Review: Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) is one of those fun reads that I nearly let fly by. You see, the title Midnight Riot does nothing for me – it’s too terribly generic. But I saw a bunch of buzz surrounding Rivers of London (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) from my UK blogger brethren. At the time I didn’t realize that Midnight Riot goes by the much more appealing title of Rivers of London in the UK. While I’m generally a bit hesitant to jump onto the blogger buzz bandwagon, it sounded like a short, fun read and I’m glad I picked it up. Midnight Riot is an entertaining, almost pulp-ish urban fantasy that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant seemingly gets the chance that every rookie cops longs for – an exclusive interview with an eye witness to a mysterious murder. Only it turns out the witness is a ghost, and understandably Peter questions his sanity and is hesitant to mention it to anyone. Eventually, Peter gains the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who turns out to be a wizard. The murders start adding up – Peter is both rookie cop and apprentice to a wizard and things get interesting.

Midnight Riot is simply a fun, fun book where magic meets the detective thriller. While I’ve not read them, I think it’s probably safe to sum it up as a British version of The Dresden Files. The book is relatively short, it’s a fast read, it’s addicting and hard to put down, and leaves you wanting more. And the second book of the series, Moon Over Soho (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound), is already available and there is already word of a third book, Whispers Under Ground (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound), coming this fall.

Peter Grant is a wonderfully believable rookie cop. He’s not cool or terribly exciting – really more of a bland guy that may not be suited for police work, but at least he has a sense of humor about it. But when he discovers that he may have a talent for magic he gets a bit cocky and over confident – not very much, but enough to make him feel even more real. In short, he’s the sort of guy that’s easy to cheer for. And I really enjoy the extra bit that Peter is a bit of geek, making Midnight Riot just self-aware enough to be extra amusing.

My biggest issues with the book have little to do with my enjoyment of it or anything Aaronovitch has control over – buy the book, but you may want to consider buying the UK version rather than Del Rey’s US version. As I go into in greater detail in another post, Midnight Riot seems to have gone through a bit of ‘Americanization’ of its text. Since I haven’t done a line-by-line comparison I can’t say how bad, but I do know that it’s highly unlikely that the word soccer appears in the UK version. I mean really, when someone raised in a rougher part of London thinks about soccer rather than football, I’m literally yanked out of the carefully crafted mood of the novel. This sort of change is unnecessary, insulting, and simply a bad idea.

Additionally, I really am unhappy with the implications of the potential white-washing of the cover for both Midnight Riot and Moon Over Soho by Del Rey. I go into a bit more detail here, but it looks really bad – and an already questionable cover potentially becomes something much worse.

So, I’m jumping on the bandwagon with this – Midnight Riot/Rivers of London is a great read. Sure, you don’t want to think too much about it because it all may just fall apart, but it is a fun take on the supernatural detective and captures the atmosphere of London wonderfully. This pulp-ish urban fantasy has a bit of an old-school vibe – just how I like it. 7.5/10

Review: Sleepless by Charlie Huston

Right from the very beginning I knew that Sleepless (US, UK, Canada, Indiebound) was going to be something different – potentially something of excellence and almost certainly depressing as hell. Equally clear right from the start was skill that Charlie Huston was wielding with his writing – it’s far superior to other books of his that I’ve read (admitted I’ve only read a couple of the Joe Pitt casebooks). The potential was enormous – potentially something that would break all genre barriers and wind up on Oprah’s list (like The Road a few years ago). And ultimately Sleepless delivers – perhaps not to the same level as The Road (US, UK, Canada, Indiebound), but something special nonetheless.

Sleepless can be described as apocalyptic science fiction, a detective story, a thriller, noir, cyberpunk, near-future sci-fi, or even horror. While all are true to one degree or another, Sleepless is a crime story at its heart – this is simply the story of a dedicated cop working undercover to unearth conspiratorial crime. But let’s not forget that it’s equally apocalyptic – not post-apocalypse, or pre-apocalypse, events in Sleepless occur while civilization is unraveling.

Think about the economic crisis as we’ve known it over the past couple of years – now add to it a plague that is 100% lethal, that infects 10% of the population and is spreading. This plague knows no bounds or economic class – it is everywhere and it is incurable. Once infected a person looses their ability to sleep – they have waking dreams, hallucinations, and are unknowably tired, but they will never sleep again. And they will be sleepless and fully conscious until their inevitable death comes. And they will wreak havoc. The only potential relief comes in the form of Dreamer, a drug that will allow them sleep and if they choose, a peaceful death while sleeping. Dreamer is the drug they need and there isn’t nearly enough.

Park is a unique man who believes in absolute black and white. He truly believes in justice and injustice and absolutely believes that everything will right itself and the world will turn out right. In Park’s world there is no other possible outcome, the world must be right for his wife and infant child. Even if his wife is Sleepless and maybe the infant too. Huston paints Park’s point of view through short absolute bursts of words, approaching telegraphic prose that is perfect for a man of absolute black and white. Huston’s misguided Park denies reality by diving into his work – to infiltrate the Dreamer black-market and find out who’s behind it all. In Park’s mind this will literally save the world.

Balancing Park and his point of view is a more fluid voice, more nuanced, yet in its own way, equally absolute. Jasper is a killer. A man with the experience of a relatively long life, Jasper has embraced the apocalypse as the ideal environment for someone like him to flourish. Through these contrasting voices an interesting truth emerged as I read – the point of view of the killer was much more comforting and less infuriating that the point of view of the hero. And that’s horribly appropriate when the world is ending.

Huston creates an absolutely terrifying world – terrifying because it’s so close to our own. It shows the illusion of civilization that we all live behind for what it is. It shows just what human nature can (and does) do. These are the truths that become evident right from the start and my most optimistic reaction was ‘this can’t end well’.

Oh the end – I wish I could talk about it in detail without spoiling. It is either absolutely brilliant or stunningly wrong. Or perhaps both. I’ve thought on it for days and still haven’t decided, but I think I’ve come to accept that it fits the world that Huston has built. As I said above, ‘this can’t end well’ – the question is just how bad will it be – will any hope be left. Or does everyone die.

So Sleepless is an apocalyptic crime story plus many other pieces that all add up to literary fiction. Yes, this is a book that is both genre and literary (in spite of having a plot). It is very much a discussion on the human condition – it’s just that most of the human conditions viewed are what so many of us would choose to deny exist. This is both a book that I can’t recommend highly enough and a book that I don’t think I ever want to read again. It is excellence, it is depressing as hell, and thankfully, it’s not entirely without hope. 9/10

Related Posts: Interview with Charlie Huston

Review: The Affinity Bridge by George Mann

Steampunk always seems to float just below widespread notice in the SFF world, cycling like a steam-driven piston, occasionally poking its head up and saying ‘look we’re still here’. This cycle seems to be peaking yet again, with recent and forthcoming publications like Mainspring/Escapement, Boneshaker, Whitechapel Gods, and the Steampunk anthology. The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (US, UK, Canada, Indiebound) stands right in the middle of this mini steampunk invasion.

In Victorian London airships circle, steam-driven taxies are the new rage, and clockwork automatons have become status symbols for the rich. Zombie attacks plague the slums, a serial killer in the form of a supernatural glowing policeman raises alarm, and Queen Victoria herself is kept alive through a horrific life-support system. In this familiar yet alien London, Sir Maurice Newbury conducts investigations for the crown that enter into the realm of the supernatural and occult and his new assistant, Miss Veronica Hobbs, breaks barriers of the time to join him. Two separate investigations converge in this dark, yet proper steampunk Victorian world as Sir Maurice and Miss Hobbs settle into their new partnership.

In The Affinity Bridge Mann channels the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Sexton Blake. This is a detective story that harkens back to an original-feeling buddy-cop tale, with a healthy dash of sexual tension thrown into the mix. In fact it feels much like the homage made by Michael Moorcock with his Sir Seaton Bregg stories, only without the biting satire, subversive humor, exotic settings and crazy alternative histories within a multi-verse. While Mann suffers an apparent lack of depth in comparison with Moorcock, this isn’t (necessarily) a bad thing. The mystery may not present many shocking twists and turns (i.e. it’s a bit predictable), but the presentation is a joy to read while maintaining a fresh feel about it.

Mann captures Victorian-era London very well, yet he truly excels with that proper, stuffy British-ness that one associates with the time. People are respectful, kind, and often insincere while insults are decidedly passive-aggressive. The British Empire is at its height and the riches and the confidence it bestows on the people (well the upper classes anyway) shows through.

This success also breeds failure – when a character is stuffy, respectful and insincere, they are hard to get to know. They become caricatures of society and what they should be. Mann seems to strive to show us more of both Newbury and Hobbs yet can’t quite get past this prevailing image of the times. At the same time, I’m not convinced that he really wants us to see too much of his characters. This is the first adventure in a series with more to come – Mann is clearly holding back a bit for the future, sacrificing the present as a result. This tendency to hold back leads to further issues where character aspects just don’t play out as they should. For example, Newbury’s clear interest and obsession with the occult seems to go nowhere and didn’t really add much to the plot, yet Mann clearly places great importance in it, particularly for future novels. Also, Mann shakes things up at the end with implications for future events, yet these revelations are so drastic they seem too far out of character from what’s been presented to be entirely credible. The overall resulting feel is that of unevenness.

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s got a wonderful, classic steampunk vibe and presents a very enjoyable reading experience that at times becomes a true page-turner in-spite of the stuffy Victorian setting. Unfortunately the characterization comes across as uneven, and a few aspects of the plot often feel just as uneven. However, for me, the good outweighed the bad by a large enough margin for me to recommend this piece of the latest steampunk invasion. 7/10

Review: Already Dead by Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston's Already Dead (US, UK, Canada) takes the prototypical hard-boiled, noir detective template and injects it into a world of vampires. The result is not the Buffy-inspired urban fantasy romp that dominates the fantasy market these days, but a true noir detective tale that happens to star a vampire struggling for independence in clan dominated underworld.

Joe Pitt is fed up with the warring vampire clans and their hierarchy of rule. He ekes out an existence as a rogue living in one clan’s territory (The Society) while performing the odd job for various clients, including the dominant rival clan (The Coalition) of mid-town Manhattan. Clan tyranny and politics make it difficult on an independent in the secret underworld of vampires and Pitt walks a fine line playing the various factions off one another as he struggles to survive.

After an encounter with a trio of squatters infected with a flesh-eating strain of bacteria (aka zombies), Pitt ends up in unpleasant encounters with the leaders of both the Coalition and Society. As a result he is left with a new job through the Coalition – to find the missing daughter of a rich and powerful woman. Relatively standard progression occurs as Pitt investigates with an escalation in complexity and danger that sweeps him away, revealing the man behind the vampire and the sometimes moralistic rage encompassing both.

Huston’s world offers clever and adequate explanations for the how and why behind vampirism other supernatural phenomenon. Vampires are infected with an unknown to science virus colloquial known as the vyrus. It feeds upon human blood and gives the infected superhuman qualities that enable them to become superior hunters. The vampires of Huston’s world laugh at, subvert, utilize, and manipulate pop-culture’s embracing of vampires. Zombies result from an infection of flesh-eating bacteria that animates its dying host with hormones to keep it searching for other food sources (i.e. victims to infect). Brains are craved due to their high content of valuable hormones used to keep the host viable.

Huston envisions the dark side of Manhattan most choose to look past while creating the perfect sense of antagonistic paranoia. This world of the dispossessed, criminals, and others exists and thrives beyond the law with the vampire clans even further beneath this underworld. Here the clans both supplement and replace the organized crime networks common to the noir world where the rich and powerful, human and vampire alike, use and abuse this world to their own ends.

The best part of Already Dead is Joe Pitt – a classic anti-hero, noir detective-who-is-not-actually-a-detective. Pitt’s history brings an extra dimension of depth often missing – a childhood of horrible abuse, an adolescence and young-adulthood of abusing, a role as enforcer within a vampire clan, and finally, a rejection of it all and the attainment of a some-what flawed moral high ground and sense of justice. Much of this comes about in his introspective thoughts surrounding his girlfriend, Evie – a young HIV-infected bartender. She refuses to risk infecting Pitt, and Pitt struggles with the knowledge that his vampirism, unknown to Evie, could cure her HIV with curse of his affliction.

This classic noir story with zombies, vampires, pornography, evil corporate moguls, clan warfare, and a hard-ass, flawed, moralistic rogue vampire proves to be a fast-paced, engaging read that I very much enjoyed. I eagerly anticipate the further adventures of Joe Pitt in No Dominion (US, UK, Canada), Half the Blood of Brooklyn (US, UK, Canada), and forthcoming Every Last Drop (US, UK, Canada). 8/10