Malazan Empire: Ben Aaronovitch - Peter Grant urban fantasy series - Malazan Empire

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Ben Aaronovitch - Peter Grant urban fantasy series Rivers of London/Midnight Riot, Moon Over Soho, etc...

#1 User is offline   Abyss 

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Posted 01 August 2012 - 02:29 PM

WHISPERS UNDERGROUND is Ben Aaronovich's third Peter Grant book, following on RIVERS OF LONDON (called MIDNIGHT RIOT in the US/Canada) and MOON OVER SOHO.

I'm reading it now, halfway thru and i'm enjoying it, and i thought a dedicated thread might be handy.

If you haven't read them yet HERE is a link back to the short thread in the Featured Review forum where some of our trusted forumites laddled praise upon the first book....

To protect the innocent and the stupid, will block SPOILERS at least for now but consider this an open discussion thread for the series....

Now then....

Spoiler



So, so far so good.
This series won't displace Butcher's Dresden or Carey's Castor at the top of my urban fantasy list, but it's fast becoming a close third.
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#2 User is offline   polishgenius 

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Posted 02 August 2012 - 12:46 AM

I haven't read the third yet- I plan to, when money allows, but of my ongoing urban fantasy series reads, it's probably bottom of the list, after Butcher, Griffin, Carey, and Jacka...

It is enjoyable. But I've found the ideas slightly outweigh the execution, at least in the first two. It's good, but it doesn't have the Dresden zing.
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Posted 02 August 2012 - 09:14 PM

It's certainly a slower pace than Dresden, who tends to blow shit up within the first ten pages and then accelerate from there.

The police procedural element arguably slows things down, but it's a nice touch that rather than trying to work outside the system, Grant and co are actually 'real' cops who work w other cops and have act accordingly even when they're dealing with rogue magicians and gods and such.

The magic is also fairly low-key. A point in the world-buildling is that everyone thought magic was more or less gone, and it's just starting to re-emerge so there isn't much of it and it tends to be hidden. Not in a boring way but in the sense that it's subtle ... there's little on the scale of Dresden's 'staff of smiting'. Peter notes in bk 3 that three years into his training he only knows about five spells and then fairly basic ones. The fact that he's adapted them in some novel and effective ways is acknowledged but he's far from any kind of powerhouse.

I'm also finding that the characters have become more involved in the story at this stage, to the point that tho Aaronovitch doesn't have Carey's flare for it, dialogue alone can move a scene along.
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#4 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 02:27 PM

Was just at the store. Now I bought the first two with the American covers....but the 3rd book is the UK cover.


WHAT

THE

FUCK

Seriously, these won't look remotely the same on my shelf.

Some days I want to email publishers and say "STOP CHANGING COVERS MIDWAY!"
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#5 User is offline   Abyss 

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 02:39 PM

View PostQuickTidal, on 03 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

Was just at the store. Now I bought the first two with the American covers....but the 3rd book is the UK cover.
... "STOP CHANGING COVERS MIDWAY!"


Same thing happened to me. I've given up on that mostly.
At least the industry has mostly stopped doing those oversized mmpb on series that were 'normal' mmpbs.

Anyrate i think you'll enjoy them.
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#6 User is offline   kcf 

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 08:22 PM

View PostQuickTidal, on 03 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

Was just at the store. Now I bought the first two with the American covers....but the 3rd book is the UK cover.


WHAT

THE

FUCK

Seriously, these won't look remotely the same on my shelf.

Some days I want to email publishers and say "STOP CHANGING COVERS MIDWAY!"



Well, I'm quite happy to see Del Rey move away from the white-washed covers they started with.
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#7 User is offline   Shiara 

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Posted 04 August 2012 - 11:44 AM

View Postkcf, on 03 August 2012 - 08:22 PM, said:

View PostQuickTidal, on 03 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

Was just at the store. Now I bought the first two with the American covers....but the 3rd book is the UK cover.


WHAT

THE

FUCK

Seriously, these won't look remotely the same on my shelf.

Some days I want to email publishers and say "STOP CHANGING COVERS MIDWAY!"



Well, I'm quite happy to see Del Rey move away from the white-washed covers they started with.


UK covers are almost always better than US ones, I've found...
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#8 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 04 August 2012 - 12:00 PM

View Postkcf, on 03 August 2012 - 08:22 PM, said:

View PostQuickTidal, on 03 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

Was just at the store. Now I bought the first two with the American covers....but the 3rd book is the UK cover.


WHAT

THE

FUCK

Seriously, these won't look remotely the same on my shelf.

Some days I want to email publishers and say "STOP CHANGING COVERS MIDWAY!"



Well, I'm quite happy to see Del Rey move away from the white-washed covers they started with.


agree...BUT I already bought two with those white washed covers because that's what was available to me....that means I now have an incongruous set and it pisses me off.

I'd much rather have had the UK covers from the get go.
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Posted 07 August 2012 - 02:32 PM

Finished WHISPERS UNDERGROUND.
In the end, this was good, not great.

Without spoiling anything, the first half+ of the book does some terrific world and character building. Some neat new details are revealed, the supporting cast gets more and better 'on screen' time. There's a nice sense of a building murder mystery.

The author has improved his narrative and Peter Grant's 'voice' as narrator has a touch more confidence but also caution knowing in the aftermath of bk 2 that there's a lot more going on than he's capable of dealing with.

The police procedural elements are well handled. The story nicely depicts the London police taking fairly realistic steps to deal with 'magic', notwithstanding sheer disbelief that it is even necessary. There is a real sense that Grant and his coleagues aren't mavericks or special agents or loose cannons, but rather real beat cops who happen to deal with a very particular area of criminal activity. It's a nice touch.

My 'problem' with the book is that the action never quite builds to a real pitch, unlike the first two books. There's one decent action sequence, and the finale could best be described as intended to instill a sense of wonder more than any real climax to the story. And it doesn't quite work... it adds some neat new elements to the world but reads more like background or setup than a conclusion, unlike RIOT/RIVERS and MOON that had a clear end point. What end there is is mostly via infodump more than event or resolution.

Also, it's perhaps a frivolous complaint, but the publisher does this book an utter disservice by describing a supposed main plot point on the back cover blurb that does not, in any way whatsoever, resemble anything that happens in the story. If you're reading this book expecting a born-again christian FBI agent who considers all magic the work of the devil, don't - it doesn't happen. At all. There is an FBI agent, and she's actually a fun character, but forget about the religious stuff. Not Aaronovitch's fault at all (i assume), but an annoyance even so.

So i put this as a decent entry into the series, and i will still, without hesitation, buy bk 4, but that's based on the strength of 1 and 2 more than 3.

I will say tho' that the last line in the book is a hell of a hook for bk 4.
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#10 User is offline   Paran 

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Posted 09 August 2012 - 05:14 AM

Agree Abyss, definitely missing a "holy cra.." climax... missing "the prestige" of the magic trick, if you would...
Will still get the next one, but this was a let down after the first two.
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Posted 09 August 2012 - 01:56 PM

View PostParan, on 09 August 2012 - 05:14 AM, said:

Agree Abyss, definitely missing a "holy cra.." climax... missing "the prestige" of the magic trick, if you would...
Will still get the next one, but this was a let down after the first two.



Yep, and what kicks me is that RIVERS and MOON had great climaxes.... serious protagonist in jeapordy holy crap that was awesome endings. So the muted level of this was a let down.

It's not as tho every book must have a shoot-em-up finale... looking at a dresdencrack example, the end of PROVEN GUILTY is a beautiful example of how to ratchet tension to the breaking point, not have the book end with a kaboom, and still blow the reader away. There was a nice revelation, but it was world-building, not storytelling.

And whoever let that back blurb go to print should be demoted to getting coffee for the office and not trusted to write the orders down.
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#12 User is offline   Shiara 

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Posted 17 August 2012 - 03:44 AM

The blurb was indeed misleading, and while the action was not "kaboom" as you say, I still found the writing extremely engaging.

On a side note, I find it unfair that several people compare emerging urban fantasy writers to Jim Butcher when they've only got two or three books out, even though the consensus (as far as I've heard) is that the first five or six Dresden books were lacklustre compared to the rest of the series. Honestly I'm kinda sick of hearing about the Dresden Files - I've only recently finished Death Masks, and what I've read so far doesn't compare favourably to either Aaronovitch or Jacka.

Spoiler

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Posted 17 August 2012 - 07:28 PM

View PostShiara, on 17 August 2012 - 03:44 AM, said:

The blurb was indeed misleading, and while the action was not "kaboom" as you say, I still found the writing extremely engaging.


No complaints about the actual writing. If anything i think he's improved.

Quote

On a side note, I find it unfair that several people compare emerging urban fantasy writers to Jim Butcher when they've only got two or three books out, even though the consensus (as far as I've heard) is that the first five or six Dresden books were lacklustre compared to the rest of the series.


Comparison is a natural reaction as well as a way to express one's take on a new author. And it's not necessarily a negative thing.
But if i were to compare the first three Grant novels against the first three Dresden, my opinion would be the same for a variety of reasons related to the pacing, supporting cast, overall setting and dialogue.

Tho if you thought Summer Knight and Death Masks were lacklustre you might consider that maybe you aren't worthy the series just isn't for you.

Quote

Honestly I'm kinda sick of hearing about the Dresden Files - I've only recently finished Death Masks, and what I've read so far doesn't compare favourably to either Aaronovitch or Jacka.
Spoiler


That's your opinion and you're entitled to it even if it identifies you as cold and dead inside and should be burned with fire for heresy. Try Gravol.
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#14 User is offline   Shiara 

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Posted 18 August 2012 - 12:23 AM

I appreciate that you took the time to write out a measured response instead of just hitting that neg-rep button :lol:

Rest assured I have not given up on Dresden, and I am trying to keep an open mind. There is yet time for the series to wow me.
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Posted 18 August 2012 - 12:25 PM

View PostShiara, on 18 August 2012 - 12:23 AM, said:

I appreciate that you took the time to write out a measured response instead of just hitting that neg-rep button ;)

Rest assured I have not given up on Dresden, and I am trying to keep an open mind. There is yet time for the series to wow me.



If you read up to DEATH MASKS and aren't hooked....you might want to give up.

But the part of me saying that is also the same part of me that considers your incorrect misguided comments about Harry Dresden to be the highest blasphemy in the land. So you know....there's quite a range there.
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Posted 20 August 2012 - 02:04 PM

View PostShiara, on 18 August 2012 - 12:23 AM, said:

I appreciate that you took the time to write out a measured response instead of just hitting that neg-rep button ;)

Rest assured I have not given up on Dresden, and I am trying to keep an open mind. There is yet time for the series to wow me.


I don't neg-rep just because someone is clearly a heretical blasphemour who should be flogged, dipped in cheese-whiz and roled in rabid lab mice disagrees with me.

View PostQuickTidal, on 18 August 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

If you read up to DEATH MASKS and aren't hooked....you might want to give up.

But the part of me saying that is also the same part of me that considers your incorrect misguided comments about Harry Dresden to be the highest blasphemy in the land. So you know....there's quite a range there.


Exactly.


Btw QT - did you remember to stock up on cheeze whiz?
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#17 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 20 August 2012 - 02:45 PM

View PostAbyss, on 20 August 2012 - 02:04 PM, said:

Btw QT - did you remember to stock up on cheeze whiz?


Made the trip to Costco just this morning in fact. Got a whole skid of it.
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#18 User is offline   Shiara 

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Posted 21 August 2012 - 01:05 AM

Good thing I'm not lactose intolerant then, I guess ;)
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#19 User is offline   Abyss 

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Posted 21 August 2012 - 08:59 PM

What about rabid lab mouse intolerant?
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#20 User is offline   Shiara 

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Posted 22 August 2012 - 04:01 AM

I plan to squeesh them with my massive heretic bulk.
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