the fifth collected volume of the Rivers of London comic book. This volume carries on the trend of consisting of four collected issues of the comic book.

Following on from the story in Night Witch vengeful Russian mobsters are looking to hire members of London's demi-monde (the umofficial society consisting of minor magic users and supernatural creatures) to bring bloody retribution down on the witch Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina. However, the ex-Soviet sorcerer is under the protective wing of London's own wizarding cop, DC Peter Grant, and to get the attention of Grant and his colleagues, the the daughter of a prominent Russian oligarch is kidnapped by parties unknown but possibly fox-like. What makes it worse is that Peter is going to have to leave his beloved London and go out into the countryside.

Cry Fox features one of slimiest gits to ever grace the page, Reynard Fossman, as the main antagonist. What with his sociopathic tendencies and serious paedo vibes I just can't abide this character... but then again I'm not supposed to. I was expecting Abigail to be a little more present in the story, possibly even the protagonist, after all the hints in the main novel series but alas she was somewhat relegated to a secondary character. I did like the not very well hidden twist but it was so obviously flagged as to be none existent as a twist.

Again with these graphic novels it adds to the mythos without being essential reading. Do you need to read it? No, as I've said it's not essential. Should you read it if you like RoL? Bloody right you should.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Detective Stories

Rivers of London, Volume 4: Detective Stories by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: Detective Stories is the fourth collected volume of the Rivers of London comic book. This volume collects four issues unlike the previous three that were five issues each.

The framing device for this volume is PC Peter Grant's detective exam with each comic book detailing a different story... so a volume of one shots if you will.

Do these stories add to the Rivers of London mythos / lore? Well... yeah they do.

Are they any good? they're ok... and that's the rub. They're only ok, not great, not bad, just ok. Still we can't expect earthshattering genius in every story right? Right?

The art work remains of the highest quality and as I've skimmed through the other volumes where the quality doesn't change I don't think I'll mention it again... unless there's a dip...

Knowing there's a small dip in story quality would I recommend this volume to a friend? All in all I think I would, if only for completionist reasons. Is it essential reading? No, but none of these graphic novel / comic book adventures are.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Black Mould

Rivers of London: Black Mould by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rivers of London Black Mould is the third volume of the collected Rivers of London comic book. This volume consists of five collected issues of the comic book.

Set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree Black Mould tells the tale of Peter's colleague, Muslim ninja and possible trusty sidekick, Sahra Guleed, discovering a mould problem in the house of a friend. But what at first seems just a virulent fungus takes a far darker turn when the mould attacks Guleed, piquing Peter's interest and suggesting something far more dangerous...

Now this is more like it! Black Mould is probably the first of these graphic novels to really capture the feel of the main novels. Aaronovitch and Cartmel seem to have hit their stride here and I for one could not be happier. With echoes of Marvel's Venom this is the best of the graphic novels so far.. miss this one at your peril.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Night Witch

Rivers of London: Night Witch by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rivers of London: Night Witch is the second of seven (at time of writing) collected volumes of the Rivers of London comic book. This time we're treated to some fleshing out of one of the more interesting side-characters, Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina, the Russian magic user first seen in Whispers Under Ground.

The plot of the volume covers the daughter of Russian tycoon Nestor Yakunin being kidnapped, apparently by a Leshy, a creature from the forests of his homeland - a long way from Kent where the kidnapping occurred.

Aaronovitch and Cartmel have succeeded in their endeavour to flesh out the world of PC Peter Grant with an engaging tale enhanced by the art work from Lee Sullivan.

As before it's not necessary to read this volume but it will make your experience of the River of London somewhat deeper.

View all my reviews

Review: Rivers of London: Body Work

Rivers of London: Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ever wonder what would happen if Christine ended up in a breakers yard?

Ever wondered just how Constable Guleed got involved with the Folly (or "weird bollocks" as our friend DCI Alexander Seawoll would say)?

Well wonder no longer for all this and more is in Rivers of London: Body Work

Rivers of London: Body Work is the collected volume of the five part comic series and fills in some (oh I hate this word) lore or background in a short side story.

The art work in this volume is delightful as is the main story. I particularly liked the Tales From the Folly shorts at the end where we're treated to some very funny stuff

I think the comic book / graphic novel format suits Rivers of London very well for these shorter tales and as I've mentioned the art style here is perfect for the tone. All in all this (and I'm assuming the other volumes) are maybe not essential to fans of Peter Grant but they are a delightful addition filling in a few gaps.

View all my reviews