[Abyss]

Pig Iron, on 06 July 2013 - 05:37 PM, said:

If you like Rivers of London you have to read Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus novels. Like both but Jacka wins; like a cross between Dresden and Castor - the whole get beat up alot, win by attitude, smarts and creative use of magic. Thread is here:

http://forum.malazan...benedict-jacka/

The first two rest comfortably near the top of the TRPFH.

[Abyss]

I didn't even know bk 4 BROKEN HOMES was coming out this week?!!!!

Kobo dl'd. Jumps to top of TRP!

God i hope he corrects some of the misfires from bk 3....

[D'iversify]

Never read any of this but Aaronovich was on BBC Breakfast this morning, seemed a cool guy.

[Starling]

Oh man, I have just read Broken Homes, and it's awesome. I have some issues with the blatant cliff-hanger-ism (that is now a word), but I loved the rest of it. Great, fast-paced and fun plot. It's easy to read and entertaining, all I really want from my urban fantasy

[Starling]

Also, somewhat relatedly, I love the Butcher, Jacka and Aaronovitch books. I've seen a few other names thrown around on this thread. Anyone feel like making a recommendation? I don't have a lot of time for reading big epic fantasy books right now.

[Abyss]

Starling, on 30 August 2013 - 04:11 AM, said:

Also, somewhat relatedly, I love the Butcher, Jacka and Aaronovitch books. I've seen a few other names thrown around on this thread. Anyone feel like making a recommendation? I don't have a lot of time for reading big epic fantasy books right now.

Mike Carey's Felix Castor series.
Grimmer and more of a slow boil than the above three but very much in the same first person narrator urban fantasy style and they steadily improve from bk 1. Five books out, each more or less self contained. Bk 5 is a satisfying conclusion to the series, tho Carey teases about bk 6 every so often just because he's an evil bastard.

[Aptorian]

Just finished the fourth book "Broken Homes".

I wasn't that fond of "Whispers under Ground" but "Broken Homes" was great and it has one hell of an ending:

SPOILERS FOR BROKEN HOMES

Spoiler

I knew there was something coming regarding Leslie and her face but I never imagined she would become a turn coat.

I don't know if I actually buy this from a character stand point. Yes, she was upset and yes she hated looking like a monster, but nothing in her behavior in the third or fourth books suggested to me that she was so depressed, desperate or angry that she could go over to the Faceless Man. Unless Aaronovitch is pulling one hell of a misdirection here I think he failed to make this turn convincing.

It may be like Zach suggested that she is a playing the Double Agent but on who's order and for what purpose? They had the Faceless Man dead to rights. It was over. There was no other guy or organization behind the Faceless Man as far as we understand.

I just don't buy that she would chose to help a guy who is as monstrous as the Faceless Man. If anything I would expect her to be much more determined to punish and stop someone like the Faceless Man, so that other people wouldn't have to live with what she had.

I wonder where the series is going from here.

I imagine that the Nightwitch will probably end up working for the Folly. Or we are going to find out that the secret door Peter found leads to some kind of Ghostbusters like holding cell for magical beings and she'll get stuck in there.

I have to say though that the beaurocracy and legal hoops that the Folly is constantly having to jump through is wearing thin.

Why is the Folly under police management in the first place? Lady Ty may be a snooty bitch but I think the woman has a point. The need for a Ministry of magic is pretty clear and the Folly needs to have much greater political influence and power of control in any case magic is involved in. They ought to have the same power as MI6 or what ever those British organizations are called.
I get that things were a mess after the second world war but it doesn’t explain why the government have never actually taken control of the whole business. There ought to be an entire army of physicist working on understanding magic. There should be a whole squad of wizards standing ready to be sent out to police the country.
The early books wants us to believe that everything has been very quiet until recently but it is a bit hard to swallow that fairies and trolls and what not wouldn’t have been making trouble up through the 20th century creating a need for feet on the ground than Nightingale couldn’t handle alone.

I don’t think the fact that Nightingale has been secluded with his PTSD and old memories is explanation enough of the complete lack of magical preparedness.

Also it has been 4 books now, I would like to actually get the story of Etersberg now. Why they hell did most of Europes wizards die at that event? And why did magic sort of die for 20 years after the event?

This post has been edited by Maybe Apt: 19 January 2014 - 11:55 AM

[Abyss]

Maybe Apt, on 19 January 2014 - 11:54 AM, said:

...I wasn't that fond of "Whispers under Ground" but "Broken Homes" was great and it has one hell of an ending:

Totally agreed. Was worried after WHISPERS that Aaronovich had lost his mojo, but HOMES totally brought it.

replied to your spoilers in the spoilers....

Spoiler

Quote

SPOILERS FOR BROKEN HOMES

I knew there was something coming regarding Leslie and her face but I never imagined she would become a turn coat.

I KNOW!

Quote

I don't know if I actually buy this from a character stand point. Yes, she was upset and yes she hated looking like a monster, but nothing in her behavior in the third or fourth books suggested to me that she was so depressed, desperate or angry that she could go over to the Faceless Man. Unless Aaronovitch is pulling one hell of a misdirection here I think he failed to make this turn convincing.

It may be like Zach suggested that she is a playing the Double Agent but on who's order and for what purpose? They had the Faceless Man dead to rights. It was over. There was no other guy or organization behind the Faceless Man as far as we understand.

I just don't buy that she would chose to help a guy who is as monstrous as the Faceless Man. If anything I would expect her to be much more determined to punish and stop someone like the Faceless Man, so that other people wouldn't have to live with what she had.

I wonder where the series is going from here.

But i was kind of suspecting it might happen considering how frustrated she was getting about it. I just figured it was 2-3 books away at least.

I liked how Peter considered whether she was running a game on the Faceless Man and concluded she wasn't.

Am VERY curious to see how a Peter v Leslie conflict may turn out. He had more experience, but she was catching up fast.

Quote

I imagine that the Nightwitch will probably end up working for the Folly. Or we are going to find out that the secret door Peter found leads to some kind of Ghostbusters like holding cell for magical beings and she'll get stuck in there.

She would be an interesting development as an ally, and possibly as a romantic interest for Nightingale.

Quote

I have to say though that the beaurocracy and legal hoops that the Folly is constantly having to jump through is wearing thin.

Why is the Folly under police management in the first place...The early books wants us to believe that everything has been very quiet until recently but it is a bit hard to swallow that fairies and trolls and what not wouldn't have been making trouble up through the 20th century creating a need for feet on the ground than Nightingale couldn't handle alone.

I rather like the police procedural element to it....how Peter figures things out thru actual police work and coordination with other units and so on.
I get the sense that the government doesn't know how far the resurgent magic things have gone yet. There was that agent in WHISPERS but it was clear she didn't think much was going on and Peter actively worked to keep it that way even tho at least one other cop with them seemed to be somewhat in the loop.

Quote

I don't think the fact that Nightingale has been secluded with his PTSD and old memories is explanation enough of the complete lack of magical preparedness.

Lady Ty and others have suggested a few times that there was some sort of treaty or understanding that if the gov or the city kept their magical forces down to just Nightingale, the Rivers and other powers would keep their activities under wraps and quiet. Everyone was happy with this until recent events.

Quote

Also it has been 4 books now, I would like to actually get the story of Etersberg now. Why they hell did most of Europes wizards die at that event? And why did magic sort of die for 20 years after the event?

Agreed, but i think it's going to be a fairly big deal when Aaronovich finally gets to it.
The hint is that the Nazis were doing something so hideously magically wrong that virtually every practicioner in Europe united to stop them and almost everyone died on both sides.
Whatever Faceless was trying to pull with the tower in BROKEN suggests that magic is capable of some fairly massive things in this world.

[Aptorian]

Broken Homes spoilers

Spoiler

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

I KNOW!

It really caught me by surprise.

There has of course been stories of the corrupt old guard but the stuffy by the book nature of these British characters, had me convinced that doing something improper or even impolite was nearly impossible.

I mean I really liked her! And then she goes and betrays them! You have to admire an author when he manages to pull the rug out under you. I feel litterally angry with this fictional character.

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Am VERY curious to see how a Peter v Leslie conflict may turn out. He had more experience, but she was catching up fast.

Yes, her competent and more cold assessement of the situation will become interesting. I could see her absolutely fucking over Peter. Using his feelings against him. It's a bit scary that a person who knows the police and the folly so well is now working for the Faceless Man.

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

She would be an interesting development as an ally, and possibly as a romantic interest for Nightingale.

I hadn't even considered the romantic angle. That would be something. We haven't seen her do anything actually "unforgivable" yet so I could imagine Nightingale winning her over.

I really loved the fight between her and Nightingale. Finally we got to see what a powerful wizard is capable of and he even seemed to be going easy on her, so that she could be taken in. Just imagine what Etersberg must have been like.

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Lady Ty and others have suggested a few times that there was some sort of treaty or understanding that if the gov or the city kept their magical forces down to just Nightingale, the Rivers and other powers would keep their activities under wraps and quiet. Everyone was happy with this until recent events.

You have a point but it doesn't account for all the stuff that falls inbetween the authorities of the human and non-human factions. Surely there must have been hedge-witches eating babies out there and the rogue troll under a bridge, magical cat burglar who felt he was above the pacts, etc.

Just from a pure political World power standpoint it feels incredibly irresponsible of Nightingale to not ensure that Britain had a standing force of practitioners in case Russian or American wizards invaded the country. WW2 was bad but the fears that dictated political thinking in the decades afterwards were no less scary. Imagine how useful a wizard would be in the Cold war.

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Agreed, but i think it's going to be a fairly big deal when Aaronovich finally gets to it.
The hint is that the Nazis were doing something so hideously magically wrong that virtually every practicioner in Europe united to stop them and almost everyone died on both sides.

I have been wondering if we were going to see some ancient nazi wizard as a bad guy. Like a Kemmler type of bad guy from the Dresden universe.

This post has been edited by Maybe Apt: 20 January 2014 - 08:09 PM

[Abyss]

Morer in the spoiler

Spoiler

Maybe Apt, on 20 January 2014 - 05:41 PM, said:

...I mean I really liked her! And then she goes and betrays them! You have to admire an author when he manages to pull the rug out under you. I feel litterally angry with this fictional character.

Totally! She was a great character who made this interesting transition from victim to more or less partner and seemed to be settling into the magic community and fucking faeries and then WHAM.
Turncoat.

Quote

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Am VERY curious to see how a Peter v Leslie conflict may turn out. He had more experience, but she was catching up fast.

Yes, her competent and more cold assessement of the situation will become interesting. I could see her absolutely fucking over Peter. Using his feelings against him. It's a bit scary that a person who knows the police and the folly so well is now working for the Faceless Man.

VERY.
Nightingale seemed to suggest this has never happened before.

Quote

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

She would be an interesting development as an ally, and possibly as a romantic interest for Nightingale.

I hadn't even considered the romantic angle. That would be something. We haven't seen her do anything actually "unforgivable" yet so I could imagine Nightingale winning her over.

Suave old charmer, he is.
I just got this interesting sense of mutual respect/interest between them. She seemed a bit in awe of him but he seemed to respect the fact that she was an ex-russian combat witch.

Quote

I really loved the fight between her and Nightingale. Finally we got to see what a powerful wizard is capable of and he even seemed to be going easy on her, so that she could be taken in. Just imagine what Etersberg must have been like.

Totally.
And i like how every time we leanr a new little bit about Nightinggale it also adds to the overall history like that.

Quote

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

Lady Ty and others have suggested a few times that there was some sort of treaty or understanding that if the gov or the city kept their magical forces down to just Nightingale, the Rivers and other powers would keep their activities under wraps and quiet. Everyone was happy with this until recent events.

You have a point but it doesn't account for all the stuff that falls inbetween the authorities of the human and non-human factions. Surely there must have been hedge-witches eating babies out there and the rogue troll under a bridge, magical cat burglar who felt he was above the pacts, etc.

Likely that was either Nighty's responsibility or else he dropped it on the Powers to deal with their own. We haven't seen how they do that yet but there's a sense of formality and hierarchy to them.

Quote

Just from a pure political World power standpoint it feels incredibly irresponsible of Nightingale to not ensure that Britain had a standing force of practitioners in case Russian or American wizards invaded the country. WW2 was bad but the fears that dictated political thinking in the decades afterwards were no less scary. Imagine how useful a wizard would be in the Cold war.

But i get the sense that bcs of WW2, there was minimal magic around thru the Cold War and most of it consisted of prisoners in Gulags. Too hard to control.

Quote

I have been wondering if we were going to see some ancient nazi wizard as a bad guy. Like a Kemmler type of bad guy from the Dresden universe.

Seems likely. Faceless seems to have some deep historic roots so it could very well be him, or perhaps a Brit Nazi symapathizer.

I find i'm enjoying the slow worldbuild. The little hints of magic establishments in other countries (was it Japan or China in BROKEN, i forget....), the ugly history, the way so many normals actually seem to know about it but really really don't want to deal with it.

[Aptorian]

Broken Homes spoilers

Spoiler

Abyss, on 20 January 2014 - 07:36 PM, said:

I find i'm enjoying the slow worldbuild. The little hints of magic establishments in other countries (was it Japan or China in BROKEN, i forget....), the ugly history, the way so many normals actually seem to know about it but really really don't want to deal with it.

In Whispers there was Lady Shen or Chen or what her name was, that was living in Taiwan and was very recentful of the mainland it would seem.

And we have the nods to Viking landmines.

Man I am curious to hear what the hell the Faceless Man would have used thousands of "dog mine" type magical batteries for. Did he manage to get more loads out of the Building than the ones Peter found or did they stop him in time?

I wonder the fallout for the Folly will be. The destruction of a city block and the threat of the Faceless Man has to come Down on them like a ton of bricks. Either they come under some kind of administration now, with Lady Ty involved I imagine, or Nightingale has to get his balls out of the drawer and actually start commanding some respect. I wonder what it will be.

This post has been edited by Maybe Apt: 20 January 2014 - 08:09 PM

[QuickTidal]

Spoiler

Re: Etersberg. I have a feeling that Aaronovitch is slowly leading up to this. Like Harry Potter gives glimpses of the past events that shaped the modern wizarding world, I think all the Nazi stuff, Etersberg, Nightingale soldiering ect. is all going to be a big reveal and I think Aaronovitch wants to save it up. That said, I honestly didn't see the Lesley turn coming. I'll cop to that. The Night Witch is deifnitely going to work for the Folly. But yeah, in regards to the need for more of a magic ministry ect....maybe we are seeing the embers of what WILL become one down the road? Like Nightingale, and Peter and Co. are laying the groundwork now for a fledgling Ministry themselves? Aaronovitch's world building is a slower potboil, but we get more and more of it in each book. And considering the books are going to now AT LEAST go up to Book 8...I think he may know where he's heading and is portioning it out?

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished the first book, really liked it! Especially enjoyed the description of what it is like working for the British police force, so many things spot on.

[Abyss]

Am I he only one who didn't know bk 5, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, streets the day after tomorrow???
(In the uk anyways)

[Pig Iron]

Out on Kindle tomorrow too. Nice, thanks.

[caladanbrood]

I've had it pre-ordered for weeks, re-read the series as preparation, this is the book I have been looking forward to most this year.

[Traveller]

Excellent, I've just finished Red Seas Under Red Skies... need something else to get into.

I love the fact that these are set in and around London; I recognise the roads, buildings, and locations around the city, as I've been to a lot of them.

Thought I'd be waiting longer for this.

[Tiste Simeon]

Think I'm gonna have to get book three and four to read!

This post has been edited by Tiste Simeon: 12 November 2014 - 05:04 PM

[caladanbrood]

And 5 tomorrow, woo

[Starling]

My exams have just finished. This could not be better timed.